Infectious diseases are the cause of more than 5 million deaths annually,
which corresponds to approximately 10% of all deaths worldwide. Rapid and reliable
diagnosis is a key aspect in reducing the number of deaths associated with infectious
diseases since fast commencement of the correct treatment will not only improve
patient survival but also reduce the risk of spreading the disease. Moreover, fast and
reliable diagnosis prevent the wrong medicine from being prescribed, something that
otherwise may lead to hmedication overuse and increased drug resistance. DNA based
sensors are a group of diagnostic sensors that have attracted much attention due to their
potentials for specific, sensitive, and fast detection of disease associated target
molecules. In the following chapter, we will go through examples of different DNA
sensors and describe the wide variety of readout systems that have been applied for
DNA-sensor mediated detection of infectious diseases.
Keywords: DNA-sensors, Diagnostics, Infectious diseases, Pathogen detection.