Nanobiosensors for Bioclinical Applications: Pros and Cons

In the last years, there was a growing demand for handheld, affordable and reliable analytical tools able in providing sensitive and effective monitoring of clinical biomarkers for the follow-up of many diseases. To this aim, the ensemble of biological elements and nanomaterials played a crucial role in the development of hybrid nanostructured biosensors for the bioclinical sector, with a noteworthy impact on humankind. Indeed, the design of nanoscale biosensors with improved sensitivity and versatility becomes possible owing to the progress in nanotechnology; on the other hand, the last trends in the rational design of custom-made bio-recognition elements with tailored features in terms of sensitivity and stability further boosted the potential of biosensors, especially when used in joint combination with smart nanomaterials. For these reasons, nanobiosensors will have an enormous impact on conventional medical practices by enabling early ultrasensitive diagnosis as well as long-term monitoring of clinical biomarkers by means of point-of-care diagnostics and home healthcare instrumentation. Herein, we report the overall scenario on nanobiosensors developed in the last few years, thanks to the exploitation of nanomaterials as signal amplifiers, bioreceptor labels and support modifiers, as well as to design nanoelectronics, microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip and point-of-care devices.