Biosensor-Based Strategies for Detecting Pharmaceuticals and Bioactive Contaminants in Water: A Review with a Focus on Mexican Research.

The increasing occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other bioactive contaminants in aquatic environments has raised significant concern due to their potential toxicological effects, continuous human exposure, and implications for public health. These compounds, including drug residues, metabolites, and biologically active pollutants, often persist at trace concentrations that challenge conventional analytical methodologies commonly used in medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry. Biosensor-based analytical strategies have emerged as powerful tools for the detection and quantification of pharmaceuticals and bioactive compounds in complex aqueous matrices, offering high sensitivity, molecular selectivity, reduced analysis time, and the potential for decentralized monitoring. By integrating biological recognition elements with physicochemical transducers, biosensors enable the detection of compounds of medicinal relevance while providing insights into bioavailability, toxicity, and exposure pathways. From a pharmaceutical biotechnology perspective, biosensor platforms based on enzymes, whole cells, nucleic acids, and nanostructured transducers represent scalable analytical tools that complement conventional methods used in pharmaceutical analysis and exposure assessment. This review critically examines recent advances in biosensor technologies applied to the detection of pharmaceuticals and bioactive contaminants in water, with particular emphasis on electrochemical, surface plasmon resonance, whole-cell, bacterial, DNA-based, and microarray biosensing platforms. Attention is given to analytical performance parameters, target analytes of pharmacological relevance, and the suitability of different biosensing approaches for complex aqueous matrices. Selected examples from Mexican research are discussed as a case study illustrating contributions to current analytical challenges. Finally, current limitations and future perspectives are addressed, highlighting the role of biosensor-based strategies as complementary analytical tools in pharmaceutical biotechnology, medicinal chemistry, and toxicological assessment.