Biotechnological and computational approaches for the development of biosensors

For ages, humans have developed technologies to exploit living organisms and their metabo- ism to produce food (e.g., bread, cheese and wine). Modern biotechnology implies the ndustrial use of scientific knowledge of cellular and molecular processes to make or modify ts, to improve plants and animals, or to develop microorganism for specific uses. Nowadays, the term biotechnology is associated with techniques such as genetic engineering, cell fusion, novel bioprocessing, bioremediation etc. The introduction of genetic manipulations in large-scale processing has raised several questions regarding health risks for consumers and environ- ment. Moreover, the scenario regarding biotechnology perception and acceptance is rather complex (for a review: Plant Genetic Engineering. Towards the Third Millennium. Proceedings of the Inter- national Symposium on Plant Genetic Engineering edited by A.D. Arencibia, Elsevier Press, 2000). Among Europeans, there has been great suspicion and reluctance to accept genetically modified food on a wide scale, though medical and environmental applications of biotechnology have been recognised as useful and subsequently have been favoured.2 Over the past ten years, biotech devices (biosensors) have been developed to monitor polluting molecules. Biosensors employ natural or genetically engineered living organisms, or part of them, whose use is tightly controlled so as to prevent their release into the environment. Moreover, the lack of ethical and moral implications have contributed to generate their approval from the public.