Team:Sharon MA ArborVitae/Project

From 2012hs.igem.org

Project Description

Our project is based on the idea of detecting glyphosate, a dangerous pesticide, by triggering a gene that would cause a color change or a red fluorescent glow. The glyphosate is commonly found in pesticides used by agriculture-based corporations. This pesticide is found in water runoff and can have long-lasting negative effects, such as liver damage and mutations in amphibians. Glyphosate is similar to the amino acid glycine, so we will research bacteria that may recognize glycine, causing a series of reactions, aided by receptors and sensors, so that a viewer might recognize the presence of glyphosate. Ideally, this process would be done without the use of expensive, complicated equipment and materials, so that anyone with a basic set of tools could test a water supply to see if it is safe. While glyphosate can be found in air, water, and soil, we decided that the easiest test would be a water test, since that is easily added to incubating plates.