Glucose and biosensors

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Glucose, or commonly known as sugar, was first isolated in 1747 by the German chemist Andrea Margraff. However, the cane sugar that we use as a sweetener is sucrose.

Glucose contains four asymmetric carbon atoms and is vital for biological processes as a source of energy in cells. The word comes from the Greek which means sweet.

Glucose plays a key role in the human body, normal blood levels are between 80 mg and 150 mg / dL, depending on the state of activity and even the time of day. Circulating glucose is obtained from the digestion of food or from organ reserves in the liver or muscle. Very low or very high glucose in blood could indicate complications in the body.



Glucose sensors are designed to detect glucose levels, are discreet and portable. The glucose oxidase biosensor (enzyme that will oxidize glucose) can be a test strip and is the most common type of glucose sensor. The enzymatic coating of the glucose sensor allows it to react to form an electrochemically measurable substance.

The biosensors can be part of a disposable test kit or a long-term monitoring device. Each system uses a combination of elements to quickly detect and measure each molecule. Due to their highly selective, sensitive, and easy-to-use capabilities, biosensors quickly recognize and measure glucose to aid in health monitoring.

The father of biosensors is Leland C. Clark Jr., who developed the first true biosensor in 1956.



The characteristics of a glucose biosensor must be selectivity, that is, it can detect glucose in a sample containing other impurities and mixtures, reproducibility, precision, and stability.

In addition to biosensors for glucose, we can find other biosensors for molecules of interest such as antibodies, pH, and lipids (fats). All have the mentioned characteristics, sensitive, precise, and stable.

We use biosensors for environmental monitoring, disease detection, food safety and control, drug detection and more. Indeed, biosensors are a clinical tool that can even detect cancer biomarkers.

The main application of biosensors is the detection of biomolecules such as glucose. They can save the life of a patient with diabetes by indicating abnormal glucose levels.



Glucose biosensors have been developed that help maintain normal blood glucose levels. This technology has improved significantly in the last 50 years. We already have devices that measure continuously glucose (monitoring up to two weeks every 10 minutes!). This is an advantage since a prick is not necessary to obtain a drop of blood, so the search for non-invasive sensors has paid off. Diabetes is the most common endocrine disorder of carbohydrate metabolism. It is the leading cause of death from disease worldwide and a serious health problem in most developed societies, for which we appreciate being able to detect glucose using biosensors.

Acknowledgement
To Dezső Sándor for compiling information