Learn how biosensors use biological and physical components to measure contaminants in air, water, soil, and food, and what are their advantages and challenges.

Besides some of the obvious, very well expressed points from @Steve Last above, personally I feel one of the biggest let downs from this attempted draft is that it stays far too general, scarce of interesting/tangible cases, and largely uncritical. The latter is particularly annoying. Ethically speaking, do we want to further and further quantify the minuteness of the world around us whilst it burns? The actions and efforts we need to take are largely self-evident. Technology won't liberate us. Biosensors must be understood in their cultural, political roles, which must be consistently questioned. Who benefits, why, and why now? That'd be a far more enriching read in my opinion.

How do biosensors detect environmental contaminants?

Environmental contaminants are harmful substances that can affect the quality of air, water, soil, and food. They can pose serious risks to human health and ecosystems, and therefore need to be monitored and controlled. One of the ways to detect environmental contaminants is to use biosensors, which are devices that combine biological and physical components to measure the presence or concentration of a specific contaminant. In this article, you will learn how biosensors work, what types of biosensors are available, and what are some of the advantages and challenges of using biosensors for environmental monitoring.

1 How biosensors work

A biosensor consists of two main parts: a bioreceptor and a transducer. The bioreceptor is a biological element that can recognize and bind to a specific contaminant, such as an enzyme, an antibody, a microorganism, or a DNA fragment. The transducer is a physical element that can convert the bioreceptor-contaminant interaction into a measurable signal, such as an electrical, optical, thermal, or acoustic signal. The signal is then processed and displayed by a detector or a computer. The biosensor can be designed to measure either the presence or the concentration of a contaminant, depending on the type of bioreceptor and transducer used.

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Steve Last

Nationally Recognised Consultant, Principal of IPPTS Associates. Media, Energy and Waste websites. ipptsassociates.co.uk
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Reference to "enzymes, antibodies, and DNA fragments have no place in this article. The article is supposed to be about "environmental contaminants" not a medical article. This article is not worthy of comment. It is an AI article and a very poor one.

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Guilherme Augusto Laidens Feistauer 賀古圖

Global Business Development Manager at dsm-firmenich | Purpose and performance driven leader 🌏 | Transforming industry for more equitable futures ⚖️
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Wholeheartedly agree with @Steve Last's comment. There's a lot of content here that makes much more sense reading from a medical framing.

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Alfonso Gonzalez Orduno

Project Management, Project Controls: Planning – Scheduling - Costs, Risk Analysis, Delay Analysis, Extension of Time and Prolongation Claims and Business Simulation, Process Optimization, Business Model Implementation
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The description is simple and understandable however I believe that always a diagrams could help much more or additional to the above description.

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Jonathan Fray

Recently retired.
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OK so give us an example of a biosensor that can detect mercury (say as mercurous or mercuric ions) or an organic compound such as bisphenol A.

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2 Types of biosensors

Biosensors are a helpful tool for detecting various environmental contaminants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, organic pollutants, pathogens, and toxins. Enzyme-based biosensors use enzymes as bioreceptors to catalyze a reaction with the contaminant, resulting in an alteration that can be measured by an electrochemical, optical, or thermal transducer. Immunosensors rely on antibodies to bind to a specific antigen and then measure the change in surface properties, fluorescence, or color with an optical, piezoelectric, or electrochemical transducer. Microbial biosensors use living microorganisms as bioreceptors and measure changes in cell viability, respiration, or bioluminescence with an electrochemical, optical, or thermal transducer. DNA biosensors use DNA fragments as bioreceptors to hybridize with a complementary DNA sequence and then measure changes in conductivity, fluorescence, or electrochemistry with an electrical, optical, or electrochemical transducer.

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Steve Last

Nationally Recognised Consultant, Principal of IPPTS Associates. Media, Energy and Waste websites. ipptsassociates.co.uk
(edited)
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In my opinion this article is AI gone mad. It is simply useless and should be completely rewritten or deleted. No one should surely be asked to comment on an article which fails to keep within the terms of the title and inrtoduction. It strays badly from the subject it promises to be about. It confuses the use of the term with the discipline of environmental chemistry and its medical use. Please stop using AI for technical articles because it cannot hope to understand the nuances and professionals should not be asked to waste our time unraveling machine gibberish.

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3 Advantages of biosensors

Biosensors offer several advantages over conventional methods of detecting environmental contaminants, such as being sensitive and selective, fast and easy to use, cost-effective and eco-friendly, and versatile and adaptable. These traits allow biosensors to detect low levels of contaminants, provide real-time and on-site measurements without needing complex sample preparation or laboratory analysis, reduce expenses and waste associated with chemical reagents and instruments, and be modified and integrated with different bioreceptors and transducers for various applications and environments.

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Alfonso Gonzalez Orduno

Project Management, Project Controls: Planning – Scheduling - Costs, Risk Analysis, Delay Analysis, Extension of Time and Prolongation Claims and Business Simulation, Process Optimization, Business Model Implementation
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In my experience we have to show also the actual or current restrictions and disadvantages of the existing product due that still not available in the market as a common product are out of the competitive market yet

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4 Challenges of biosensors

Biosensors are promising tools for detecting environmental contaminants and protecting human health and ecosystems. However, they face certain challenges and limitations. For instance, they are susceptible to interference and degradation, making them unreliable. Additionally, they are difficult to standardize and validate due to the variability of biological materials and processes. Moreover, they are complex and require the integration of different fields and experts such as biotechnology, engineering, chemistry, physics, and computer science. By understanding how biosensors work, what types are available, and their advantages and challenges, you can appreciate their potential and applications in biotechnology and environmental monitoring.

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Guilherme Augusto Laidens Feistauer 賀古圖

Global Business Development Manager at dsm-firmenich | Purpose and performance driven leader 🌏 | Transforming industry for more equitable futures ⚖️
(edited)
Report contribution
Besides some of the obvious, very well expressed points from @Steve Last above, personally I feel one of the biggest let downs from this attempted draft is that it stays far too general, scarce of interesting/tangible cases, and largely uncritical. The latter is particularly annoying. Ethically speaking, do we want to further and further quantify the minuteness of the world around us whilst it burns? The actions and efforts we need to take are largely self-evident. Technology won't liberate us. Biosensors must be understood in their cultural, political roles, which must be consistently questioned. Who benefits, why, and why now? That'd be a far more enriching read in my opinion.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do biosensors detect environmental contaminants?

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1 How biosensors work

2 Types of biosensors

3 Advantages of biosensors

4 Challenges of biosensors

5 Here’s what else to consider

Biotechnology

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