A UT Dallas student team has harnessed common bacteria to quickly detect the presence of potentially hazardous petrochemicals in water or seafood.
Acting in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon well that spewed 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico last summer, the students have created sensors that produce a fluorescent protein when they test positive for several petrochemicals.
The sensors could ultimately have important practical applications, enabling cleanup personnel to inexpensively detect contaminants on-site rather than having to wait for lab results, said one of the team’s faculty advisers.
The team, which consisted of high school, undergraduate and graduate students, used standard molecular biology tools to reprogram a harmless strain of E. coli to glow when exposed to certain pollutants. Those pollutants are associated with a host of health risks, including cancer, heart damage, liver damage and kidney failure, according to the United Nations World Water Assessment Program.
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