(IBB) Synthetic biology-enabled new generation biosensors for global health and environment challenges

传统的基于实验室的细菌病原体和环境毒素的分析测定昂贵、耗时，并且通常需要专业人员和复杂的设备。这限制了它们在资源有限地区和发展中国家的使用，因为这些地区缺乏足够的熟练人员和医疗设施来快速识别风险。因此，迫切需要为与致命细菌感染和污染的水或土地资源相关的病原体（例如，腹泻相关的福氏志贺菌）和毒素（例如，污染的饮用水中的砷或农药）提供简单、成本有效、快速的现场感测解决方案。该项目旨在利用创新的合成生物学方法开发新一代生物传感器，以应对这些令人生畏的全球健康和环境挑战。特别是，我们将开发强大，快速，廉价和便携式无细胞/纸基生物传感器，这些传感器可以在现场部署，只需最少的人为干预和/或资源。该项目是基于我们之前在工程合成细胞为基础的环境毒素和病原体的生物传感器具有可编程的灵敏度和选择性的丰富经验和专业知识。先进的信号处理和放大基因网络可以用在这些传感器电路中，以提高传感器的灵敏度，以满足它们的真实的世界检测要求。还将开发新的封装和包装方法，以显着提高所得传感器的鲁棒性，稳定性和保质期。所开发的技术和方法将在环境、生物技术和医疗环境中得到不同的应用。

The traditional laboratory-based analytical assays for bacterial pathogens and environmental toxins are expensive, time consuming and normally require specialised personnel and complex equipment. This restricts their use in resource limited areas and developing countries where lack sufficient skilled personnel and healthcare facilities to rapidly identify the risks. There is therefore an urgent need to provide simple cost effective, fast on-site sensing solutions for pathogens (e.g. diarrhea related Shigella flexneri) and toxins (e.g. arsenic or pesticides in contaminated drinking water) associated with fatal bacterial infections and contaminated water or land resources. This project aims to use innovative synthetic biology approaches to develop new generation biosensors to address these daunting global health and environmental challenges. In particular, we will develop robust, fast, inexpensive and portable cell-free/paper-based biosensors that are readily deployable in the field with minimal human intervention and/or resources. The project is based on our prior ample experience and expertise in engineering synthetic cell-based biosensors for environmental toxins and pathogens with programmable sensitivity and selectivity. Advanced signal processing and amplifying gene networks may be used within these sensor circuits to boost the sensor sensitivity to meet their real world detection requirement. Novel encapsulation and packaging methods will also be developed to significantly increase the robustness, stability and shelf life of the resulting sensors. The technology and approaches developed will find diverse applications in environmental, biotechnological and medical settings.