Aptasensors for environmental monitoring of contaminants in water and soil

Environmental monitoring using aptamer-based biosensors has grown attention due to unique advantages originated from aptamers which could specifically bind to the diverse target molecules from small molecules to bacteria. By using various sensing methodologies and platforms, application of apta-sensors in real samples exhibited promising results. There are many challenges, however, that need to be overcome for commercial application. This review provides the most recent updates on the application of aptasensors in real samples, including water and soil samples for various target molecules. In addition, challenges yet to be addressed for practical applications of aptasensors have been discussed.