Towards photochromic and thermochromic biosensing

Photochromism and thermochromism are interesting physicochemical phenomena applied in the chemistry, health and biology fields and others. Nonetheless, exploiting these chromo-switchable properties in biosensing remains unexplored, and very few results have been reported in the scientific literature. Along these lines, the rich mature knowledge of these phenomena supports the challenge of facing the development of photo- and thermochromic bioanalytical systems. This work discusses potential approaches to exploit photochromism and thermochromism for biosensing, and it reviews the state-of-the-art of these phenomena in the surrounding areas of biosensing in order to plot a stimulating scenario for innovation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.