Coalescing aptamers and liquid-crystals for sensing applications

A remarkable future of analytical science is being predicted by the growing importance of new sensing technologies, one being the liquid crystals-based sensing coupled with aptamer technology that has already started to materialize in the recent years. This paper aims to summarize the major studies that have been conducted and developments including sensitivity, selectivity and limit of detection (LOD). The research studies that we have reviewed here have been implemented for the efficient, rapid and label-free detection of three targets of interest, namely antibiotics such as kanamycin, tetracycline, sulphadimethoxine, biological markers such as platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), interferon-gamma (IFN-Y) and pulmonary surfactant protein-A(SP-A) and finally heavy metals, certain fungal and bacterial toxins as well as hazardous chemicals like bisphenol A, malathion and cocaine, to name a few. We have introduced the basics principles of aptamers and liquid crystals (LCs), and their interaction with any target analyte. We have also put forth the current challenges and future opportunities pertaining to this field which indicate that sufficient advancements are yet to be seen in this promising domain of research.