Nucleic acid aptamer-based biosensor for health monitoring: A review and future prospects

Abstract

Functional nucleic acids, beyond their role as carriers of genetic information, exhibit a unique ability to bind specifically to biomarkers. Their notable advantages, including ease of synthesis, flexible labeling, high stability, and cost-effectiveness, have enabled their broad applications in diverse fields such as biomedicine, food safety, and environmental monitoring. In health monitoring, biomarkers found in biological samples—such as blood, sweat, urine, or soft tissues—can be analyzed to evaluate an individual’s health status. Biosensors, typically composed of a molecular recognition element and a signal transducer, enable such detection with high efficiency. Among them, those utilizing nucleic acid aptamers as recognition probes offer a versatile platform for identifying various biomarkers with excellent specificity and sensitivity. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the signal transduction mechanisms underlying aptamer-based sensors and highlights recent advances in their applications for health monitoring. Notably, health-related detection extends beyond disease diagnosis to include monitoring of foodborne and environmental factors that impact well-being. By integrating signal amplification strategies, numerous highly sensitive and selective biosensing techniques have been developed for detecting targets such as proteins, organic molecules, viruses, heavy metal ions, and bacteria, with significant implications for the medical and food safety domains. These advancements pave the way for novel applications of nucleic acid aptamers in chemistry, materials science, medicine, and environmental research, further expanding their potential in interdisciplinary fields.