Biosensor

Until now, scientists couldn’t distinguish the silent bacteria from the active ones to know whether dormant mycobacterium were being killed by different compounds. Abramovitch and colleagues developed a strain of the pathogen that glows bright green. They found it stopped glowing after artemisinin came into contact with the mycobacteria’s oxygen biosensor, presumably dying.

Further research is needed before a carbon nanotube biosensor for salmonella is available commercially.

Since the early 1980s, considerable research effort has been devoted to the development of fiber optic (FO) biosensors because of their potential sensitivity, detection speed, and adaptability to a wide variety of assay conditions.

Today's biosensor market is dominated by glucose biosensors, mass-produced enzyme-electrodes for the rapid self-diagnosis of blood glucose levels by diabetes sufferers.