Themed issue on Bioelectrochemistry

Bioelectrochemistry, broadly defined as, “the application of electrochemical methodology to investigate the biological system or to use biological material to alter an electrochemical response” has been a constantly evolving field of research since its supposed origins back in the 1750s when Leopoldi Caldani concluded that “electric matter is the most stimulating of agents in living organisms”. Since then, time has seen bioelectrochemistry broaden out to encompass a wide range of research activities, many based around the simple concept that many biological molecules possess an electrochemical signature. For example, with the advocated use of solid electrodes in bioelectrochemistry, fields of research such as the measurement of the electron transfer rate between redox centres in proteins and enzymes opened up. The importance of such studies is illustrated simply by considering that this work led to the development of one of the most commercially successful bioelectrochemical products on the market todate; the glucose biosensor.

Today the field has grown enormously, branching out into areas as diverse as biocorrosion, to biofuel cells and scanning probe microscopy, to name but a few. Importantly, bioelectrochemistry has been integrated as a fundamental science into established core fields such as analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, engineering and biophysics. Instrumentation developed initially for solid state materials applications is now routinely used in the bioelectrochemical arena; posing problems as it forces researchers to address the difficulties involved with the handling of biological materials. This leads onto the eternal battle bioelectrochemists constantly face, producing a working system and the relationship of this system to the real system; in-vitroversusin-vivo. In the neurotransmitter detection arena, for example, this issue is already being addressed with work now “routinely” performed using small electrodes placed into the body. However, this debate will continue and by addressing the convergence between ‘model’ and ‘real’ progress of this field will be ensured for many years to come.

Bioelectrochemistry has stood the test of time; symposia and sessions in this area have been a feature at key annual electrochemical conferences for many years such as the annual RSC electrochemistry division Electrochemistry meeting in the UK, the annual meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, the Electrochemistry Society etc., a clear indication of its substantial momentum.

The collection of papers in this PCCP issue demonstrates this immense diversity of interest currently expressed in the bioelectrochemical community; presenting a snapshot of some of the exciting work that is currently taking place. For example, the development of state-of-the-art SPM techniques to image living cells (Matsue, DOI: 10.1039/C002607G); the use of microelectrodes to screen the effects of different drug molecules on enzyme kinetics (Venton, DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00294A), probe neuronal aging from a single neuron (O’Hare, DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00310G) and investigating the oxidative stress response of single cancerous bone cells (Amatore, DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00398K). Carbon nanotubes also feature significantly as an exciting electrode material in the areas of neurotransmitter detection (Macpherson, DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00675K) and discrimination (Kuhn, DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00367K) to creating nanostructured electrode surfaces for enzyme catalysis (Stoica, DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00367K). The unique perspective electrochemical measurements give to a biological system can often lead to important hypotheses. A marvellous example of this is found in the perspective by Adam Heller (DOI: 10.1039/C0CP00367K) who postulates that the level of NO in tumours can be linked to vascularisation which may be controlled by the reducing environment of the cytosolic thiol groups.

It remains for us to thank all authors who have contributed to this issue.

Guest Editors:

Daren Caruana, University College London

Nicolas Mano, Université de Bordeaux

Julie Macpherson, University of Warwick

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