Bioresponse-linked instrumental analysis

A new concept is introduced for environmental analysis, based on the combination of chemical analysis and biotests. Biomolecular recognition components such as receptors, ion channels, DNA sequences, and even cell organelles, are used for the binding of bioeffective substances, as the affinity of the bioeffective compounds is related to the intensity of the biological effect. Therefore summations of several parameters can be defined. The coupling of bioeffective binding to chemical analysis can be achieved either by loose coupling, e.g. the elution of bioeffective ligands from affinity columns followed by chemical analysis, or by hyphenated technologies which enable the automated coupling of binding assays with chemical analysis. Several examples are given for this approach, which is called 'bioresponse-linked instrumental analysis (BLIA)'. An important prerequisite is the production of sufficient amounts of biorecognition molecules, which usually requires recombinant technologies. Modular units are expected to provide information on effects parameters, such as cell toxicity, genotoxicity, neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, or endocrine disruption events. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.