IMMUNOSENS: Biomarkers of health and performance in aquacultured fish: the application of antibody based biosensors

A well‐known and recurrent threat to aquaculture expansion is related to disease outbreaks that can jeopardized production, can create an environmental problem and can even impact human health. Disease surveillance of aquatic animals could largely benefit from fast, efficient, and cost-effective point-of-care testing devices for limiting disease spreading. These devices usually use antibodies as biorecognition molecules due to their specificity and affinity for their cognate antigen being ideal to be incorporated into sensors. Compared to conventional antibodies from mammals, sharks have a kind of antibodies composed only of heavy chains where the antigen-binding site is formed only by a single variable domain designated as VNAR. Owing to their relatively small size, high specificities, excellent solubility and long-term stability, these naturally occurring single-domain antibodies have been considered as promising candidates for the development of biosensors. IMMUNOSENS will produce recombinant VNAR antibodies, developed from universal phage-display libraries that will serve to build immunosensors for the aquaculture industry, that will enable rapid, real-time and on farm monitoring of fish health and fish performance.