Electrochemical Sensors for Food Safety

Food safety poses an increasing threat to human health worldwide. The development of analytical methods and techniques to ensure food safety is therefore of great importance. Electrochemical sensors provide unique opportunity to realize sensitive, accurate, rapid, and portable detection for food safety. They have the potential to overcome the restrictions and limitations of traditional methods. In this chapter, we review the progress of electrochemical sensors for the detection of food contaminants including heavy metals, illegal additives, pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, biological toxins, and foodborne pathogen. Future perspectives and challenges are also discussed

Pursuing precision in medicine and nutrition: the rise of electrochemical biosensing at the molecular level

In the era that we seek personalization in material things, it is becoming increasingly clear that the individualized management of medicine and nutrition plays a key role in life expectancy and quality of life, allowing participation to some extent in our welfare and the use of societal resources in a rationale and equitable way. The implementation of precision medicine and nutrition are highly complex challenges which depend on the development of new technologies able to meet important requirements in terms of cost, simplicity, and versatility, and to determine both individually and simultaneously, almost in real time and with the required sensitivity and reliability, molecular markers of different omics levels in biofluids extracted, secreted (either naturally or stimulated), or circulating in the body. Relying on representative and pioneering examples, this review article critically discusses recent advances driving the position of electrochemical bioplatforms as one of the winning horses for the implementation of suitable tools for advanced diagnostics, therapy, and precision nutrition. In addition to a critical overview of the state of the art, including groundbreaking applications and challenges ahead, the article concludes with a personal vision of the imminent roadmap.The financial support of PID2019-103899RBI00 (Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación), and PMP22/00084, PI17CIII/00045, PI20CIII/00019 and PI22/00727 (AES-ISCIII) cofounded with FEDER funds Research Projects and the TRANSNANOAVANSENS-CM Program from the Comunidad de Madrid (Grant S2018/NMT-4349) are gratefully acknowledged. Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.S

FluCell-SELEX Aptamers as Specific Binding Molecules for Diagnostics of the Health Relevant Gut Bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila

Based on their unique properties, oligonucleotide aptamers have been named a gift of biological chemistry to life science. We report the development of DNA aptamers as the first high-affinity binding molecules available for fast and rapid labeling of the human gut bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila with a certain impact on Alzheimer´s disease. Fast and reliable analyses of the composition of microbiomes is an emerging field in microbiology. We describe the molecular evolution and biochemical characterization of a specific aptamer library by a FluCell-SELEX and the characterization of specific molecules from the library by bioinformatics. The aptamer AKK13.1 exerted universal applicability in different analysis techniques in modern microbiology, including fluorimetry, confocal laser scanning microscopy and flow cytometry. It was also functional as a specific binding entity hybridized to anchor primers chemically coupled via acrydite-modification to the surface of a polyacrylamide-hydrogel, which can be prototypically used for the construction of affinity surfaces in sensor chips. Together, the performance and methodological flexibility of the aptamers presented here may open new routes not only to develop novel Akkermansia-specific assays for clinical microbiology and the analyses of human stool samples but may also be an excellent starting point for the construction of novel electronic biosensors

Biosensores y plataformas sensoras de ADN con transducción electroquímica para la detección y cuantificación de soja genéticamente modificada en alimentos y piensos

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Farmacia, Departamento de Química Analítica, leída el 06/04/2017. Tesis formato europeo (compendio de artículos)In the nearly two decades since they were first commercialized, genetically engineered crops have gained ground on their conventional counterparts, reaching nearly 180 million hectares worldwide in 2015. The technology has bestowed most of its benefits on enhancing crop productivity with two main traits currently dominating the market: insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant crops. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are conventionally obtained through the introduction of foreign DNA fragments into the host genome via genetically engineering techniques. The modified organism, i.e. plant, will then be able to express new protein(s) confering it with the novel, desired trait(s), e.g. herbicide tolerance. Plants such as maize and soybean have been modified to withstand weed-killing chemicals or resist insect pests to increase yields and improve profits to farmers. Despite their rapid and vast adoption by farmers worldwide, GMOs have generated heated debates, especially in European countries, driven mostly by consumers concerned about safety of transgenic foods and about the potential impact of their release into the environment. The European Union (EU) has established the mandatory labeling of GMOs in food and feed above a certain threshold (0.9%, based on the ingredient). In the list of ingredients the term "genetically modified" must appear (next to the ingredient in question). Below such level, labeling is not mandatory provided that the presence of GM material is proven to be accidental or technically unavoidable. The need to monitor GMOs and to verify compliance with EU legislation has driven the development of analytical methods able to detect and quantify GMOs in crops, and in food and feed products...Los cultivos genéticamente modificados han ganado terreno desde que han sido comercializados hace casi dos décadas, habiendo alcanzado en 2015 casi 180 millones de hectáreas en el mundo, lo que sobrepasa el área destinada a cultivos convencionales. La tecnología ha permitido mejorar la productividad de los cultivos, existiendo dos tipos de modificación genética que actualmente dominan el mercado: la resistencia a insectos y la tolerancia a herbicidas. Los organismos genéticamente modificados (OGMs) se obtienen, normalmente, mediante la inserción de un fragmento de ADN de una especie diferente a la especie receptora, a través de la introducción de fragmentos de ADN al genoma receptor, a través de técnicas de ingeniería genética. El organismo modificado (planta) será capaz de expresar una o más proteínas nuevas que le conferirá la característica deseada (p. ej., tolerancia a herbicidas). Plantas como el maíz o la soja han sido modificadas para tolerar agentes químicos que eliminan malas hierbas o para expresar proteínas insecticidas y resistir enfermedades, siendo el resultado un aumento en el rendimiento de los cultivos y en los beneficios económicos adquiridos por los agricultores...Depto. de Química en Ciencias FarmacéuticasFac. de FarmaciaTRUEunpu

Advancement in electrochemical DNA-biosensors for GMOs detection: A review

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are plants or animals whose genetic make-up has been transformed by recombinant DNA technology, which has new features such as resistance to herbicides, virus and insect. Recently, genetic modification of food products has increased in order to reduce world poverty and hunger and increase food production However, the impact of GMOs on the human health is a growing concern worldwide. Due to increased global production of GMOs, the presence of these in food products need to be monitored and has been attended by many researchers recently. The quick, simple, accurate and sensitive detection methods for these products have attracted the attention. Electrochemical DNA biosensors as one of these fast methods are highly studied by many researchers due to their high sensitivity, low cost, rapid reaction and the possibility of working in aqueous solutions. The present review will focus on several studies on the detection of GMO based on electrochemical biosensors

Wearable electrochemical biosensors in North America

Tremendous research and commercialization efforts around the world are focused on developing novel wearable electrochemical biosensors that can noninvasively and continuously screen for biochemical markers in body fluids for the prognosis, diagnosis and management of diseases, as well as the monitoring of fitness. Researchers in North America are leading the development of innovative wearable platforms that can comfortably comply to the human body and efficiently sample fluids such as sweat, interstitial fluids, tear and saliva for the electrochemical detection of biomarkers through various sensing approaches such as potentiometric ion selective electrodes and amperometric enzymatic sensors. We start this review with a historical timeline overviewing the major milestones in the development of wearable electrochemical sensors by North American institutions. We then describe how such research efforts have led to pioneering developments and are driving the advancement and commercialization of wearable electrochemical sensors: from minimally invasive continuous glucose monitors for chronic disease management to non-invasive sweat electrolyte sensors for dehydration monitoring in fitness applications. While many countries across the globe have contributed significantly to this rapidly emerging field, their contributions are beyond the scope of this review. Furthermore, we share our perspective on the promising future of wearable electrochemical sensors in applications spanning from remote and personalized healthcare to wellness

Emerging Trends in Biogenic Amines Analysis

Biogenic amines are low-molecular-mass substances, essential for proper health for all organisms. These compounds could be detrimental to human health with various toxicological effects when they are present in high concentrations. Therefore, biogenic amines monitoring in food samples is a matter of utmost importance, and their accurate determination is considered indispensable. Under this context, we provide an overview over the most widely employed analytical techniques for biogenic amines determination such as chromatographic techniques and biosensors, emphasizing on new approaches. A critical comparison of the techniques is also given, presenting their advantages and drawbacks regarding important analytical characteristics such as sensitivity. Finally, we focus on foods in which biogenic amines mainly occur such as fish, meat and wine and other fermented products

A Portable and Automatic Biosensing Instrument for Detection of Foodborne Pathogenic Bacteria in Food Samples

Foodborne diseases are a growing public health problem. In recent years, many rapid detection methods have been reported, but most of them are still in lab research and not practical for use in the field. In this study, a portable and automatic biosensing instrument was designed and constructed for separation and detection of target pathogens in food samples using nanobead-based magnetic separation and quantum dots (QDs)-labeled fluorescence measurement. The instrument consisted of a laptop with LabVIEW software, a data acquisition card (DAQ), a fluorescent detector, micro-pumps, stepper motors, and 3D printed tube holders. First, a sample in a syringe was mixed with magnetic nanobead-antibody (MNB-Ab) conjugates and then injected to a low binding reaction tube. After incubation and magnetic separation, target bacterial cells were captured and collected and the solution was pumped out. Then the QD-antibody (QD-Ab) conjugates were pumped into the reaction tube to form the MNB-Ab-cell-Ab-QD complexes that were then collected by magnetic separation and resuspended in PBS buffer solution through air pressure control. Finally, the sample solution was pushed into the detection tube by an air pump and the fluorescence intensity was measured using a fluorescent detector. A virtual instrument (VI) was programmed using LabVIEW software to provide a platform for magnetic separation, fluorescent measurement, data processing, and control. The DAQ was used for data communication. The results showed that the separation efficiency of this instrument was 78.3 ± 3.4% and 60.7 ± 4.2% for E. coli O157:H7 in pure culture and ground beef samples, respectively. The limit of detection was 3.98 × 103 and 6.46 × 104 CFU/mL in pure culture and ground beef samples, respectively. Sample preparation and detection could be finished in 2 hours. The instrument was portable and automatic with great potential to serve as a more effective tool for in-field/on-line detection of foodborne pathogenic bacteria in food products

3D Printing of Dietary Products for the Management of Inborn Errors of Intermediary Metabolism in Pediatric Populations

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The incidence of Inborn Error of Intermediary Metabolism (IEiM) diseases may be low, yet collectively, they impact approximately 6–10% of the global population, primarily affecting children. Precise treatment doses and strict adherence to prescribed diet and pharmacological treatment regimens are imperative to avert metabolic disturbances in patients. However, the existing dietary and pharmacological products suffer from poor palatability, posing challenges to patient adherence. Furthermore, frequent dose adjustments contingent on age and drug blood levels further complicate treatment. Semi-solid extrusion (SSE) 3D printing technology is currently under assessment as a pioneering method for crafting customized chewable dosage forms, surmounting the primary limitations prevalent in present therapies. This method offers a spectrum of advantages, including the flexibility to tailor patient-specific doses, excipients, and organoleptic properties. These elements are pivotal in ensuring the treatment’s efficacy, safety, and adherence. This comprehensive review presents the current landscape of available dietary products, diagnostic methods, therapeutic monitoring, and the latest advancements in SSE technology. It highlights the rationale underpinning their adoption while addressing regulatory aspects imperative for their seamless integration into clinical practice.Peer reviewe