Chemosensors and Biosensors

Catalog description

Chemosensors and biosensors rely on "recognition" and "signaling" elements to transduce a molecular-scale binding event into an observable signal. Students in this course will be introduced to current research and technology for detecting chemical and biological analytes in a variety of contexts, including environmental testing, biological probing and medical diagnostics. Recognition elements ranging from small organic molecules to antibodies will be presented, while various detection modes, including fluorescence, gravimetric and colorimetric, that illustrate different signaling elements will be discussed and compared. Issues to be addressed include sensitivity, selectivity and efficiency. Each sensor will be analyzed in terms of the physical chemistry, organic chemistry and/or biochemistry underlying its function. This is a graduate level course that may also be appropriate for upper level undergraduates in chemistry and the biological sciences. The material in 09-518 / 09-519 or 09-718 / 09-719 would be appropriate background material for this course. 3 hrs. lec. Prerequisites: ( 03-121 or 03-232 or 03-231 ) and ( 09-220 or 09-218 )