Application of biosensors for pathogen detection

New methods for the early detection of viral or bacterial pathogens could save millions of lives and have a major socio-economic impact. Today, pathogen detection is a key concern in medicine, the environment and the food industry. Conventional analysis techniques are often slow, costly and cumbersome to implement, and require specialized personnel and infrastructures. Indeed, sample preparation (cell separation, DNA extraction, labeling, etc.) and results processing phases significantly increase the total analysis time. There is therefore a real need to develop new detection systems that can be used outside specialized laboratories. These systems should be highly sensitive and selective, enabling them to efficiently detect the pathogen of interest in mixtures containing a large number of different molecules (biological or non-biological) and/or other (non-pathogenic) micro-organisms.

The emergence of infectious diseases is a major threat to public health. Although the majority of viral or bacterial infections present highly suggestive clinical signals and regress on their own, in certain situations precise diagnosis of the pathogen responsible for the signals observed is necessary. Rapid screening outside specialized facilities or in hospital emergency departments will optimize patient care and increase the chances of survival. In addition to reducing the cost of therapy, this will enable us to assess the efficacy of antiviral treatments and/or limit therapeutic failures due to bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

Biosensor applications for the detection of microorganisms in food are the result of the food industry's growing demand for reliable, low-cost analytical techniques to monitor food quality and the various stages of production. Food contamination by pathogenic bacteria can cause illness, death and enormous economic damage. It is estimated that food-borne infectious diseases, such as those caused by the bacteria Listeria sp, Escherichia coli or Salmonella sp., account for 40% of the 50 million deaths worldwide each year. The use of biosensors with a high affinity for pathogens, capable of detecting them selectively and specifically within minutes, will lead to greater food safety and reduce health risks. Biosensors are also used in the environmental protection and monitoring sector. Ideally, the biosensor for field measurements should be easy to set up and should enable analysis without any sample pre-treatment. The trend is to develop devices that can be automated and controlled remotely. In terms of analytical sensitivity, the biosensor's detection limit must enable it to detect the infectious dose, i.e. the minimum quantity of the pathogen that...