Patent ID: 8349602

Claim:
A biodetector for the detection of a selected substance comprising: (a) a transmembrane fusion protein comprising an extracellular ligand-specific moiety and a protein-modifying membrane intracellular enzymatic signal transforming domain, wherein said extracellular ligand-specific moiety comprises an antibody and wherein said antibody binds said selected substance, which binding activates said intracellular enzymatic signal transforming domain, wherein the membrane intracellular enzymatic signal transforming domain is a kinase; (b) a transducer protein, wherein said transducer has an inactive form and an active form which are distinct from each other, and said activated intracellular enzymatic signal transforming domain converts said inactive form of said transducer into said active form of said transducer protein, wherein said transducer and said intracellular enzymatic signal transforming domain are separate proteins; (c) a responsive element comprising a nucleic acid encoding a light-generating protein operably linked to a transcription activation element, wherein said responsive element is bound by and activated by said active form of said transducer, resulting in a detectable light signal.