Gold nanoparticle based microbial detection and identification

Microorganisms belong to one of the biggest threats to humanity. Rapid detection and identification of microbes in environmental, food and clinical samples is required for safety purposes as well as diagnosis of infectious diseases. Conventional techniques for microbial detection, though reliable and gold standard, are time consuming, expensive and unsuitable for field situations. Advent of novel techniques involving Nanotechnology has been promising for the development of rapid and low cost strategies for rapid detection and identification of microbes with higher sensitivity. Gold nanoparticles find a significant place in medicine, material sciences as well as diagnostics for their unique optical and physiochemical properties. This review focuses at recent advancements in the development of gold nanoparticle based assays for microbial detection and identification.