Biosensors
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Announcement: Final Biosensors Viewpoints
The July 2022 Viewpoints was the last for Explorer's Biosensors Technology Area. Explorer analysts will continue to watch for enhancements and opportunities in this area, and clients will be able to follow these developments in Smart and Networked Sensors and related Explorer Technology Areas, including Biomaterials, Human Augmentation, and Nanobiotechnology.
Archived Viewpoints
2022
2021
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December/January:
2021: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2022 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
Measuring Real-Time Plant Metabolism
Big Picture: Biosensors in the Food-and-Drink Industry -
February:
Smartphone-Integrated Biosensors For Diagnosing Covid-19
A New Graphene-Based Point-of-Care Biosensor
2020
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December/January:
2020: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2021 -
November:
Noninvasive Health-Sensing-Technology Development
Competing Technologies: Glucose Monitoring -
October:
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September:
Biosensor for Plant Cells
Protein Engineering and Synthetic Biology -
August:
Wearables for Testing Vitamin Levels
Big Picture: Wearables and Mobile Health -
July:
Sensitive Biosensors Using Gold Nanoparticles
Areas to Monitor: Surface-Plasmon Resonance -
June:
The Pandemic Crisis: Scenarios for the Future of Health Care
Scenarios Presentation: The Pandemic Crisis: Scenarios for the Future of Technology Development
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May:
The Pandemic Crisis: Key Forces That Will Shape the Future of Health Care
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April:
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March:
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February:
Sensing and Sequencing with Nanopores
Screening of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
2019
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December/January:
2019: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2020 -
November:
Diagnostic Tools for Veterinary Medicine
Biosensing with CRISPR -
October:
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September:
Robot-Assisted Testing of Reproductive Health
Sensors for Measuring Stress -
August:
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July:
Aptamers in Biosensors
Applications of Artificial Intelligence -
June:
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May:
Do-It-Yourself Diagnostics
An Upgrade for Sniffer Dogs and Breathalyzers -
April:
Portable 3D-Printed Biosensors
Advances in Terahertz Technologies -
March:
Continuous-Glucose-Monitoring Devices
Portable Diagnostic Device for Pathogens and Toxins -
February:
Detecting Salmonella in Food
Drug Detection Using Biosensors
2018
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December/January:
2018: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2019 -
November:
Arsenic Detection in Water
Monitoring Athletes' Lactate Levels -
October:
High-Throughput Mass Spectrometry
Tiny Sensor for Alcohol Monitoring -
September:
J&J Exits Highly Competitive Diabetes-Device Market
Microphysiological Systems -
August:
PoC Infection-Type Test Moves toward Commercialization
Point-of-Care Blood Testing -
July:
FDA Drive for Novel Devices for Tackling the Opioid Crisis
Metagenomic Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases -
June:
Noninvasive Glucose Measurement
Biosensors for Foodborne-Bacteria Detection -
May:
Processing DNA Storage
Bacteria-Based Sensors for Environmental Defense -
April:
Biosensors in Smart Food Packaging
Biosensors and Personalized Nutrition -
March:
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February:
Biosensors in Antibiotics Development
Synergistic Technology: Improving Protein Purification
2017
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December/January:
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November:
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October:
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September:
Opportunities for Wearable-Biosensor Development in Health Care
Yeast-Based Biosensors -
August:
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July:
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June:
Magnetic Fields Speed Up Biosensors
Biosensors Enabling Personalized Medicine -
May:
Wearable Biosensors: The Smart Contact Lens
Wearable Biosensors: The Lab-on-a-Glove -
April:
Could Changes at the US FDA Speed Up Novel-Medical-Device Approvals?
Nanoimprint Lithography for FET-Based Biosensors -
March:
Wireless Biosensor for Clinical Trials
Temperature-Sensitive Artificial Skin -
February:
Improving Graphene-Based Biosensors
Water-Security Opportunities
2016
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December/January:
2016: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2017 -
November:
Consumer Whole-Genome Sequencing Progresses
Biosensors: Accelerating Bioengineering -
October:
Turning Eukaryotes into Biosensors with Synthetic Biology
Developments in Smart Contact Lenses -
September:
Monitoring Soil Bacteria in Real Time
Miniaturization and Portability Are Driving Biosensor Growth -
August:
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July:
AstraZeneca's Genome-Sequencing Drive
Polarization Anisotropy Diagnostics for Bacterial Infections -
June:
Competition for Biosensors from Implantable Chemical Sensors
Toehold-Switch Biosensors -
May:
Biosensors for Accelerating Synthetic Biology
Concussion Diagnostics -
April:
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March:
DNA Bar Coding
PEGylated Bacteriophage Biosensor for Prostate Cancer -
February:
2015
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December/January:
2015: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2016 -
November:
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October:
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September:
Mandatory DNA Profiling for an Entire Country
Biosensors for Biomanufacturing -
August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
Biosensor Electronic Noses
DTC Genetic Testing Expands and Grows -
March:
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February:
2014
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December/January:
2014: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2015 -
November:
Forensic Epigenetics
Molybdenite Betters Graphene in FET-Based Biosensors -
October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
Nanobioreactors for Biosensing
Clinical Microbial Sequencing -
June:
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2013
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December/January:
2013: The Year in Review
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November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
Personalized Health Care: Significance of Gene-Patenting Ruling
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July:
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2012
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December/January:
2012: The Year in Review
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November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Bond-Rupture Scanning May Create New Biosensor Possibilities
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2011
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December/January:
2011: The Year in Review
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November:
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2010
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December/January:
2010: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2011 -
November:
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October:
New Competing Technologies: Terahertz Spectroscopy and Microscale Ultrasonics
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September:
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2009
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December/January:
2009: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2010 -
November:
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October:
Lab-on-a-Chip Biosensors
Recent Developments: Whole-Genome Sequencing: Closer to Commercialization -
September:
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2008
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December/January:
2008: The Year in Review
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November:
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2007
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December/January:
2007: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2008 -
November:
Thin-Film Batteries: Powering Innovations in Biosensor Technology?
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October:
Environmental Biosensors: Screening Contaminated Air, Land, and Water
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September:
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August:
Biosensors for Label-Free Detection of Molecular Interactions
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July:
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June:
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May:
Curing Diabetes: Disruptive Technologies for Blood-Glucose Biosensors
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April:
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March:
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February:
Surface-Plasmon-Resonance Biosensors: Players and Developments
2006
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December/January:
2006: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2007 -
November:
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May:
Nanotechnology, Biosensors—and Pasta
Recent Developments: New Biosensors Market Data -
April:
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2005
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December/January:
2005: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2006 -
November:
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October:
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June:
Optical Biosensors for Cancer Management
Recent Developments: Enzyme-Powered Fuel Cell -
May:
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2004
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December/January:
2004: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2005 -
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2003
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December/January:
2003: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2004 -
November:
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Recent Developments: MEMS Technology Services from MST-charged | EU-Funded biosensor Research
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2002
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December/January:
2002: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2003 -
November:
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Ongoing EC-Funded Biosensor Research
Recent Developments: Microcantilever Biosensor -
April:
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March:
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February:
Cloned Pigs and Rejection-Free Transplants
Recent Developments: Live Spores for Real-Time Biosensing
2001
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December/January:
2001: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2002 -
November:
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June:
Activites at Oxford Biosensors
Recent Developments: Nucleic Acid Biosensor -
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2000
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December/January:
2000: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2001 -
November:
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October:
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September:
Advances in Optical Biosensors
Recent Developments: Technique for Synthesizing Antibody Substitutes -
August:
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July:
Patient Monitoring System for Prostate Cancer
Recent Developments: New Coatings and Clots -
June:
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1999
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December/January:
1999: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2000 -
November:
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August:
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Before August 1999, the Explorer service was called TechMonitoring, and Viewpoints were TechLinks.
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1998
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December/January:
1998: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1999 -
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1997
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December/January:
1997: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1998 -
November:
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October:
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Transplantation Therapy for Diabetics
Recent Developments: Biacore's New Sensor Probe -
April:
Quantech to Introduce SPR-Based Biosensor in 1997
Recent Developments: A Biosensor for E. coli -
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1996
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December/January:
1996: The Year in Review
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European Research into Sensors for In Vivo Glucose Monitoring
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December/January:
1995: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1996
About Biosensors
February 2022
Biosensors represent a powerful technological development in analytical measurement. Biosensors have the ability to measure the presence, absence, or concentration of specific organic or inorganic substances and to do so accurately, with rapid response time, and with high levels of specificity. Their perceived advantages over existing technologies include the ability to monitor broad or narrow spectra of analytes in real time and to allow decentralized analyte testing at the level of single-molecule interactions. Their perceived weaknesses include the instability of the biological molecules outside their natural environment, which results in a restricted shelf life and intensive research and development requirements.
Biosensors find commercial application in the areas of food-quality control, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and environmental monitoring and find greatest use in health care—especially in patient monitoring. A common requirement of all these applications is on-site analysis, preferably on a real-time basis. The resulting benefits of closer monitoring range from a more efficient industrial-productions process to better-informed legislation on safety standards and population exposure to chemical and biological hazards. However, the market demand for biosensors in nonhealth applications will accelerate only when cheap and reliable biosensor technologies become available. The apparent opportunities in biosensor commercialization have led to interest by many large electronics and life-sciences companies. However, without the technical skills, the delivery channels, or a unique, differentiated, biosensor offering, players will have great difficulty in entering the market. Given the cost and complexity of biosensor development, a model of strategic cooperation is finding wide adoption.
Bottlenecks in the technical development of biosensors include the difficulty of fabricating devices in bulk and the single- or restricted multiple-use nature of most biosensors currently available (leading to the need continuously to repurchase device components as well as consumables). In addition, the combination of electronic and biological components in a working device is difficult and expensive to achieve and requires significant cross-discipline research. The high cost of biosensor development reduces the potential for biosensor use in low-cost applications. Because several competing technologies to biosensors exist (including dipstick tests and such laboratory techniques as spectrophotometry), the commercial success of biosensors hinges on their use in applications in which they have a unique performance advantage such as simplicity of use, greater sensitivity, faster response time, or the ability to monitor an analyte continuously. Even in the largest markets (such as glucose monitoring) that biosensors can access, competition on price or technology alone is unlikely to form the basis of a successful strategy.