RAPID: Collaborative Research: A cell-free synthetic biology platform for water quality monitoring - field testing and validation at the Camp Fire site in Paradise, California

水质是每一项人类活动的核心，然而，水质正日益受到环境力量和飓风、洪水、干旱等灾害的威胁，最近还受到加州野火的威胁。这些火灾风暴可能导致大量有毒金属和化合物释放到地下水供应中。成功的补救和安全的人类搬迁需要大规模的环境监测工作，以测试供水安全。然而，这些努力受到最先进的水质评估技术的阻碍，这些技术成本高、集中、缓慢和费力。因此，迫切需要快速、具有成本效益和可现场部署的水质监测技术。为了满足这一需求，PI的实验室最近开发了一种快速，低成本的合成生物学平台RIViTS，可以检测水样中的一系列有毒化合物。该项目通过对加州天堂水样中有毒金属的检测进行现场使用研究，将RIViTS从实验室过渡到现场。这些样本是从2018年11月大火后的遗骸中提取的。用RIViTS测试已知污染区的现场水样，并收集这些水样，使用金标准环境水分析进行独立验证。现场和实验室验证数据的比较用于开发RIViTS性能的统计测量，发现影响现场性能的因素，并研究RIViTS性能如何依赖于金属离子络合。作为该项目的一部分，RIViTS工具包分发给加州州立大学奇科分校的本科生，以测试非专家操作平台的能力。PI最近开发了一种快速，低成本的合成生物学平台，使用受监管的体外转录传感器（RIViTS）检测水样中的一系列有毒金属。在这个项目中，RIViTS是现场测试和评估的非专家使用。在已知的污染地点进行现场测试，以确定是否存在铅、铜、锌、镉和汞。收集并储存水和土壤沥滤物样品，以供独立验证。该项目采用最先进的分析方法来确定收集的水样中的金属浓度，以验证RIViTS现场测试。测量金属形态以确定RIViTS检测到的物质。为RIViTS方法开发的套件分发给加州州立大学奇科分校的本科生，用于监测降雨后的金属离子。该套件包括RIViTS反应管，手持照明器和图形现场指南。该项目是合成生物学直接应用于环境监测的新技术的首次现场测试和验证。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Water quality is central to every human activity, yet, water quality is being increasingly threatened by environmental forces and disasters such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, and most recently, by the wild fires of California. These firestorms have resulted in the potential release of massive amounts of toxic metals and compounds into groundwater supplies. Successful remediation and safe human relocation require large environmental monitoring efforts to test water supply safety. However, these efforts are hampered by state-of-the-art water quality assessment technologies which are costly, centralized, slow and laborious. Therefore, there is a critical need for rapid, cost-effective and field-deployable water quality monitoring technologies. Towards addressing this need, the PI's laboratory recently developed a rapid, low-cost synthetic biology platform named RIViTS, that detects a range of toxic compounds in water samples. This project transitions RIViTS from the laboratory to the field by performing field use studies for the detection of toxic metals in water samples from Paradise, California. These samples are taken from the remains in the aftermath of the firestorm of November 2018. Field water samples at known contamination zones are tested with RIViTS and collected for independent validation using gold-standard environmental water analysis. Comparison of field and lab validation data is used to develop statistical measures of RIViTS performance, uncover factors affecting field performance and to study how RIViTS performance is dependent on metal ion complexation. As part of the project, RIViTS kits are distributed to undergraduate students at California State University Chico, to test the ability of non-experts to operate the platform.The PI has recently developed a rapid, low-cost synthetic biology platform using regulated in vitro transcriptional sensors (RIViTS) that detect a range of toxic metals in aqueous samples. In this project RIViTS is field tested and assessed for non-expert usage. Field testing occurs at known contamination locations for the presence of lead, copper, zinc, cadmium and mercury. Water and soil leachate samples are collected and stored for independent validation. The project employs state-of-the-art analytical methods to determine metal concentration in collected aqueous samples, to validate RIViTS field tests. Metal speciation is measured to determine which species is detected by RIViTS. Kits developed for the RIViTS method are distributed to undergraduate students at California State University Chico, for monitoring metal ions after rainfall. The kits include RIViTS reaction tubes, handheld illuminators and a graphical field guide. This project is the first field testing and validation for a new technology that is a direct application of synthetic biology to environmental monitoring.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.