Oversikt over biosensorer for identifikasjon av biologiske våpen

This review discusses biosensors for identification of toxic material of defence interest with particular emphasis on biological weapons. Biosensors are defined as analytical devices combining the molecular recognition capabilities of biomolecules with electronics for signal measurement. Although, an enormous effort is being put into developing biosensors, relatively few analytes, especially toxic materials, can yet be measured by commercially available devices. Thus not all toxic materials of possible interest to defence forces can currently be detected by biosensors. Biosensors are required in an automatic, unattended, remote sensing mode or carried as part of an analytical test system to be used under field conditions. Under field condition the equipment will usually be carried in a vehicie. It is required that a biosensor is highly selective for their designed analytes in a matrix of other chemical or biological elements. In this review, the types of biological components of biosensors used for identification of biological weapons and toxins will be discussed. Different biosensors using antibodies (immunosensors) as the sensing element are reviewed. Sensors using nucleic acid (DNA) technology are discussed. Especially the polymerase chain technique (PCR) is described and the future potential of using PCR technique for identification of biological weapons. Biosensors using enzymes or receptors as the sensing elements are also mentioned. So far these sensors are not very useful for identification of biological weapons.