SUMMARY
Electrochemical biosensors present a potential advance in the field of disease diagnosis by providing immediate and accurate results in the detection of pre-specified targets. In most cases, the successful diagnosis and treatment of diseases is reliant upon out-of-date testing instruments that are no longer adequate. For this reason, it is important to explore the novel combination of established testing methods with modern technology. For the case of alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency (A1AD), a complete diagnosis currently requires a minimum of three individual tests performed using blood serum. The use of a specialized biosensor to detect a deficiency and the form of A1AT could potentially have a dramatic increase in diagnosing carriers of genetic mutations in the A1AT gene sequence that predispose them to early-onset emphysema. The use of an electrochemical biosensor could replace the need for all three of these tests within one instrument. The biosensor would incorporate an electrochemical quartz crystal nanobalance (EQCN) with an electrode surface that has been functionalized with a biological agent that would bind to an analyte that confirms A1AD. A visual representation of the electrode surface is provided in Figure 1 for the binding of an analyte on the functionalized gold surface. Lomant’s Reagent, dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate) (DSP), has been used in several other biosensors to functionalize the gold surface of the electrode (4). DSP is a preferred reagent due to the functionality provided by the carboxyl group as well as the length of the carbon backbone.Electrochemical biosensors present a potential advance in the field of disease diagnosis by providing immediate and accurate results in the detection of pre-specified targets. In most cases, the successful diagnosis and treatment of diseases is reliant upon out-of-date testing instruments that are no longer adequate. For this reason, it is important to explore the novel combination of established testing methods with modern technology. For the case of alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency (A1AD), a complete diagnosis currently requires a minimum of three individual tests performed using blood serum. The use of a specialized biosensor to detect a deficiency and the form of A1AT could potentially have a dramatic increase in diagnosing carriers of genetic mutations in the A1AT gene sequence that predispose them to early-onset emphysema.The use of an electrochemical biosensor could replace the need for all three of these tests within one instrument. The biosensor would incorporate an electrochemical quartz crystal nanobalance (EQCN) with an electrode surface that has been functionalized with a biological agent that would bind to an analyte that confirms A1AD. A visual representation of the electrode surface is provided in Figure 1 for the binding of an analyte on the functionalized gold surface. Lomant’s Reagent, dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate) (DSP), has been used in several other biosensors to functionalize the gold surface of the electrode (4). DSP is a preferred reagent due to the functionality provided by the carboxyl group as well as the length of the carbon backbone.