Duration: 7.2024 – 6.2025

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Project team:

Prof. Dr. Viktor Stein
FB 10, Protein engineering: signalling and transport

Prof. Eva Kaßens-Noor, Ph.D.
FB 11, Ion- beam modified materials

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Project description:

Portable biosensors carry great technological potential for the decentralised detection of molecular analytes at the point-of-use – yet, in practice, their development turns out to be a highly challenging and highly interdisciplinary endeavour.

In particular, there is a need for reconfigurable receptor systems that can be rapidly tailored towards different types of analytes across different applications. Further, there is a need for scalable detection platforms that can effectively translate a molecular binding event into an easily detectable signal. Of particular interest are molecular-electronic detection platforms that provide a flexible interface between the molecular and digital worlds.

To address this challenge, we are pursuing a highly interdisciplinary approach that combines expertise in synthetic biology and materials science to develop a set of highly specific and highly sensitive hybrid nanopore sensors. To this end, we specifically aim to combine a new class of receptor proteins with nanoporous polymeric membranes to develop a scalable platform for the detection of different types of antibiotics and pesticides.