Figure 9.

Using genetic engineering to tune biosensor performance. (A) Natural sensor modules often report on both target (red) and non-target (gray) analytes. To avoid false positives from the latter, sensors can be engineered to respond to a single input by incorporating mutations. (B) The sensitivity of a biosensor for a given analyte can also be adjusted by mutating the sensor module to adjust the transfer function (dashed line). (C) To improve the dynamic range, the biosensor background in the absence of analyte (OFF state) and the maximum signal (ON state) can also be tuned using mutation.