A biosensor that uses ion-channel switches

B. A. Cornell (), V. L. B. Braach-Maksvytis, L. G. King, P. D. J. Osman, B. Raguse, L. Wieczorek and R. J. Pace
Additional contact information
B. A. Cornell: Co-operative Research Centre for Molecular Engineering & Technology
V. L. B. Braach-Maksvytis: Co-operative Research Centre for Molecular Engineering & Technology
L. G. King: Co-operative Research Centre for Molecular Engineering & Technology
P. D. J. Osman: Co-operative Research Centre for Molecular Engineering & Technology
B. Raguse: Co-operative Research Centre for Molecular Engineering & Technology
L. Wieczorek: Co-operative Research Centre for Molecular Engineering & Technology
R. J. Pace: Faculty of Science, Australian National University

Nature, 1997, vol. 387, issue 6633, 580-583

Abstract: Abstract Biosensors are molecular sensors that combine a biological recognition mechanism with a physical transduction technique. They provide a new class of inexpensive, portable instrument that permit sophisticated analytical measurements to be undertaken rapidly at decentralized locations1. However, the adoption of biosensors for practical applications other than the measurement of blood glucose is currently limited by the expense, insensitivity and inflexibility of the available transduction methods. Here we describe the development of a biosensing technique in which the conductance of a population of molecular ion channels is switched by the recognition event. The approach mimics biological sensory functions2,3 and can be used with most types of receptor, including antibodies and nucleotides. The technique is very flexible and even in its simplest form it is sensitive to picomolar concentrations of proteins. The sensor is essentially an impedance element whose dimensions can readily be reduced to become an integral component of a microelectronic circuit. It may be used in a wide range of applications and in complex media, including blood. These uses might include cell typing, the detection of large proteins, viruses, antibodies, DNA, electrolytes, drugs, pesticides and other low-molecular-weight compounds.

Date: 1997
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/42432 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:387:y:1997:i:6633:d:10.1038_42432

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/42432

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().