A primer on emerging field-deployable synthetic biology tools for global water quality monitoring
A primer on emerging field-deployable synthetic biology tools for global water quality monitoring
复制标题
DOI：
10.1038/s41545-020-0064-8
复制
发表时间：
2020-04
期刊：
影响因子：
11.4
通讯作者：
Walter Thavarajah;Matthew S. Verosloff;J. Jung;Khalid K. Alam;Joshua D. Miller;M. Jewett;S. Young;J. Lucks
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Walter Thavarajah;Matthew S. Verosloff;J. Jung;Khalid K. Alam;Joshua D. Miller;M. Jewett;S. Young;J. Lucks
跟踪联合国可持续发展目标6.1的进展情况，“实现人人普遍和公平地获得安全和负担得起的饮用水”，需要开发简单、廉价的水质监测工具。快速发展的合成生物学领域有可能通过从自然界中分离DNA编码的传感元件并将其重新组装以创建可现场部署的“生物传感器”来解决这一需求，该传感器可以检测致病性或化学水污染物。在这里，我们描述了当前由合成生物学实现的水质监测策略，并将其与以前用于检测三种优先水污染物（即，粪便病原体，砷和氟化物），以及解释工程生物传感器的潜力，以简化和分散水质监测。最后，我们展望了生物传感器的发展前景，讨论了它们对新兴污染物的适应性（例如，该报告概述了目前的局限性，并提出了克服该领域突出挑战的步骤，以促进全球水质监测。
Tracking progress towards Target 6.1 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, “achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all”, necessitates the development of simple, inexpensive tools to monitor water quality. The rapidly growing field of synthetic biology has the potential to address this need by isolating DNA-encoded sensing elements from nature and reassembling them to create field-deployable “biosensors” that can detect pathogenic or chemical water contaminants. Here, we describe current water quality monitoring strategies enabled by synthetic biology and compare them to previous approaches used to detect three priority water contaminants (i.e., fecal pathogens, arsenic, and fluoride), as well as explain the potential for engineered biosensors to simplify and decentralize water quality monitoring. We conclude with an outlook on the future of biosensor development, in which we discuss their adaptability to emerging contaminants (e.g., metals, agricultural products, and pharmaceuticals), outline current limitations, and propose steps to overcome the field’s outstanding challenges to facilitate global water quality monitoring.