Nanotechnology will play an important role in future biosensor development. Nanotechnology is now making possible development of in vivo sensors, i.e. nano-sized devices envisioned to be ingested or injected where they could act as reporters of in vivo concentrations of key analytes. These engineered nanoparticle devices imbedded in the cytosol of individual tissue specific cells will be capable of transmitting recognition events, that is, the binding to biorecognition elements of target analytes of clinical relevance to an external data capture system. Nanosensors will enable compartmental analyses of metabolite levels and metabolic activity. Nanosensor prototypes have been expressed in Yeast and in mammalian cell cultures for determination of carbohydrate homeostasis in living cells with subcellular resolution. Nanosensors can be selectively expressed under the control of tissue specific promoters. The clinical relevance arising from constant, real-time metabolic vigilance via sensor based ligand specific biorecognition elements is immense. Virus-based nanoparticles have been developed for tumor specific recognition, targeting, imaging and destruction.

Of particular note, DNA conjugate materials have been prepared which can recognize DNA fragments with one-base specificity for reliable genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms, while bacterial magnetic particles have been integrated into functional nanomaterials by assembling enzymes, antibodies and receptors onto nano-sized bacterial magnetic particles for use in applications such as determination of human insulin.

The emerging ability to control patterns of matter on the nanometer length scale can be expected to lead to entirely new spatial positioning schemes of biorecognition elements using a variety of new materials. Although current technologies such as microstructure fabrication, surface modification, integration of detection and optimization of chemistry can not effectively complete with current, well established detection instrumentation, the need for high throughput diagnostic/detection methods will continue. If pursued, array technology should open the door for commercializing sensor platforms utilizing a variety of biorecognition elements for general diagnostic/detection purposes.

from Chambers et al. in Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. (2008) 10: 1-12
abstract     full article pdf

Labels: biosensors, nanosensors, nanotechnology