How insect cells can help us making biosensors?

For many years researchers have used parts of animals, tissues and cells to observe physical and chemical responses. Many areas of science and medicine have been studied using different species, tissue or cell types. Issues such as how to keep these organisms alive, optimal conditions (temperature, supplements, pH and sterility) have all been considered, with the intention of developing living, functioning biosensors for difficult to monitor compounds.
The aim of this project is to develop insect cell based biosensors based on the response of different cell lines to the presence of chemical substances, through both chemical and electrochemical signalling.

The initial data presented here shows the development of potentially suitable cell lines (Sf21 and BME/CTVM 2 and 6) and illustrates the growth of the cell lines for the purposes of cell banking and development of live cell assays. The next steps of the project will involve the development of a cytotoxicity assay to analyse the effect of a range of chemical substances on the cell lines. Following on from that, cells will be tested using electrophysiology to study signal response to various toxins and compounds of interest. Finally, cells will be immobilised in a suitable “biochip” environment to allow their use as a portable biosensor.