Cell-Based Biosensor for Rapid Screening of Pathogens and Toxins

Exposure to pathogens, toxins, and pollutants is a major public health concern. Often air, water, and food are the major sources. Efforts to develop and deploy highly sensitive detection and diagnostic platforms are of great importance to protect the health of consumers, military personnel, and civilians. Biosensors employing a proper transducer have the potential to digitally amplify signals for prompt analysis of small amounts of analyte and the consequent institution of remedial actions. Cell-based biosensor (CBB) using mammalian and microbial cells is referred to as a functional biosensor since it interrogates the interaction between the living cells and an analyte to provide physiologically relevant information regarding the functionality of an analyte. Thus, CBB is advantageous over immunosensor or nucleic acid-based biosensors, which may not assess functionality. However, the major drawback of CBB is the maintenance of viability of the cells during deployment in a rugged environment or in the point-of-care use.