Challenges and strategies in developing biosensors for immediate and specific detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Abstract

The increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is likely to exceed people's common awareness, and it poses a huge confusion for clinical medication timing. Accurate identification and timely reporting of antibiotic-resistant bacteria will reduce infections and deaths. While the developed identification methods of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are helpful to decrease possible danger, there is a dearth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria biosensors capable of dealing with public health emergencies and precisely distinguishing particular antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the field. This paper analyzes the challenges of building specific and immediate biosensors for antibiotic-resistant bacteria from both the recognition elements and sensing methods, and accordingly proposes the most promising solutions to these challenges. It has been found that the specificity and availability of targeting molecules and targets for antibiotic-resistant bacteria are major limits to develop antibiotic-resistant bacteria biosensors. The lack of on-site reporting capabilities further hinders the popularization of existing antibiotic-resistant bacteria biosensors. Through comparison among different recognition elements, aptamer may be the most promising targeting molecules for future antibiotic-resistant bacteria biosensors design. In addition, optically paper-based or membrane-based biosensors are recommended because of their simplicity and potential of rapid translation into field applications.