Bacteria Serve as Environmental Sensors to Detect Harmful Petrochemicals

A student team at UT Dallas used common bacteria to detect the presence of harmful petrochemicals in seafood or water. The team consisting of graduate, undergraduate, and high school students has developed sensors that emit a fluorescent protein when it  tests positive for a number of petrochemicals.

The new sensors might have major practical applications such as to enable cleanup personnel in detecting contaminants on-site. The research team utilized typical molecular biology tools in reprogramming a strain of E. coli to glow when it is subjected to specific pollutants. As per the United Nations World Water Assessment Program, the pollutants relate to various health risks such as kidney failure, liver damage, heart damage, and cancer.

The students showed their experimental results to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as part of the initiative of entering into the field of synthetic biology. Over 100 student teams participated in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, held in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The team from UT Dallas won a non-competitive gold medal as an appreciation for their work quality at the competition.