The application of β-galactosidase enzyme ranges from industrial use as probiotics to medically important application such as cancer detection. The irregular activities of β-galactosidase enzyme are directly related to the development of cancers. Identifying the location and expression levels of enzymes in cancer cells have considerable importance in early-stage cancer diagnosis and monitoring the efficacy of therapies. Most importantly, the knowledge of the efficient method of detection of β-galactosidase enzyme will help in the early-stage treatment of the disease. In this review paper, we provide an overview of recent advances in the detection methods of β-galactosidase enzyme in the living cells, including the detection strategies, and approaches in human beings, plants, and microorganisms such as bacteria. Further, we emphasized on the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly developing field of development of different biomarkers and fluorescent probes based on β-galactosidase enzyme. We found that previously used chromo-fluorogenic methods have been mostly replaced by the new molecular probes, although they have certain drawbacks. Upon comparing the different methods, it was found that near-infrared fluorescent probes are dominating the other detection methods.

β-半乳糖苷酶的应用范围从作为益生菌的工业用途到医学上的重要应用，如癌症检测。β-半乳糖苷酶的不规则活性与癌症的发展直接相关。确定癌细胞中酶的位置和表达水平在早期癌症诊断和监测治疗效果方面具有相当重要的意义。最重要的是，了解检测 β-半乳糖苷酶的有效方法将有助于疾病的早期治疗。在这篇综述论文中，我们概述了活细胞中 β-半乳糖苷酶检测方法的最新进展，包括在人类、植物和细菌等微生物中的检测策略和方法。更远，我们强调了基于 β-半乳糖苷酶的不同生物标志物和荧光探针的快速发展领域的挑战和机遇。我们发现以前使用的显色荧光方法大多已被新的分子探针取代，尽管它们有一定的缺点。通过比较不同的方法，发现近红外荧光探针在其他检测方法中占主导地位。