Cellular biosensing: chemical and genetic approaches.

Biosensors have been developed to determine the concentration of specific compounds in situ. They are already widely employed as a practical technology in the clinical and healthcare fields. Recently, another concept of biosensing has been receiving attention: biosensing for the evaluation of molecular potency. The development of this novel concept has been supported by the development of related technologies, as such as molecular design, molecular biology (genetic engineering) and cellular/tissular engineering. This review is addresses this new concept of biosensing and its application to the evaluation of the potency of chemicals in biological systems, in the field of cellular/tissular engineering. Cellular biosensing may provide information on both pharmaceutical and chemical safety, and on drug efficacy in vitro as a screening tool.