Whole-cell environmental monitoring devices: Bioluminescent bioreporter integrated circuits

Bioluminescent bioreporter integrated circuits (BBICs) are novel biosensor devices that utilize light emitting microorganisms as biological sensors for chemical contaminants. The microorganisms are coupled to a full-custom integrated circuit containing photodetector units and low-noise signal processing circuitry for measuring and communicating chemically induced cellular light responses. Two prototype BBICs have been designed and tested using naphthalene and toluene sensitive bioluminescent bioreporters. Measured sensitivities have approached the low parts-per-billion range.