SensNews November 2018

Sensor100 November 2018 20 A novel biosensor to advance diverse high-level production of microbial cell factories A research group at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a novel biosensor which can produce diverse, high-level microbial cell factories.The biosensor monitors the concentration of products and even intermedi- ates when new strains are being developed.This strategy provides a new platform for manufacturing diverse natural products from renewable resources.The team succeed- ed in creating four natural products of high-level pharmaceutical importance with this strategy. Reported by Science Daily 11 October Nanopore sensors make breakthrough in moni- toring health and disease Until now a lack of selectivity for metabolites has hindered development of next-gen- eration devices. Giovanni Maglia and colleagues at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have overcome this problem using a membrane-spanning nanopore, already applied as a fast, low-cost method of sequencing DNA. The team lodged spe- cific metabolite-binding proteins within the nanopore cavity: GBP for binding glucose and SBD1 for the amino acid asparagine.When these proteins bind their substrate it causes a conformational change that alters the electrical current across the nanopore, which can then be used to provide real-time accurate read outs of the metabolites passing through the pore from bodily fluids. Source: © Macmillan Publishers Ltd Cut-through of a surface depiction of a nanopore (grey) inserted into a lipid bilayer (yellow) containing a glucose-binding protein (GBP). On the right are cartoon representations of GBP proteins in the open, li- gand-free state and closed, liganded state. Right from the cartoon is a typical output signal (current trace) showing the entry of GBP proteins inside the nanopore. Reported by: ChemistryWorld 17 October