Materials and methods for detecting toxins, pathogens and other biological materials

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide binding molecule-functionalized high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) that can be used to detect toxins, pathogens and other biological materials. In a specific embodiment, an antibody-functionalized HEMT can be used to detect botulinum toxin. The antibody can be anchored to a gold-layered gate area of the HEMT through immobilized thioglycolic acid. Embodiments of the subject detectors can be used in field-deployable electronic biological applications based on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.

1 . A sensor for detecting a biological analyte, comprising:
 a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT); and   a binding molecule that binds specifically to the biological analyte operably connected to a gate region of the HEMT.   
     
     
         2 . The sensor according to  claim 1 , further comprising a linking agent disposed on the gate region of the HEMT to link the binding molecule to the gate region of the HEMT. 
     
     
         3 . The sensor according to  claim 2 , wherein the linking agent comprises thioglycolic acid. 
     
     
         4 . The sensor according to  claim 3 , further comprising a layer of gold at a surface of the gate region, wherein the thioglycolic acid is anchored to a surface of the layer of gold. 
     
     
         5 . The sensor according to  claim 1 , wherein the binding molecule is an antibody for a botulinum toxin. 
     
     
         6 . The sensor according to  claim 1 , wherein the HEMT comprises an AlGaN/GaN HEMT. 
     
     
         7 . A method of detecting a biological toxin or pathogen, comprising:
 providing to an environment the sensor of  claim 1 , wherein a signal is generated by the sensor upon exposure of the binding molecule to an amount of biological toxin.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the amount of biological toxin to generate a signal is about 1 ng/ml. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 7 , further comprising wirelessly transmitting the signal generated by the sensor to a monitoring device. 
     
     
         10 . A method of detecting botulinum, comprising:
 providing to an environment a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) botulinum toxin sensor comprising a layer of gold on a gate region; thioglycolic acid anchored to the surface of the layer of gold, and botulinum antibodies linked to the thioglycolic acid, wherein a signal is generated by the sensor upon exposure of the botulinum antibodies to an amount of botulinum.   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , further comprising wirelessly transmitting the signal generated by the sensor to a monitoring device.