Team:TU Eindhoven/Society/Synenergene/Application Scenario

Application Scenario

Bacteria will be able to solve some of the biggest problems humans have to face currently. Some caused by us directly some indirectly. They can provide us with cures and treatments for diseases that most of us come in contact with during our lifetime. For example, bacteria that can function as a pancreas: sensing glucose and producing insulin within a human body. Alternatively, bacteria that can clean up leaked oil in an oil spill are a possibility. The possibilities are endless; to a certain extend.

Nowadays, the biggest constraint genetically modified bacteria encounter is their limited ability to survive under non-natural conditions, such as the harsh conditions in industrial reactors and the immune system in the human body. Since early 2014, it has been iGEM team Eindhoven’s goal to tackle this constraint. They aspire to deliver a system that would allow Synthetic Biology to fulfil its dreams; to be able to apply the great ideas in the real world.

We started out by developing a “plug-and-play” system, Click Coli, for bacteria by designing a Clickable Outer Membrane Protein (COMP). In the fall of 2014, the functionality of the system has been proven: using the COMP, any DBCO-functionalized molecule can be clicked onto the outer membrane of the bacteria. This opens up a whole new world of coating bacteria in a desired material or immobilizing the bacteria onto a desired material.

This is a great new addition to the chemical toolbox used for altering bacteria, but alone it does not solve a fundamental problem in utilizing bacteria. Many materials have to be tested on their compatibility and functionality before practical application of the Click Coli system outside of the lab environment. Furthermore, a kill switch has to be implemented for teams using Click Coli so that the coated, and thus extra resilient, bacteria can be controllably killed. Lastly, more tests have to be done on how a clicked on material affects the internal homeostasis of bacteria.

Before making the Click Coli system public property, team Eindhoven has decided to perfect the Click Coli system first. We made this choice because we did not want to take unnecessary risks by presenting to the world an incomplete system that enhances the resilience of bacteria. Also, we expect that our idea is more appealing if the Click Coli system comes along with its own safety measures. Luckily, the Technical University of Eindhoven sees the potential of our project and decided to sponsor our research. Furthermore, we wrote to several institutes, such as the RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry), to collect small grants. Using this and the facilities the university already offers us, we will be able to prolong our research.

We expect the research phase to be finished early 2016. The Click Coli system will then be finished: its functionality is proven and perfected, there is a broad knowledge on how a coating affects bacterial homeostasis and using that knowledge, procreation of the bacteria has been permanently halted. Furthermore, the genetic code of a kill switch is inherently linked to the system itself, so the risks are mitigated. We are convinced that now, the Click Coli system is ready to be released free to use for anyone.

We hope that many research groups will pick up at this point and will begin testing their own materials. At this point, team Eindhoven will leave its current formation and split up into daughter companies. These companies, as the name implies, are commercial institutes that will begin to develop their own product. Naturally, as they go into a commercial formation, they will lose the privilege of funding by the Technical University of Eindhoven. They will have to find their own capital through funding. In this paper, three possible daughter companies will be discussed, which are as follows:

• A company which will create a product called Oil Munchers: bacteria that are able to survive in seawater and clean up spilled oil.


• A company which will create a product called Synthetically Humane Bacteria: bacteria that are invisible to the immune system and can, similarly to the natural gut microbiotica, fulfill a predefined function inside the human body.


• A company which will create a product called Water Purification Bacteria: bacteria that are present during the water purification process, while making it a lot more efficient and fast.

For each of these daughter companies, a paragraph is written below containing more information on the product, its stakeholders and future development. All these paragraphs are written from the perspective in 2016, when the Click Coli system has been fully developed.

Water Purification Bacteria

In 2016, when iGEM team Eindhoven split up, one of its continuations was to create bacteria that would help the water purification process. Why take this path? The problem tree in the figure below answers that question.

In 2016, the world water problem still hasn’t been solved: Drinkwater is becoming scarce and a lot of valuable chemicals are lost in the process of purification. The purification process remains imperfect to say the least: there are a lot of filtration steps, which mainly are inefficient. Less harmful chemicals are added to remove the slightly more harmful ones. On top of that, the duration of the filtration is long.

We saw a simple solution to these problems: the multipotent bacteria, genetically modified to extract just the chemicals you want extracted and immobilized onto a filter using the Click Coli system. In order to seek funding, we sought out major water purification companies, such as:

• Aquatech, who holds ‘innovation’ as one of the corner stones of their policy.


• Ahlstrom filtration, one of the leading companies in fiber engineering


• GEA filtration, who specializes in the engineering of membranes for nanofiltration.

Getting the financial support done was quite the task, but a few companies were willing to support us if in return, they got rights to the technology. In 2017, the real work starts.

We theorize that creating the bacteria and implementing them in usable filters is going to be the “easy” part. Three years of research will result in a viable product in the year 2020. The real challenge is in getting it implemented in the actual water purification systems, due to strict regulations. It is only after years of safety testing and trials, that the general public allows GMO’s to filter their drinking water.

Hopefully, the acceptance will be sped up by the facts that: