What's a biosensor, anyway? Life-science target has a strong Indiana connection.

• Author: McKimmie, Kathy
• Position: Life Sciences

BIOSENSOR IS NOT EXACTLY a household word. In fact, Microsoft Word doesn't even recognize the spelling. But in a few years, we're likely to benefit from the applications of biosensors, which will quickly and rather cheaply, detect everything from the SARS virus to E. coli contamination, and perform routine medical tests.

A biosensor is a form of sensor, explains Russ Gray, president and CEO of Theron, Carmel, a life-sciences product-development and consulting firm. The first sensors were based on physics and measured physical properties, such as temperature, pressure and humidity, which led to the semiconductors we have now. Chemical sensors to measure chemical properties such as oxygen and pH came along in the '60s through the '80s.

"The new generation uses biological agents to do the detection," says Gray. "They can be much more specific and accurate." In five to 10 years, home testing for such things as mold will be as common as the home pregnancy test. You'll also see lab-on-a-chip devices, the size of a credit card, that can be taken anywhere to perform the same tests as a brick-and-mortar lab.

Indiana's biosensor team. BioCrossroads is a collaborative effort between business, higher education and government to advance and commercialize research that will lead to good paying life-science jobs in Indiana. Life sciences, however, is a broad term, so a study was commissioned to determine the specific areas ripe for cultivating, based on Indiana's strengths, says Ron Meeusen, chief scientific officer and special projects director for BioCrossroads, formerly on loan from Dow AgroSciences, now full-time with the organization. Eight areas were chosen: protein analysis/tool development, evidence-based medicine/bioinformatics, sports-related life sciences, cardiovascular, oncology, agbiotech and biosensors. Two others, bioimaging and biomarkers, were added later. Each area has a team driving its work that's very free to be creative about how they'll do their job, he stresses.

The biosensor team is led by Jorg Schreiber, vice president special projects at Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis. He uses a simple definition of biosensor: anything that uses a biomolecule for sensing something. Blood-glucose monitors, a bread-and-butter product of Roche Diagnostics, are a classic type of biosensor, he says, and it's a very mature industry--25 years old, as opposed to modern biosensor applications.

Theron is developing Roche's mature technology into one of...