Broad-Spectrum Biosensors for Monitoring Current and Any Future Transgenic Plant Technologies for Insect Control

One of the problems with immunoassay or physiochemical methods for the detection of recombinant proteins or other materials produced in transgenic cotton for insect control is the development of methods that will be able to detect any toxin type. For an immunoassay, as one example, antibodies for each protein toxin would be needed, multiple protein toxins are used in insect control in cotton, a positive immunoassay will not necessarily translate into an insect active toxin and alternative protein and nucleic acid toxins will likely be used in the future. Other issues include the cost of assay development/production and shelf-life for assays, especially immunoassays. We report the use of insect biosensors and formats for these sensors as a universal detection system for essentially any recombinant material now and in the future for insect control in cotton.