Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Department of Genetic Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur 603203, Kanchipuram, Chennai, TN, India.
Int Microbiol. 2021 May;24(2):125-140. doi: 10.1007/s10123-020-00154-w. Epub 2021 Jan 6.
Waterborne ailments pose a serious threat to public health and are a huge economic burden. Lack of hygiene in drinking and recreational water is the chief source of microbial pathogens in developing countries. Poor water quality and sanitation account for more than 3.4 million deaths a year worldwide. This has urged authorities and researchers to explore different avenues of pathogen detection. There is a growing demand for rapid and reliable sensor technologies, in particular those that can detect in situ and perform in harsh conditions. Some of the major waterborne pathogens include Vibrio cholerae, Leptospira interrogans, Campylobacter jejuni, Shigella spp., enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Clostridium difficile, Cryptosporidium parvum, Entamoeba histolytica, and Hepatitis A virus. While conventional methods of pathogen detection like serodiagnosis and microbiological methods have been superseded by nucleic acid amplification methods, there is still potential for improvement. This review provides an insight into aptamers and their utility in the form of aptasensors. It discusses how aptamer-based approaches have emerged as a novel strategy and its advantages over more resource-intensive and complex biochemical approaches.
水传播疾病对公众健康构成严重威胁，也是一个巨大的经济负担。发展中国家饮用水和娱乐用水缺乏卫生是微生物病原体的主要来源。水质差和卫生条件差导致全世界每年有超过 340 万人死亡。这促使当局和研究人员探索病原体检测的不同途径。人们对快速可靠的传感器技术的需求不断增长，特别是那些能够在恶劣条件下进行原位检测的技术。一些主要的水传播病原体包括霍乱弧菌、钩端螺旋体、空肠弯曲菌、志贺氏菌属、肠产毒性大肠杆菌、艰难梭菌、微小隐孢子虫、溶组织内阿米巴和甲型肝炎病毒。虽然病原体检测的传统方法，如血清诊断和微生物方法已经被核酸扩增方法所取代，但仍有改进的空间。本综述深入探讨了适体及其在适体传感器中的应用。它讨论了基于适体的方法如何作为一种新策略出现，以及它相对于资源密集型和复杂的生化方法的优势。
