Nanozyme-based biosensors for pathogenic microorganism detection: a mini-review

Source: Frontiers in Microbiology, by Yang, Ting; Ling, Yuting; Zhang, Enmei; Li, Jin (October 1, 2026). AI-generated summary by biochip.com, published October 3, 2026. Not independently reviewed.

Nanozymes, synthetic nanomaterials that act like enzymes, could help make pathogen tests faster, cheaper, and easier to use outside a laboratory. In a mini-review, Ting Yang, Yuting Ling, Enmei Zhang, and Jin Li of Chongqing University of Technology examine how these materials support biosensors for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. The review focuses on platforms including color tests, lateral flow strips, electrochemical sensors, fluorescent systems, microfluidic arrays, and CRISPR-based assays. The central appeal is that nanozymes can turn a biological recognition event into a visible or electronic signal while offering greater stability than natural enzymes.

Enzyme-like materials, engineered for sensing

A natural enzyme is like a highly specialized factory worker: it can perform a chemical task extremely well, but may be sensitive to temperature, storage conditions, and its surrounding environment. Nanozymes aim to perform similar catalytic jobs using engineered nanoparticles, often with more durable and tunable properties. Their activity can amplify a weak pathogen signal, making it easier for a sensor to detect.

The review outlines four major forms of enzyme-like activity. Peroxidase-like nanozymes use hydrogen peroxide to generate reactive oxygen species and drive measurable color or light changes. Catalase-like materials break down hydrogen peroxide and can generate oxygen signals or reduce background interference, while oxidase-like nanozymes use molecular oxygen and do not require added hydrogen peroxide.

Superoxide dismutase-like nanozymes convert superoxide radicals into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. That reaction can be paired with peroxidase-like activity in a cascade, where one chemical step supplies the input for the next. The authors emphasize that a nanozyme's composition, surface structure, oxygen vacancies, and metal active sites can all alter how effectively it performs these reactions.

From color strips to microfluidic arrays

Colorimetric assays and lateral flow assays, the paper-strip format familiar from many rapid tests, are among the most accessible nanozyme-enabled platforms. Nanozymes can create a visible color change without sophisticated equipment, making them suited to point-of-care testing, or testing performed near the patient or sample rather than in a central laboratory.

These simple formats still have tradeoffs. Reading a result by eye can limit quantitative accuracy and make it difficult to identify several microorganisms at once. The review also notes that components in real samples can interfere with measurements.

More complex devices can address some of those constraints. The review highlights a microfluidic array that combined aptamer-functionalized DNA nanospheres with enhanced electrochemiluminescence, a light signal produced during an electrochemical reaction. The platform simultaneously detected four pathogenic bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and S. aureus, in 45 minutes with detection limits at or below 100 colony-forming units per milliliter.

Why CRISPR and nanozymes are being paired

The review gives particular attention to combining nanozymes with CRISPR-Cas systems and aptamers. CRISPR-Cas is best known for gene editing, but in diagnostics it can recognize a targeted genetic sequence and trigger a signal. Aptamers are short nucleic-acid molecules designed to bind selected targets, functioning somewhat like synthetic recognition elements.

Pairing these recognition systems with nanozymes could bring together molecular specificity and catalytic signal amplification. The review identifies rapid detection of drug-resistant pathogens as a major area of interest, while framing clinical and industrial translation as a future objective rather than an established outcome.

Why This Matters

Pathogen testing often requires a compromise among speed, sensitivity, cost, and portability. Culture methods can take time, while polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays can require instruments and laboratory workflows that are difficult to deploy in field or resource-limited settings. Nanozyme-based biosensors seek to narrow that gap by making the signal-producing component more stable and adaptable.

The next step is not simply to find materials with stronger catalytic activity. Practical systems must also control interference from complex food, environmental, and clinical samples, deliver reliable quantitative results, and demonstrate performance beyond proof-of-concept settings. Progress in material design, integrated microfluidics, and CRISPR-linked sensing will determine whether these platforms move from promising laboratory tools to routine pathogen tests.

Topics: Biosensors · Microfluidics · Diagnostics & precision medicine

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