Multiple recognition elements in biosensors: A review of antibiotic detection technologies

Due to their bacteriostatic or bactericidal effects, antibiotics are widely used in the prevention and treatment of human and animal diseases. However, their irrational utilization has caused severe environmental pollution and threatened human health and safety through food chain. Given the critical limitations of traditional antibiotic detection methods, such as high costs, technical complexity, and time-consuming operations, it is essential to develop robust, accurate, sensitive, and field-deployable technologies for antibiotic detection. In recent years, biosensors have emerged as powerful tools for antibiotic detection, owing to their advantages of fast response, high accuracy, excellent sensitivity, and cost-effectiveness. This review systematically summarizes the working principles of biosensors based on different biological recognition elements (enzymes, antibodies, cells, and aptamers), and comprehensively discusses their specific applications in the field of antibiotic detection. Additionally, the article elaborates on the critical roles of signal amplification technologies and artificial intelligence in optimizing biosensor performance, accelerating the discovery of novel antimicrobial drugs, and enabling rapid data processing. It is worth mentioning that we analyzed the potential drawbacks of each recognition element, as well as the practical challenges faced by integrating various signal amplification technologies and artificial intelligence into different types of biosensors. Finally, the future challenges and development directions of biosensors is outlined to provide valuable insights and references for researchers in this field.