Development of Sensor Technologies and Molecular Techniques for Detecting Biothreat Agents

In an age where the world is more complex and unpredictable than ever before, and environmental pollution, climate change, population growth, and war are on the rise, biothreats are considered a serious threat to the health of communities. The main step in dealing with such threats is early detection. The methods used in this field are mainly divided into three groups: genetic techniques, immunological, or a combination of two techniques (immunogenetic). There are also techniques based on the physicochemical properties of the analytes. Each of these assays can be performed by conventional methods (such as classical PCR, real-time PCR, or simple antigen-antibody reactions) or modern technologies (such as gene probes, microarray technology, gene chips, biosensors, aptamers, phosphors). There are also integrated and automated diagnostic systems that combine different methods to enable sampling, easy extraction of genetic material, and rapid analysis and detection of analytes using genetic and immunological techniques. The results of this study showed that among the existing devices for detecting biothreat agents, those molecular methods that have field and operational applications with high accuracy and speed have the priority for detecting biothreat agents and play an effective role in passive defense.