Electrochemical DNA-Based Biosensors

GUSTAVO A. RIVAS AND MARÍA L. PEDANO

Encyclopedia of Sensors

Pishko American Scientific Publishers

Lugar: California. USA; Año: 2006; p. 45 - 92

Since the discovery of the electroactivity of nucleic acids by Palecek [5], there has been an increasing interest in the development of electrochemical affinity biosensors based on the use of nucleic acids as recognition element. This is because electrochemical DNA-based biosensors combine the selectivity of the biorecognition event given by nucleic acids molecules with the numerous advantages that electrochemical techniques present over the most commonly used ones. Different strategies for DNA-based biosensors preparation as well as different transduction modes have been proposed, as it was largely reviewed [6–24]. The application field of these biosensors is very broad. They can be used for the diagnostic of inherited and acquired diseases; for tissues matching; for forensic determinations; for detecting bioterrorism, microorganisms, and pollutants; and for evaluating the interaction of different compounds (pollutants or drugs) with DNA.