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Do you know? How biosensors can achieve the magic of instant detection of chemical substances?
In today's era of rapid development of science and technology, biosensors, as an advanced detection tool, are detecting chemical substances in real time in their own unique way. This sensor combines biological components with physicochemical detectors, perfectly blending biological sensitivity with chemical accuracy.
Biosensors are analytical devices used to detect chemical substances, combining a biological component with a physicochemical detector.
Composition of biosensors
Generally speaking, biosensors mainly consist of three parts: biometric components, converters, and electronic systems.
Biological recognition elements can be enzymes, antibodies, cells, nucleic acids, and other biomolecules that interact with specific analytes to produce measurable signals.
The converter is responsible for converting the interaction between the biometric element and the analyte into measurable data. The data can be processed and displayed electronically, making the results easy to understand and use.
Classification of biometric components
The biometric components of biosensors can be classified according to the way they interact with analytes, mainly including the following categories:
Antibody/antigen interaction
The specific interaction between antibodies and antigens makes them important basic components of biosensors. Such sensors, called immunosensors, use specific antibodies to bind to target antigens to generate a measurable signal.
The antibody-antigen interaction of the immunosensor works like a lock and key, binding only when the shape of the analyte matches.
Enzyme interaction
With their high specificity and catalytic activity, enzymes have become another major type of biorecognition components in biosensors. Whether the enzyme can react with the analyte will directly affect the sensor's output signal, making it particularly effective when analyzing chemicals.
Enzyme-catalyzed reactions can be used repeatedly without consuming analytes, which greatly improves the efficiency of biosensors.
Nucleic acid interaction
Nucleic acid-based sensors usually identify target sequences through complementary pairing properties. Such sensors can detect specific DNA or RNA molecules very sensitively.
Application status of biosensors
Biological sensors have a wide range of applications, including environmental monitoring, food safety testing, medical diagnosis and other fields. Leveraging their immediate and accurate nature, these sensors can quickly react to dangerous chemicals in the external environment.
During the COVID-19 epidemic, biosensors were widely used to detect antibodies in the human body and became an important tool for quarantine and treatment in various countries.
In recent years, much research is being devoted to the development of more portable and easy-to-use sensors. These sensors are not only convenient for application in various scenarios, but also can effectively reduce the cost and difficulty of operation, making them accessible even to non-professionals. It can also be operated easily.
Future Outlook
As technology continues to advance, biosensors will develop towards higher sensitivity and selectivity in the future. These advances will allow it to function in more complex environments and address some of the technical limitations of the past. For example, optical biosensors used for cancer detection are further improving the sensitivity of their detection and are expected to play a key role in early diagnosis in the future.
In the near future, can we expect biosensors to play a more important role in many fields such as medical care, environmental protection, and food safety?
