Detection of biomarkers using aptamer-based biosensors

Yolanda Blanco is a researcher in Astrobiology recruited by the María de Maeztu Research Program at the Centre of Astrobiology (INTA-CSIC). She graduated in Biology in 2001 and obtained her PhD in Biology in 2006 at the Complutense University of Madrid. She was an invited scientist at the University of Dundee (Scotland) in 2004 and a researcher in the Nacional Institute of Agricultural and Food Research (INIA) (Madrid) in 2006 and 2007. Since joining the Centre of Astrobiology in 2008, she has worked in several research projects focused on the biosensor development for detecting biomarkers with interest in astrobiology and she has published more than 40 scientific articles in international journals. She is an expert in antibody microarray-based biosensors and she is currently working on the production of DNA and RNA aptamers to be included as probes in biosensors to detect and identify key molecules in the origin and early evolution of life, such as nucleic acids, ancestral peptides and low molecular weight organic molecules.