Advances in antibody-based biosensors in environmental monitoring

Abstract Environmental monitoring is a process of assessing the quality of atmosphere and its effects on climate changes flora and fauna. The numbers of harmful pollutants have increased over the period of time. Thus environmental monitoring has become crucial and requires devices with high precision, sensitivity, and specificity for proper monitoring. Biosensors provide rapid and sensitive analytical tools for the detection of a range of pollutants and currently being used for environmental monitoring. This chapter particularly focuses on applications of antibody-based biosensors for environmental monitoring and discusses the progress made over the years. Applications, strength, and limitations of antibody-based sensor technology are discussed with the examples of recent development. Further, chapter summarizes the scope for antibody-based sensor technology in environmental monitoring of pathogens and emerging contaminants; economic feasibility, time, and reliability. In addition, chapter discusses the benefits of antibody-based sensor technology in environmental monitoring (pathogens and emerging contaminants) over other methods.