From 2012.igem.org

The Problem

Viewed as a minor inconvenience in the developed world, diarrhea can be a death sentence. Diarrhea can be life threatening as it causes severe dehydration as a result of extensive fluid loss. An estimated 2.0 billion cases of diarrhea occur each year amongst children under five years of age. Of these cases, 1.5 million children die. The major pathogens that most frequently cause acute childhood diarrhea cases are bacterial pathogens such as E. coli, Shigella, Campylobacter and Salmonella. Currently, existing biosensors for water-borne pathogens are either costly, inaccessible to developing countries, difficult to use without training, and not very reliable. For example, immunoassays, which uses antibodies specific for certain antigens on pathogenic diarrhea, have a good turnaround time. However, not all antigens have available antibodies that can be used for detection, and those antibodies that are available can be very costly. As such, the ASU iGEM team plans to develop an inexpensive way for communities to test the purity of water sources. To this end, we aimed to identify the specific pathogens in the water source in efforts of reducing the incidence of childhood diarrhea and ultimately decreasing mortality rates.

Figure 1: Epidemiology map indicating disability-adjusted life year for diarrhea per 100,000 inhabitants (2004). Image shown above is from the Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikimedia Commons.

Quantitative considerations

What concentration of pathogens causes sickness?

In determining what kinds of scenarios our biosensor would work in, a concentration had to be determined for what would be considered an outbreak. Based on research that was found for our project, patients' stool samples were tested for antibodies that were specific to E.coli (Olsen).

What specific design approaches did we take to try to reduce false positives, while making the biosensor effective?

A coliform count is a test of the pathogens in a sample of water. The results are based on the number of the colonies of coliform-bacteria Escherichia coli (E.coli) per 100 milliliter water sample. The result will be expressed as “Coliform Microbial Density” which gives an amount of feces in the water sample(The Law Dictionary).

Environmental Protection Agency standards define non-potable water as a sample that contains one bacterium per 100 mL.

Why are we doing this?

What do we hope to accomplish/want to figure out?

For this project we are hoping to make our biosensor as user friendly and most cost effective product as possible. In the process in making this design we also wanted to address the results from using the biosensor. We wanted our project to give results in real time and be able to determine the phenotype of the potential pathogen.

Who are we doing this for? What do we care about?

This project is primarily based on its applications. We wanted to develop a low-cost biosensor that could be implemented in developing countries. This is because pathogenic bacteria causes diarrhea which is one of the world's leading global health issues. By designing our biosensor it would be a potential solution to this problem.

What is our ultimate goal?

Our ultimate goal for the project is to be able to see our biosensor used in developing nations. Ideally our biosensor would be able to be used as an early detection device in order to prevent future pathogenic outbreaks. This would be a solution to not only maintaining a healthy water supply but also to also improve the overall sanitation of developing nations.