Programmable Nuclease-Based Biosensors for Medical Diagnostics, Food Safety and Beyond Applications

A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosensor Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 1759

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
Interests: bioanalysis; food safety; biosensor; CRISPR-Dx; argonaute-based biosensing; aptamer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
Interests: CRISPR/Cas system; argonaute; virus detection; biosensor; food safety

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
Interests: disease biomarkers; medical diagnostics; nanobiosensing; point-of-care testing; miRNA detection

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, programmable nuclease-based biosensors have emerged as advanced bioanalytical tools in various fields. These biosensors utilize the principle of a guided enzyme to target and cleave specific nucleic acid sequences, achieving highly selective and sensitive detection in molecular diagnostics. Their adaptability allows such biosensors to be tailored for detecting different targets, presenting a wide range of potential applications. In medical diagnostics, programmable nuclease-based biosensors show promise in detecting disease biomarkers, pathogens, genetic mutations, etc. In the field of food safety, programmable nuclease sensors could be used for the rapid and on-site detection of harmful substances and pathogenic microorganisms to ensure food quality and safety. In addition, this technology has a wide range of potential applications, including environmental monitoring, agricultural and forest science, and beyond. The design and development of highly efficient programmable nuclease biosensors has become a research focus in recent years. The programmable nucleases developed in recent years include Cas12a, Cas13a, Cas9, Cas14a, dCas9, Argonautes, and so on.

For this Special Issue, we welcome original research papers as well as reviews on current developments in the design of high-sensitivity and high-selectivity bioanalysis systems with programmable nucleases for medical diagnostics, food safety, and other related areas. Theoretical and fundamental research on the recognition/cleavage mechanisms of programmable nucleases for biosensing is also encouraged. The design and development of lab-on-a-chip devices, wearable and plug-and-play biosensors, and portable platforms for point-of-care (POC) applications are of particular interest. Reviews should provide an in-depth examination of the most recent research in a specific context or discuss the existing and future issues related to programmable nuclease-based biosensors.

Prof. Dr. Long Ma
Dr. Lijuan Yin
Dr. Weipan Peng
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • programmable nucleases
  • CRISPR/Cas
  • argonaute
  • biosensor
  • food safety
  • medical diagnostics

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 2016 KiB  
Article
Entropy-Driven Molecular Beacon Assisted Special RCA Assay with Enhanced Sensitivity for Room Temperature DNA Biosensing
by Shurui Tao, Yi Long and Guozhen Liu
Biosensors 2024, 14(12), 618; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios14120618 - 15 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1286
Abstract
The Phi29 DNA polymerase is renowned for its processivity in synthesizing single-stranded DNA amplicons by rolling around a circularized DNA template. However, DNA synthesis rolling circle amplification (RCA) is significantly hindered by the secondary structure in the circular template. To overcome this limitation, [...] Read more.
The Phi29 DNA polymerase is renowned for its processivity in synthesizing single-stranded DNA amplicons by rolling around a circularized DNA template. However, DNA synthesis rolling circle amplification (RCA) is significantly hindered by the secondary structure in the circular template. To overcome this limitation, an engineered circular template without secondary structure could be utilized to improve the sensitivity of RCA-based assays without increasing its complexity. We herein proposed an entropy-driven special RCA technology for the detection of HPV16 E7 gene at room temperature. The strategy is composed of a molecular beacon containing a loop region for nucleic acid target recognition and a stem region to initiate RCA. With the target analyte, the stem region of the molecular beacon will be exposed and then hybridized with a special circular template to initiate the DNA amplification. We tested different designs of the molecular beacon sequence and optimized the assay’s working conditions. The assay achieved a sensitivity of 1 pM in 40 min at room temperature. The sensitivity of this assay, at 1 pm, is about a hundred-fold greater than that of conventional linear RCA performed in solution. Our proposed sensor can be easily reprogrammed for detecting various nucleic acid markers by altering the molecular beacon’s loop. Its simplicity, rapid assay time, and low cost make it superior to RCA sensors that utilize similar strategies. Full article
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