Entropy driven circuit as an emerging molecular tool for biological sensing: A review

Nucleic acids are not only genetic information carriers but also powerful building blocks for signal amplification. Among the amplification strategies based on nucleic acids, entropy-driven circuit (EDC) is considered as a milestone in the field of DNA circuits, which is driven by entropy augmentation of additionally released molecules instead of enthalpy gain of base-pair formation. Apart from nonenzymatic and isothermal features, EDC has the promising advantages of rapidness, simplicity, robustness and modularity. Consequently, a variety of studies related to EDC have been reported over the past decade. However, until now, there is not a symmetric review about EDC in biosensing. Therefore, in this review, we make a comprehensive and in-depth summarization of the mechanism, diversified development of EDC with objective discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each method, and the applications of EDC-based biosensors. Finally, the challenges and prospects of this rapidly developing area are also presented.