Biosensor & DNA Chips

Biosensors

High degree of specificity exhibited by the actions of enzymes, antibodies & membrane receptors offers a potential for developing sensors or detectors.

These biosensors or detectors can be used to detect extremely low levels of proteins, hormones, pollutants, gases and other molecules.

Model of biosensor

Applications of Biosensor

1. Assist doctors in making rapid diagnosis (e.g. cancer & diabetes)

2. Permit rapid detection & measurement of acids, alcohols,& phenols

3. Be able to detect small amount of drugs in humans, enabling police & doctors in assessing drug abuse

4. Detect pathogens/carcinogens in monitoring the environment

5. Analyse food safety & processing

How Biosensors work?

Case Study: Implanted Glucose Biosensor

An implanted glucose biosensor is developed to monitor blood glucose in place of finger sticks for diabetes patients.

It utilizes an enzyme specific for glucose & provides a significatly accurate glucose measurement.

This wearable beeper-sized device is about the size of a cardiac pacemaker. It provides continuous and accurate monitoring of blood glucose with digital readout displays.

It can be linked to an implanted insulin pump creating a closed-loop mechanical pancreas.

Model of Glucose Biosensor

 

Reference
http://www.sybd.com/GB.html

DNA Chips

DNA Chips are a revolutionary step in molecular biology.

They are finding applications throughout the field of molecular biology.

Classification of DNA Chips

The DNA chips are also called:

DNA chip, DNA microchip, Gene Chip, DNA array, DNA microarray, biochip

Types of DNA Chips:

- 2-Dimensional DNA Chip (on-chip) -> DNA Microarray
- 3-Dimensional DNA Chip (in-chip) -> Lab-on-Chip

How Do DNA Chips work?

Applications of DNA Chips

Clinical Diagnosis	Environmental Monitoring
- Genetic diseases - Cancer diagnosis & prognosis - Detection of viruses & bacteria - Drug-resistant microbial typing	- Environmental Monitoring - Detection of pathogens/carcinogens - Food safety & processing
Drug Discovery	Biomedical Research
- Simultaneous analysis of thousands of genes - Screening of drug molecules	- Differential gene display/mutation detection - Discovery of new genes - Functional genomic study

Case Study E.coli O157:H7 Quick DNA Chip

An easy way to know if your product is contaminated by a kind of pathogen E.coli O157:H7. (Product of Genolife)

Reference
Genolife - DNA chips (http://www.genolife.com/qdna.htm)

Human Genome Project - HGP

- Approximately 50,000
- 100,000 genes 3 billion base pairs

What is HGP?

- An international research program (1988 - 2003)
- To construct detailed genetic and physical maps of the human genome

Target of HGP

- To determine the complete nucleotide sequence of human DNA by 2003
- To determine all the functional genomics
- To perform similar analysis on the genomes of several other organisms

Reference
1. National Human Genome Research Institute
(http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/index.html)
2. Human Genome Resources
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/guide/)

 

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