Beyond Super-Sensors: The Hidden Physics Behind Single-Molecule Diagnostics 🧬⚡

For decades, potentiometric immunoassays based on field-effect transistors (FETs) have promised something extraordinary: detecting disease biomarkers down to a single molecule. But if these sensors are so powerful, why are they still stuck in the lab?In this episode, we dive into a recent Nature Reviews Materials analysis that challenges a long-held belief—that extreme sensitivity comes from electronic amplification. Instead, the real breakthrough lies in unexpected sensing regimes, where subtle chemical effects and biochemical amplification dominate the signal.We explore how pH shifts, interfacial chemistry, and antibody layer dynamics can turn one molecular binding event into a detectable electrical response—and why these sensors may be better at answering “Is it there?” rather than “How much?”.This story reframes ultra-sensitive diagnostics, not as a triumph of electronics alone, but as a delicate interplay between materials science, chemistry, and biology.📄 Source paper:Sensing regimes in potentiometric immunoassays.Nature Reviews Materials (2025).#MaterialsScience #Biosensors #SingleMolecule #Diagnostics #Nanotechnology #Electrochemistry #Biophysics 🧪📡