బయోటెక్నాలజీ & బయోమెటీరియల్స్

నైరూప్య

BIOSENSORS: STATUS AND PERSPECTIVES

Yamini Bhanot

Biosensor technology is a comparatively new and revolutionary technology. In recent times there has been an increase in the demand for the development of low cost, rapid and simple devices which can give results in the real time and biosensors have the potential to fulfil all these requirements. Biosensors have two main components, one is the biological recognition element where the instrument detects the analyte molecule, and the other is the transducing system that converts biological reaction into electrical signal which is the output of biosensor. Depending on the type of bio recognition element and the type of transducer employed, various types of biosensors can be developed like electrochemical, optical, piezoelectric biosensors. Amalgamation of nanotechnology in this field has led to the development of better, more accurate miniature versions of biosensors. Biosensors have a wide range of applications, and can be used in the medical field for disease diagnosis, drug discovery, in environmental monitoring of pollutants, identification of pathogens or contaminants in the food, fermentation and beverage industries, in agriculture and in the defense sector, etc.