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Advances in airborne microorganisms detection using biosensors: A critical review
Jinbiao Ma1,2, Manman Du1,2, Can Wang1,2
1School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 China.
Abstract:
Humanity has been facing the threat of a variety of infectious diseases. Airborne microorganisms can cause airborne infectious diseases, which spread rapidly and extensively, causing huge losses to human society on a global scale. In recent years, the detection technology for airborne microorganisms has developed rapidly; it can be roughly divided into biochemical, immune, and molecular technologies. However, these technologies still have some shortcomings; they are time-consuming and have low sensitivity and poor stability. Most of them need to be used in the ideal environment of a laboratory, which limits their applications. A biosensor is a device that converts biological signals into detectable signals. As an interdisciplinary field, biosensors have successfully introduced a variety of technologies for bio-detection. Given their fast analysis speed, high sensitivity, good portability, strong specificity, and low cost, biosensors have been widely used in environmental monitoring, medical research, food and agricultural safety, military medicine and other fields. In recent years, the performance of biosensors has greatly improved, becoming a promising technology for airborne microorganism detection. This review introduces the detection principle of biosensors from the three aspects of component identification, energy conversion principle, and signal amplification. It also summarizes its research and application in airborne microorganism detection. The new progress and future development trend of the biosensor detection of airborne microorganisms are analyzed.
Insights
Biosensors offer a promising solution for detecting airborne microorganisms, overcoming limitations of traditional methods. This review explores biosensor principles and their application in monitoring airborne pathogens for improved public health.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biotechnology
- Sensor Technology
Background:
- Airborne infectious diseases pose a significant global threat, necessitating rapid and accurate detection methods.
- Current detection technologies (biochemical, immune, molecular) face limitations including time consumption, low sensitivity, poor stability, and laboratory dependency.
- Biosensors, converting biological signals into detectable outputs, offer advantages like speed, sensitivity, portability, specificity, and low cost.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the detection principles of biosensors, focusing on component identification, energy conversion, and signal amplification.
- To summarize the research and applications of biosensors in the detection of airborne microorganisms.
- To analyze the progress and future trends in biosensor technology for airborne microorganism detection.
Main Methods:
- Review of biosensor principles including component identification, energy conversion, and signal amplification.
- Summary of existing research and applications of biosensors for airborne microorganism detection.
- Analysis of recent advancements and future directions in the field.
Main Results:
- Biosensors demonstrate significant improvements in performance, making them a viable technology for airborne microorganism detection.
- The review details the fundamental principles and practical applications of biosensors in this domain.
- Current research highlights the potential of biosensors to overcome the limitations of conventional detection methods.
Conclusions:
- Biosensors represent a highly promising technology for the sensitive, rapid, and portable detection of airborne microorganisms.
- Further advancements in biosensor technology are expected to enhance their capabilities and expand their applications in public health and environmental monitoring.
- The review provides insights into the future development trends of biosensor-based airborne microorganism detection systems.
