Biosensor could lead to new drugs, sensory organs on a chip - Phys.org

A study, "Cell-Free Synthesis Goes Electric: Dual Optical and Electronic Biosensor vie Direct Channel Integration into a Supported Membrane Electrode," was published Jan. 18 in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology.

"This technology really allows us to study these proteins in ways that would be incredibly challenging, if not impossible, with current technology," said first author Zachary Manzer, a doctoral student in the lab of senior author Susan Daniel, the Fred H. Rhodes Professor and director of the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell Engineering.

The researchers have created a biosensor that starts with a conducting polymer, which is soft and easy to work with, on top of a support that together act as an electric circuit that is monitored by a computer.

Scientists may now take the proteins being activated when we smell something and translate the results into this electronic system to sense things that might be undetectable with a chemical sensor."

The new sensor opens the door for pharmacologists to research how to create non-opioid pain medicines, or drugs to treat Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, which interact with cell membrane proteins.

More information: Zachary A. Manzer et al, Cell-Free Synthesis Goes Electric: Dual Optical and Electronic Biosensor via Direct Channel Integration into a Supported Membrane Electrode, ACS Synthetic Biology(2023).