The growing threat of biological agents, new diseases, and food-borne pathogens has created an increasing need for rapid and sensitive detection before the target population becomes infected. The incident of the anthrax letters in October 2001, the emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the West Nile virus, and repeated occurrences of food-borne pathogens illustrate how neces...

Nanomechanical biosensing relies on changes in the movement and deformation of micro- and nanoscale objects when they interact with biomolecules and other biological targets. This field of research has provided ever-increasing records in the sensitivity of label-free detection but it has not yet been established as a practical alternative for biological detection. We analyze here the latest adv...

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is widely known as a genotoxic environmental agent that affects Earth ecosystems and the human population. As a primary consequence of the stratospheric ozone layer depletion observed over the last decades, the increasing UV incidence levels have heightened the concern regarding deleterious consequences affecting both the biosphere and humans, thereby leading to...

Foreword Biomedical sensors can be defined broadly as devices that detect specific molecules or biological processes and convert this information into a signal. Familiar sensors include blood pressure monitors and the glucose meters that are used to manage diabetes. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has long been a leader in research of disease processes. With our expanding knowledge of t...