요약

Nanotechnologies allow the digital world and the biological world to merge and can therefore detect biological substances. Such “hybrid technology” uses an analytical device to provide a digital signal when encountering specific concentrations of a targeted substance. The biological material can be from human tissues, microorganisms, organelles, cell receptors, enzymes, antibodies, or nucleic acids, as examples. Since these devices are detecting biological substances, they are known as biosensors. The synthetic side of biosensors uses optical, electrochemical, thermometric, or magnetic systems for sensing the designated biological substance. How prevalent will biosensors become in our lives? Already, “scientists are coming up with biosensors which when implanted in your body could even signal when you're getting sick - almost like the ‘check engine’ light in a car.”