ABSTRACT
Biorecognition, the ability to recognize a specific biomolecular analyte from a complex sample, is key to the detection and quantification of biomolecules. Often, the physiological role of these analytes is well understood in terms of their interactions with other biomolecular components. This knowledge can be exploited to identify biomolecular elements that can serve as recognition components in a sensing system. Analytes of interest are diverse in nature and include nucleic acids, proteins or peptide fragments, polysaccharides, or even small molecules. Several methodologies have evolved to recognize different kinds of analytes, some of which are based directly on the role of the analyte in the living system (in cases where the analyte is native to the living system) while others are based on imitating the immunological response of the analyte (in cases where the analyte is extraneous to the living system). Complementary to detection methodologies, there have been numerous developments in experimental and computational techniques to identify and produce such biomolecules in an efficient manner, as well as to conjugate these biomolecules with artificial sensing platforms. While the field of biorecognition is not new in the strict sense of the term, it deserves to be recognized as an important subdiscipline of engineering. As biosensing and targeted therapeutics increase in relevance, the availability of a framework around organizing the information relevant to biorecognition will simplify and streamline the development process.
