Seventy Canadian graduate students, post docs and university professors have spent the last three years on a collaborative project called Sentinel – The Bioactive Paper Network. Sentinel's goal is to develop technology platforms for the production of bioactive paper which can detect and deactivate pathogens. The detection of pathogens without laboratory equipment is the major challenge. Biorecognition agents attached to paper surfaces must specifically bind to target pathogens and binding must trigger a signaling mechanism (reporting) for the human user. Ultimately, we aim to produce paper surfaces much like litmus paper where color changes indicate dangerous bacteria or virus.Digital printing is a particularly promising approach to the application of biodetection agents to paper surfaces. This presentation overviews our efforts on the development of bioactive ink-jet inks containing biorecognition agents based antibodies, DNA aptamers and bacteriophage. Important issues include effective coupling to paper surfaces while maintaining activity after drying and storage.