A survey of the current state and probable direction of development of research activity internationally in electroanalytical chemistry and sensor technology

The current state of sensor and electroanalysis research internationally sees a large number of researchers working on many types of sensors such as enzyme biosensors, DNA chips, metal ion sensors, gas sensors, whole cell biosensors and immunosensors.  The main applications are for point-of-care medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring and food analysis with the point-of-care market being the most keenly sought.  Company involvement in this field is particularly strong in the US (where there is an increasing interest in personal medicine) and Europe, although Australia has some emerging commercial enterprises such as AMBRI Psivida and Raustech Ltd.  Sensor and electroanalysis research is currently going through a period of intense interest in a number of directions:

• Perhaps the area of most intense interest is in DNA diagnostic devices for disease detection and proteomic applications. 

• Related to the clinical diagnostics, biosensing technologies which are non-invasive are attracting considerable attention

• Electroanalytical and sensing devices for the monitoring of the chemical speciation of heavy metals to ascertain the biological uptake and environmental impact of heavy metals, using either chemical recognition or biorecognition of elements, as a consequence of the strict regulation of water quality in environmental science.

• Nanotechnology is also impacting on sensor and electroanalysis research in a number of ways. 

  • The principles of bottom-up fabrication of Nanotechnology has seen a push towards molecular level fabrication of recognition interfaces
  • Molecular scale electronic materials such as carbon nanotubes and molecular wires are of interest to solve the problem of efficient communication with the biological molecules and hence to provide a useful signal to the end user.
  • Nanoscale particles are being used to produce nanoscale biosensors for in-vivo monitoring, and novel recognition elements that are capable of detecting ultra trace levels of species (e.g., dozens of molecules or ions).

• An important approach to creating new commercial opportunities in electroanalysis and sensing is the production of new recognition elements, whether they be newly synthesized, or produced from biological origin.

• The complex biological chemistry of biotechnologically important systems may be interrogated and understood using sensor and electroanalysis devices.

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