Bioluminescent Biosensors Based on Genetically Engineered Living Cells in Environmental and Food Analysis

Abstract

The development of cost‐effective on‐site analytical methods is an urgent need to monitor food safety and detect environmental pollution. Whole‐cell biosensors have shown the potential to complement both laboratory‐based and on‐field analytical methods for the detection of general stress conditions, cyto‐ and genotoxic compounds, organic xenobiotics and metals, as well as endocrine disrupting compounds.

The sensitive and rapid detection of biochemiluminescence, combined with the specificity or selectivity of gene regulation in living cells, offers significant advantages over conventional analytical methods, providing data on the bioavailability and biological activity of contaminants; this information is very valuable for risk assessment purposes the identification of suitable remediation systems. Moreover, complex pretreatment of the environmental sample, as in usual chemical analysis techniques, is often not necessary for biosensor measurements.

Keywords:

• Whole‐cell biosensor
• bioluminescence
• food analysis
• heavy metals
• endocrine disruptors