Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: azizraman@um.edu.my
  • 3 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Institute of Nanotechnology and Catalysis (NANOCAT), University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Biosens Bioelectron, 2017 Apr 15;90:125-139.
PMID: 27886599 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2016.11.039

Abstract

The presence of heavy metal in food chains due to the rapid industrialization poses a serious threat on the environment. Therefore, detection and monitoring of heavy metals contamination are gaining more attention nowadays. However, the current analytical methods (based on spectroscopy) for the detection of heavy metal contamination are often very expensive, tedious and can only be handled by trained personnel. DNA biosensors, which are based on electrochemical transduction, is a sensitive but inexpensive method of detection. The principles, sensitivity, selectivity and challenges of electrochemical biosensors are discussed in this review. This review also highlights the major advances of DNA-based electrochemical biosensors for the detection of heavy metal ions such as Hg(2+), Ag(+), Cu(2+) and Pb(2+).

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.