TASTE SENSING BIOSENSORS

Biosensing is truly a hot area of research today but it is not really new. It is basically of two types physical and chemical. Physical biosensors are developed based on physical parameters and therefore taste physical quantities. However, chemical biosensors are based on chemical parameters and taste chemical quantities. Chemical biosensing is indeed one of the top areas of research and therefore you can find a lot of science and technology online articles dealing with this important subject. More specifically, taste sensing, glucose detection & diabetes control, to mention a few are the main subjects of the majority of science and technology news updates.

Nanotechnology and Biosensors

One of the top areas of research is the application of nanotechnology to biosensors. Nanotechnology is simply technology at the nanoscale. This involves measurements at a level below the microscopic level. At this level, matters exhibit rare characteristics. In other words, such rare characteristics become common at the nanoscale. Nanotechnology is applied to biosensors, specifically to taste sensing biosensors. Taste cells and receptor based biosensors are a major field of research today. The reason for the numerous researches in this field is their relevance in chemical sensing and researches in order to ensure taste signal transduction mechanisms.

Taste receptors development depends on greatly nanotechnology. This is simply because nanotechnology is employed in developing small arrays of taste receptors and such nano-fabrications make it easy to develop biosensors that consist of a lot of taste cells and receptors. With multiple taste cells and receptors, the biosensors would be more efficient.

More interestingly, taste receptors are developed in such a way that they can ascertain specific chemical signal which various taste compounds and substances present. Their potency exceeds that of most artificial devices available today.

Because of the effectiveness of taste sensors, they are being research upon as they hold promises for the development of chemical sensors. However, there are barriers to overcome in order to have this goal achieved. One of the major barriers that must be overcome for the successful development of taste sensors is the development of functional taste cells and receptors that would make up for the need to build sensing components used in chemical sensing.

Mechanism of Biosensing

Relevance of Biosensors

Biosensors are very relevant in various fields of study. However, to apply biosensors and to get the desired results, it is necessary to know the limits of chemical sensors. Interestingly, chemical sensors do have limit, as do taste sensing biosensors. The limit of detection (LOD) of chemical sensors are stated and defined in the IUPAC guidelines. The guidelines also state the sensitivity of chemical sensors. Biosensors are generally applied in the monitoring of glucose level and the control of diabetes. Moreover, it is applied in various fields including the food and beverage industry, environmental, medical diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, agriculture. Biosensors are also applied in tissue engineering, to mention a few. Taste sensors are widely applicable in areas where sensitivity is required such as in the manufacturing of drugs, agriculture and in production of chemicals. 

You may like to read:ETHICAL ASPECTS OFNANOTECHNOLOGY

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For Further Reading

Wu et al., (2014) Recent advances intaste cell- and receptor-based biosensors

Haruyama T (2003) Micro- andnanobiotechnology for biosensing cellular responses