Toward colloid-based biosensors for SNP genotyping and personalised medicine applications

Therapeutic drugs can assist some patients, however, other individuals may exhibit no response. Furthermore, a drug that is normally considered to be safe can have toxic effects in a small proportion of the population, occasionally causing death. Many altered drug responses depend on the genetic constitution of the recipient. The analysis of specific DNA markers within the genome of an individual [single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping] could potentially identify subjects at risk in clinical trials and may enable clinicians to individualise medical therapy. The development of technology for personalised medicine relies on the ability to accurately and rapidly identify SNPs in genetic material. Some of the biotechnology tools for SNP identification are colloid-based biosensors, which are proving to possess several advantages over the traditional microarray format. Here, we survey the current technologies used for SNP genotyping and review colloid-based biosensors which are emerging as a higher throughput, potentially more accurate, technology.