ABSTRACT
Nanotechnology has emerged as a versatile and most promising area of research that has potential applications in everyday life. Glucose monitoring, diseases screening, health checkup, and quality assessment of air, water, food and agricultural products are routine practices that demand reliable and highly sensitive sensing tools. Here, we highlight nanobiosensors as highly reliable and sensitive biosensing approaches. Distinct and versatile properties of nanomaterials such as good conductivity, and physicochemical, electrochemical, optical, supramagnetic and mechanical properties allow constructing better biosensors over conventional sensors having a poor limit of detection. Quantum dots, nanotubes, nanowires, and magnetic and other nanoparticles enhance sensitivity and lower limit of detection by amplifying signals and providing novel signal transduction mechanisms such as electrochemical, optical, superparamagnetic, surface plasma resonance and Raman sensing. Electrochemical nanobiosensors, surface plasma resonance-based optical nanobiosensors, magnetic nanobiosensors, nanotube and nanowire-based nanobiosensors have massive applications in various health and environment sectors. Recent development in the application of nanobiosensors has revolutionized food and agriculture sectors with enabling detection of a very low level of food contaminants, pesticides, foodborne pathogens, toxins and plant metabolites to prevent its harmful effect to environment and health.
