ABSTRACT
Biosensors hold great promise for the task of environmental monitoring and control (Bilitewski & Turner, 1999). The specific interaction of an immobilised biological layer with target pollutants provides the basis for analytical devices for laboratory or field use. While environmental applications of biocatalytic (enzyme) and immunosensors have greatly increased during the 1990s, little attention has been given to the development of nucleic acid probes for environmental surveillance. Advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have set the stage for exciting possibilities for DNA-based environmental biosensors (Wang & Rivas et al. 1996, 1997; Wang & Chicarro et al. 1996; Chiti et al. 2001; Lucarelli et al. 2002 (a), 2002 (b)). Such recognition layers could play a major role in future environmental analysis. Since the toxic action of numerous pollutants (e.g. carcinogens and mutagens) is related to their interaction with DNA, it is logical to exploit these events for designing new environmental biosensors.
