CELL BASED BIOSENSORS
Advantages:
- cheaper to isolate than individual cell components
- often less susceptible to changes in environmental conditions
- therefore often have an extended lifetime
Disadvantages:
- longer response time (additional transport through cell wall)
- often not as specific as isolated enzyme sensors
EXAMPLE OF A CELL BASED BIOSENSOR
Immobilizing the bacterium Acetobacter xylinium on an oxygen electrode offers the
possibility of measuring ethanol in a medium.
The measurement takes advantage of the respiratory activity of the bacterium. The
immobilized bacterium behind the membrane metabolizes the ethanol with oxygen to
acidic acid and water. This leads to an oxygen decrease in the biocatalytic
layer which can then be measured by an electrode.
Fig 6: Ethanol assay with a biosensor
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