The Environmental Biotechnology Lab

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) have become a serious problem due to their potential to mimic or antagonize the actions of endogenous hormones at the molecular level. Accumulation of these compounds in mammalian and plant tissues and exposure to humans through the food chains turn them into a real health risk. Owing to the chemical diversity of EDCs, there is a growing demand for new, fast and reliable methods for EDC detection. Biosensors that will answer these criteria, are usually built from two major components, the biorecognition element (enzymes, DNA, proteins, whole cells, etc.) intimately attached to a transducer (SPR, optic fiber, etc.) using a variety of techniques (adsorption, covalent binding, trapping, etc.). Even though each year some new compounds are added to the list of EDCs and in spite of the great progress in the field of the biosensors, there is still a serious lack of biosensors capable of high-resolution detection of these compounds.