Genetically-engineered whole-cell bioreporters on integrated circuits for environmental monitoring

A bioluminescent bioreporter integrated circuit (BBIC) biosensor for environmental monitoring is presented. The bioluminescent bioreporters are bacteria that can be genetically altered to achieve bioluminescence when in contact with a targeted substance. The bioreporters are placed on a microluminometer. The microluminometer includes integrated photodiodes and signal processing circuits and is realized in a standard CMOS process. The BBIC can detect luminescence from as few as 5000 fully induced Pseudomonas fluorescene 5RL bacteria and provides a integrated biosensor platform for environmental and food/water safety monitoring.