Organic color centers, also known as fluorescent sp³ quantum defects, on single walled carbon nanotubes, have opened exciting opportunities to re-engineer the optical and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes via covalent surface chemistry. Organic color centers produce molecularly tunable fluorescence in the near-infrared, conferring new chemical and optical functionalities that are suitable for biosensing applications. In this talk, we discuss the strategies that enhance the physical stability and optical response of the nanosensors for robust, transient detection of proinflammatory cytokines in biofluids. The sensor technology incorporates functional organic color centers augmented by biodesigned supercharged molecular recognition proteins.