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From 2012.igem.org

DNA Based Biosensor

Overview

There are various biosensors on the market but the state of the art technology is based upon Polymerase Chain Reaction and nanotechnology, which involves gold plated probes and requires specialized skills to use. Despite the extreme accuracy of the device, the affordability, and longer diagnostic time has made the technology scarce in the field. In order to make biosensing technology more accessible to those with few resources and the greatest need, the team worked on generating a cost effective, highly accurate and user-friendly organic biosensor. The components of the sensor will be produced in non-pathogenic E. coli. The sensor is made up of a protein head and DNA tail. The protein head is an enzyme that turns a colorless substrate (X-gal) blue. The enzyme is split in half, so that when the sensor is dissolved in water it cannot produce blue color. When pathogenic target DNA is present, two DNA sensor tails bind the target, the split enzyme assembles, and blue color is produced. Color provides a user-friendly output that is familiar to non-skilled users.