Rapid development in micro- and nanotechnologies in recent years has created opportunities for the technology to connect to individual cells, bacteria and viruses (Figure 8.1). The ability to sense biological properties creates amazing opportunities to improve human lives through advances in early disease detection, health monitoring, and new biology-based products. Even more exciting is the technology’s ability to sense DNA and proteins. The exploration of bio-organic device functionality and sensing in the future will require interfacing to traditional electronic materials and structures [1,2].

An example of one such interface was recently considered in the context of the resonant sensing of biomolecules [3]. Resonant far-infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a common technique for the characterization of biological molecules. The lower portion of the THz spectrum of DNA and proteins is also being actively studied using both experimental and computational methods. To date, good progress has been made in the detection and identification of biomaterials, and interest is rapidly increasing across the scientific and technology communities.

Biosensors (Figure 8.2) are defined as analytical devices incorporating a biological material (tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell receptors, enzymes, antibodies, or nucleic acids), a biologically derived material (recombinant antibodies, engineered proteins, aptamers) or a biomimic (synthetic receptors, biomimetic catalysts, combinatorial ligands, imprinted polymers) intimately associated with or integrated within a physicochemical transducer or transducing microsystem, which may be optical, electrochemical, thermometric, piezoelectric, magnetic, or micromechanical [4, 5]. The generated electrical signal is related to the concentration of analytes through the biological reactions.