Team:Imperial College London

“More than two billion people around the world live with unrelenting illness due to parasites” - WHO Director General Lee Jong-wook.

Synthetic biology offers great opportunity for biosensors, however current designs require hours of waiting before a detecatble output is produced. To tackle this issue in the field, it is crucial that a new generation of biosensors be designed that can respond in minutes. With this in mind, we have engineered a fast, modular sensor framework which allows for quick detection of a range of different parasites, and may also be used as an environmental tool for mapping their spread.

We have developed two new technologies as part of our modular sensor framework: a novel cell surface biosensor customisable for specific parasitic proteases and a 'fast-response' module capable of producing a detectable output in minutes. These two technologies are linked to each other by a quorum sensing signalling system. To demonstrate the utility of biosensors contatining these technologies, we have designed and modified B. subtilis to give a clearly visible colour readout upon detecting the waterborne Schistosoma parasite which affects 200 million people worldwide.

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