Biosensor is an analytical device that converts biological reactions into measurable physiochemical

signals which is proportional to analyte concentration. Biosensors can be used for the detection various
substances like metabolites, pollutants, microbial load, control parameters etc. A typical biosensor
consists of two elements: biological sensing element and a transducer for the detection of analyte
concentration.
1956 -The first biosensor was invented by Professor Leland C Clark Jnr. and he is known as the father of
the biosensor concept. On 15 April 1956, at a meeting of the American Society for Artificial Organs during
the annual meetings of the Federated Societies for Experimental Biology, the biosensor invented was
named after him as Clark electrode. In 1956, Clark published his definitive paper on the oxygen
electrode.
1963 - In 1963 Garry A. Rechnitz together with S. Katz introduced one of the first papers in the field of
biosensors with the direct potentiometric determination of urea after urease hydrolysis. At that time the
term biosensor had not yet been coined. Thus, these types of devices were called enzyme electrodes
or biocatalytic membrane electrodes. For the first time, in 1964 enzymes were used as fuel cell catalysts
by Yahiro et al. in a glucose/O 2biofuel cell.
In 1976 came the first microbe-based biosensor and finally in 1977 Karl Cammmann introduced the term
biosensor. Lubbers and Opitz coined the term optode in 1975 to describe a fibre-optic sensor with
immobilised indicator to measure carbon dioxide or oxygen (Turner, 1996). They extended the concept to
make an optical biosensor for C2H5OH by immobilising C2H5OH oxidase on the end of a fibre-optic
oxygen sensor.
In 1979 pioneering work by J. Kulys using artificial redox mediators and in 1984 Cass et al. introduced
first ferrocene-mediated amperometic glucose biosensor which was commercialised by MediSense Inc. in
1987 with a pen-sized meter for home blood-glucose monitoring.. In 1997 IUPAC introduced for the first
time definition for biosensors in analogy to thedefinition of chemosensors. An enzymatic glucose/O 2
fuel cell which was implanted in a living plant was presented by Heller and coworkers in 2003. The first H
2 /O 2 biofuel cell based on the oxidation of low levels of H 2 in air was introduced by Armstrong and
coworkers (2006). In 2007 an implanted glucose biosensor (freestyle Navigator system) operated for five
days (Borgmann et al.,2011).
Recently nano-biosensors, implanted biosensors and integrated biosensors are in current research and
development. In the past 40 years various biosensors have been researched and

developed encompassing a wide range of applications but the number of

commercially available biosensors is limited. Nevertheless, biosensor technology
presents an opportunity for the development of robust, low cost, specific detection
and analyses. Future prospects of biosensor technology, with special emphasis on
the development of sensing elements and transducers are under current research

Introduction

A biosensor is a biological detection system consists of a biological component combined

with a transducer to perform measurement of a biochemical quantity. The development of
biosensors started with the invention of enzyme electrodes by Leland C. Clark in 1962.
A typical biosensor includes a bioelement such as an enzyme, antibody, or a cell receptor,
and a sensing element or a transducer. These two elements are combined together through
a number of methods such as covalent bonding, matrix entrapment, physical adsorption and
membrane entrapment.

Working Principle of Biosensors

Biosensors are operated based on the principle of signal transduction. These components
include a bio-recognition element, a biotransducer and an electronic system composed of a
display, processor and amplifier.
The bio-recognition element, essentially a bioreceptor, is allowed to interact with a specific
analyte. The transducer measures this interaction and outputs a signal. The intensity of the
signal output is proportional to the concentration of the analyte. The signal is then amplified
and processed by the electronic system.

Types of Biosensors
Depending on the mechanism of transduction, biosensors are classified as follows:

Resonant Biosensors These sensors employ an acoustic wave transducer combined

with the bioreceptor. Interaction between the analyte and bioreceptor forces a change
in the mass of the bioreceptor. As a result, the resonant frequency of the acoustic
transducer also changes, which is then evaluated and this value can then be interpreted
by the end-user.

Optical Detection Biosensors These type of sensors include a silicon wafer to which
protein molecules are attached through covalent bonds. The wafer is subjected to UV
light which makes the antibodies inactive. The wafer is then diced and placed in the
analyte, which encourages formation of diffusion grating that generates a signal which
can be measured and amplified.

Thermal Detection Biosensors In these sensors, the immobilized enzymes are

coupled with temperature detectors. A heat reaction is initiated when the analyte is
made to interact with the enzyme. The concentration of the analyte can thus be
evaluated with respect to the measurement of a heat reaction.

Ion Sensitive Biosensors These sensors work on the principle that the interaction of
ions with a semiconductor changes the electric potential of the semiconductor surface.
The potential changes can then be measured to evaluate the desired parameter.

Electrochemical Biosensors The principle behind the operation of these sensors

involves the generation of ions by various chemical events that change the electrical

properties of the analyte solution. The concentration of the analyte is then measured
with respect to this change.

Advantages of Biosensors
The key benefits of biosensors include the following:

Rapid and continuous measurement

High specificity

Very less usage of reagents required for calibration

Fast response time

Ability to measure non-polar molecules that cannot be estimated by other

conventional devices.

Applications of Biosensors
Some of the major applications of biosensors are listed below:

Monitoring glucose level in diabetes patients

Food analysis

Environmental applications

Protein engineering and drug discovery applications

Wastewater treatment.