Development of marine-deployable biosensor platforms targeting four algal toxins

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a major global concern due to their propensity to cause environmental damage, healthcare issues and economic losses. Toxin-producing phytoplankton are of particular concern due to the shellfish... [ view full abstract ]

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a major global concern due to their propensity to cause environmental damage, healthcare issues and economic losses. Toxin-producing phytoplankton are of particular concern due to the shellfish poisoning syndromes that can occur upon consumption of toxin-contaminated shellfish. Current HAB- and toxin-monitoring programs often involve laboratory-based analysis at a high cost and with long turnaround times. The latter also hampers the potential to develop accurate and reliable models that can predict HAB occurrences. However, a promising solution for this issue may be in the form of remotely deployed biosensors, which can rapidly and continuously measure algal and toxin levels at the point-of-need (PON), at a low cost. The on-going work being carried out in DCU in collaboration with the Marine Institute and SmartBay Ireland Inc. to address the issue of HAB- and toxin-monitoring will be discussed. In particular, the focus will be on the development of marine-deployable biosensor platforms targeting four algal toxins.