Entry #16 - Biosensors: A Smart Approach Towards Clinical Diagnostics And Healthier Environment

Arti Bhatnagar (Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, India) Dr. Jamson Masih (Wilson College, Mumbai, India), Ranjit Kumar (Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, India)

Bioaerosols, include airborne particles of biological origin such as bacteria, viruses, fungal spores, and pollen which have significant environmental and health implications. For human health, exposure to bioaerosols can lead to allergic reactions, respiratory illnesses, and even the spread of infectious diseases like influenza or COVID-19. They infect humans, plants and animals in a variety of ways – through food, air, water and soil, and are estimated to be responsible for more than 15 million deaths worldwide each year. The identification and characterization of bioaerosols are essential for understanding their impact on human health, environmental quality, and broader ecological systems. Characterizing these particles helps in identifying the sources and concentrations of potential allergens, pathogens, and toxins that may pose risks to populations, particularly in high-exposure environments like healthcare settings, agricultural sites, and indoor spaces with poor ventilation. The biological or biochemical processes in health and diseases focusing new targets for molecular diagnosis and therapeutics are very crucial to develop not only advance detection methodology but also need to update treatment regimen procedure. The development of fast and accurate detection and identification systems for biological components in environment has long been an important issue and is also need of the hour. This drives the scientific community to develop sensors to sense the changes in biological environment, able to monitor precisely and provide alerts of possible harm in real time against these pathogens.