Open AccessMicrobially derived biosensors for diagnosis, monitoring and epidemiology
Author(s) -
Chang HungJu,
Voyvodic Peter L.,
Zúñiga Ana,
Bonnet Jérôme
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
microbial biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.287
H-Index - 74
ISSN - 1751-7915
DOI - 10.1111/1751-7915.12791
Subject(s) - biosensor , synthetic biology , computer science , biochemical engineering , scalability , replicate , data science , nanotechnology , process (computing) , computational biology , engineering , biology , materials science , statistics , mathematics , database , operating system
Summary Living cells have evolved to detect and process various signals and can self‐replicate, presenting an attractive platform for engineering scalable and affordable biosensing devices. Microbes are perfect candidates: they are inexpensive and easy to manipulate and store. Recent advances in synthetic biology promise to streamline the engineering of microbial biosensors with unprecedented capabilities. Here we review the applications of microbially‐derived biosensors with a focus on environmental monitoring and healthcare applications. We also identify critical challenges that need to be addressed in order to translate the potential of synthetic microbial biosensors into large‐scale, real‐world applications.