URoL:ASC: The design, development, and societal impact of rapid, in-home, water quality biosensors

全球水危机是我们时代最紧迫的问题之一。全球数十亿人面临水污染造成的水安全问题，导致深远的不利经济、政治、营养和身心后果。然而，有限的水测试方法是理解水安全的一个关键障碍。因此，本提案旨在通过制定一个三阶段方法来设计、开发和分发快速家庭水质监测测试，以满足对水质和水不安全采取行动的需要。水测试平台是基于从自然微生物如何检测环境中的水污染物的研究中获得的知识，允许使用分子工程原理以非专家可以操作的安全形式重新利用这些传感机制。使用生物，化学，工程和社会科学技术的新组合，这项研究将调查如何在家里测试水质的能力改变了与水的获取和使用有关的个人的知识，态度和行为。我们的愿景是，这个合成生物学生物技术平台将通过向个人和社区提供可操作的信息，积极影响他们的日常生活，并为缓解战略提供信息，帮助减轻全球水危机对经济，政治和健康的影响。这种新的水质监测方法将与大芝加哥社区合作建立，用于检测铅（Pb），铜（Cu）和全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFAS），这三种水污染物是主要的公共监管和关注的主题。在第一阶段，社会科学技术将与社区驱动的方法相结合，收集信息，指导测试的开发。在第二阶段，将与用户一起测试特定污染物的测试，以了解如何优化测试以获得最大的用户利益。在第三阶段，将对使用者进行测试，并进行调查，以衡量他们在测试前后对这三种特定水污染物的知识、态度和行为的变化。重要的是，每个阶段都将通过设立社区咨询委员会，纳入社区利益攸关方的观点。将开展教育和外展活动，培训多元化的学生群体，使其能够联合收割机结合多个学科，与受影响社区合作应对全球挑战。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。

The global water crisis is among the most urgent issues of our time. Billions of people globally face problems with water security caused by water contamination, leading to far-reaching adverse economic, political, nutritional, and mental and physical consequences. However, limited accessibility to water testing methods is a critical barrier to understanding water safety. Therefore, this proposal seeks to address the need for action on water quality and water insecurity by developing a three-stage methodology for the design, development, and distribution of rapid in-home, water quality monitoring tests. The water test platform is based on knowledge gained from the study of how natural microorganisms detect water contaminants in the environment, allowing molecular engineering principles to be used to repurpose these sensing mechanisms in safe formats that can be operated by non-experts. Using a novel combination of biological, chemical, engineering and social science techniques, this study will investigate how the ability to test water quality at home changes the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of individuals related to water access and use. The vision is that this synthetic biology biotechnology platform will help mitigate the economic, political, and health impacts of the global water crisis by providing actionable information to individuals and communities that positively impacts their daily lives and informs mitigation strategies. This new approach to water quality monitoring will be established in collaboration with the greater Chicagoland community for the detection of lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), three water contaminants that are the subject of major public regulation and concern. In Stage 1, social science techniques will be combined with community-driven approaches to collect information that will guide the development of the tests. In Stage 2, tests for a particular contaminant will be tested with users to understand how tests can be optimized for maximum user benefit. In Stage 3, tests will be given to users, and surveys will be used to measure changes in their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about the three specific water contaminants before and after tests are performed. Importantly, each stage will integrate the perspectives of community stakeholders through the establishment of a community advisory board. Education and outreach activities will be performed to train a diverse group of students to combine multiple disciplines to tackle global challenges in partnership with affected communities.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.