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

传统的以实验室为基础的细菌病原体和环境毒素分析分析方法昂贵、耗时，而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，因为这些地区和发展中国家缺乏足够的熟练人员和保健设施，无法迅速识别风险。因此，迫切需要为病原体（例如与腹泻有关的福氏志贺氏菌）和毒素（例如受污染的饮用水中的砷或农药）提供简单、经济、快速的现场传感解决方案，这些与致命细菌感染和受污染的水或土地资源有关。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、廉价和便携式的无细胞/纸质生物传感器，这些传感器可以在最少的人为干预和/或资源的情况下随时部署在现场。该项目基于我们之前在工程合成细胞生物传感器方面的丰富经验和专业知识，具有可编程的灵敏度和选择性，用于环境毒素和病原体。先进的信号处理和放大基因网络可以在这些传感器电路中使用，以提高传感器的灵敏度，以满足其现实世界的检测要求。还将开发新的封装和包装方法，以显着增加所产生的传感器的坚固性，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.