Machine Learning-Assisted Biosensing in Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Rapid, sensitive, specific, and cost-effective detection is paramount throughout the agri-food-environment chain—from monitoring soil health, crop diseases, pesticide residues, and environmental hazards to ensuring food safety, quality control, and traceability. Traditional analytical methods often fall short in meeting these demands due to limitations in speed, cost, portability, or complexity. Biosensors offer promising alternatives, but challenges remain in enhancing their sensitivity, specificity, multiplexing capability, robustness in complex matrices, and data interpretation.

This Special Issue focuses on how machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionizing biosensor development and deployment. We seek contributions demonstrating ML integration in the following areas: optimizing biosensor design (biorecognition elements, transducers, architectures); processing and enhancing complex, noisy signals (improving SNR, enabling multiplexing); automating large-scale data analysis (predictive analytics, classification, anomaly detection); facilitating sensor fusion and calibration; and developing smart, field-deployable systems for real-time decision support.

We invite original research papers and comprehensive reviews addressing both fundamental advances and practical applications. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following: ML-enhanced electrochemical, optical, acoustic wave, conductive/impedance, and semiconductor biosensors; and applications in precision agriculture, livestock health, food safety, food quality/freshness monitoring, and environmental pollutant detection.

Dr. Hao Zhang
Dr. Junfeng Wu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biosensors is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.