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Team:IvyTech SouthBend IN
From 2014.igem.org
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Ivy Tech Community College: South Bend, IN
For the 2014 International Genetically Engineered Machine (IGEM) competition, Ivy Tech Community College Students from the Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Programs are developing a Coliphage Biosensor. The Coliphage Biosensor is meant to address the issue of human and animal waste contaminating water meant for drinking and recreational purposes. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the consumption of water contaminated by human waste is a serious problem in the United States and globally. In the US alone, such consumption can cause people to contract such disease causing parasites as cryptosporidium, amoeba, or enteric viruses like the hepatitis virus or norovirus or waterborne disease. The waterborne disease outbreaks can include, but are not limited to, gastroenteritis, dysentery, and even attacks on certain tissues or organ systems that may result in death.
To prevent these hazardous and sometimes fatal conditions, the water needs to be tested for contamination. It is not practical or economically feasible to screen for all potential enteric pathogens in possibly contaminated water. Thus contamination of water is determined by testing for common fecal bacteria found in humans and animals. These bacteria are called “coliforms” and Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the most common of these coliforms. The current standard method to test for fecal coliform contamination in water is an overnight process in which special growth media is used to see if E. coli will grow from the samples taken.
While the current standard method is effective, there is a growing need for a testing method that is cost effective and will yield more timely results. Coliphages, the bacterial viruses that infect coliforms such as E. coli have been proposed as better indicators of contamination. The reason for this being that not only do coliphages last longer in water than coliforms but the conventional assays for coliphage detection are less expensive. The conventional assays for coliphage detection are also standardized and yield results in 3 to 4 hours which is one sixth the time of the standard method to test for fecal coliform contamination. Thus the Coliphage Biosensor being created for the IGEM already shows promise of being faster and more cost effective.
Parts
- Alpha - Generator
- BBa_K1477014
- Terminator
- BBa_K1477030
