Modern Probe-Assisted Methods for the Specific Detection of Bacteria

Abstract

This review intends to present an overview of methods currently under development for the specific and sensitive detection of pathogenic bacteria that exist in a variety of human environments. Bacteria continue to be a major health threat in general, and much effort is being deployed to counteract this problem. In a first instance, current and efficient techniques in use for the detection of bacteria are described. In a second instance, this review serves to compare the more conventional techniques to emerging technologies for the direct (non-labelled) detection of bacteria (referred to as “biosensors”). These approaches are mainly optical, piezoelectric, and electro-chemical in nature. They are cost-effective, quite sensitive, and potentially portable for rapid on-site/real-time detection, and rapid prevention. These devices are comprised of specific chemical/ biochemical probes immobilized onto physical transducers. This work also presents comparisons between the efficiencies (assay time and sensitivity) of various techniques being employed.