Towards De Novo Design of Deoxyribozyme Biosensors for GMO Detection

Hybrid systems that provide a seamless interface between nanoscale molecular events and microsystem technologies enable the development of complex biological sensor systems that not only detect biomolecular threats, but also are able to determine and execute a programmed response to such threats. The challenge is to move beyond the current paradigm of compartmentalizing detection, analysis, and interpretation into separate steps. We present methods that will enable the de novo design and development of customizable biosensors that can exploit deoxyribozyme computing (Stojanovic and Stefanovic, 2003) to concurrently perform in vitro target detection, genetically modified organism detection, and classification.