Real-time Monitoring of Bioremediation

描述(申请人提供)：自工业革命以来，由于工业废水、军事弹药制造和采矿活动等人为来源，重金属对地下环境的污染大幅增加。重金属不能被降解，因此在土壤、沉积物和地下水中积累，对植物、动物和人类构成重大健康风险。由于对环境和人类健康的威胁，正在进行重大努力，以制定修复战略，以处理重金属污染的土壤和地下水。生物修复作为修复重金属污染土壤的传统“泵和处理”方法的一种不那么昂贵的替代方法，正在迅速流行起来。尽管生物修复依赖于微生物与重金属的自然相互作用，但它的成功应用高度依赖于微生物之间的复杂相互作用、水文运输、非生物化学物种、营养物质的有效性等。这种复杂性使得建模、设计或实施有效的生物修复策略变得极其困难。生物修复由于地点之间以及地点内的空间和时间上的生物地球化学异质性而进一步复杂化。一些非现场分析过程可提供有助于评估生物修复的信息，但所涉及过程的绝对复杂性和异质性严重限制了它们的作用。为了在使用生物修复技术方面取得快速进展和降低成本，需要在地下对相关参数进行实时监测。Lynntech建议开发一种微生物生物传感器，提供有效实施生物修复策略所需的高度相关的实时信息。建议的传感器利用直接参与生物修复的微生物，这些微生物是感兴趣的受污染地点的本地微生物，并作为生物修复活动的实时衡量标准。将这些传感器网络与传统分析方法相结合，可以以前所未有的准确性和相关性绘制生物修复图谱，对于理解和最终控制生物修复所涉及的复杂生物地球化学过程至关重要。这些传感器的成功开发将为快速开发和优化特定部位的生物修复策略提供一种手段，这些策略比目前的方法更有效，成本更低。与公共健康相关：土壤、沉积物和地下水等地下环境的重金属污染是对人类健康的世界性威胁。Lynntech提议开发一种传感器，提供对重金属生物修复的实时监测，从而找到更有效、成本更低的方法来消除地下环境中的重金属污染。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Since the industrial revolution, pollution of subsurface environments by heavy metals has increased substantially from anthropogenic sources such as industrial effluents, military munitions manufacturing, and mining activities. Heavy metals cannot be degraded and therefore accumulate in soils, sediments, and groundwater, posing significant health risks to plants, animals, and humans. Because of the threat to the environment and human health, major efforts are underway to develop remediation strategies to treat heavy metal contaminated soil and groundwater. Bioremediation is rapidly gaining popularity as a less expensive alternative to tradition "pump and treat" methods of remediating heavy metal contaminated soils. Although bioremediation relies the natural interaction of microorganisms with heavy metals, its successful use is highly dependent on the complex interactions between microorganisms, hydrological transport, abiotic chemical species, nutrient availability, etc. This complexity makes it extremely difficult to model, design, or implement effective bioremediation strategies. Bioremediation is further complicated by biogeochemical heterogeneity both site-to-site and spatially and temporally within a site. A number of ex situ analytical processes are available to provide information that can help assess bioremediation but the sheer complexity and heterogeneity of the processes involved seriously limit their usefulness. In order for rapid advances and cost reductions to occur in the use of bioremediation, real-time monitoring of relevant parameters in situ in the subsurface are needed. Lynntech proposes to develop a microbial biosensor that provides highly relevant, real-time information needed to efficiently implement bioremediation strategies. The proposed sensor utilizes microorganisms directly involved in bioremediation that are native to the contaminated site of interest and acts as a real-time gauge of bioremediation activity. Combining a network of these sensors with traditional analytical methods permits the mapping of bioremediation with an unprecedented level of accuracy and relevance and will be critical to understanding and ultimately controlling the complex biogeochemical processes involved in bioremediation. Successful development of these sensors will provide a means to rapidly develop and optimize site-specific bioremediation strategies that are more effective and far less costly than current approaches. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Heavy metal contamination of subsurface environments such as soil, sediment, and groundwater is a worldwide threat to human health. Lynntech is proposing to develop a sensor to provide real-time monitoring of heavy metal bioremediation leading to more effective and less costly methods of removing heavy metal contamination from subsurface environments.