Background
Environmental pollution has increased owing to rapid population growth and the consequent industrialization, which has become one of the major concerns for human health and socioeconomic issues. One of the most significant environmental pollution --Bisphenol A, which poses a threat to wildlife and human health even at low doses. The monitoring of environmental contaminants is crucial for controlling pollution. Traditional physicochemical detection methods focus on high-performance technologies such as ultraviolet spectrometry and liquid chromatography. These approaches provide accurate analysis of environmental samples and have high sensitivity. However, they require costly analytical apparatus and are time-consuming, which makes them unsuitable for in-situ and rapid analysis. Thus, it is desirable to develop a simple and practical analytical method for the detection of environmental pollutants. So the biosensor we designed largely helped solve all these problems, which has the characteristics that is rapid, sensitive, inexpensive, and suitable for on-site monitoring.
Target user of bisphenol A biosenor
Our target users cover a large range of users from the household to the industry who uses BPA as an important input, including the initial producers, processors at all levels, and final distributors, and also include the regulatory authorities that maintain market order.
They can use our product in the following steps:
1. Use a collection bottle to collect a few drops of a sample that needs to be determined to contain BPA
2. Gently squeeze the sides of the tube to put several drops into the sample well.
3. Wait at least 10 minutes before reading the results.
4. Diagnose the result
Usage of our device
Although it is highly efficient and considered safe to some degree, there still have some points that need to consider:
Make sure you are safe when collecting samples and do not make direct skin contact. After the completion of testing, test products and samples should not be thrown away, even if thrown to the corresponding recycling place and unified safe treatment.
The future challenge for us is obvious as well, which is to focus on increasing its capacity and persistence.
Best use case:
Voltage 100mV, ph7.0, temperature 37℃ (optimum conditions for tyr)
Reaction Principle
An electrochemical biosensor was developed for bisphenol A detection by displaying tyrosinase on the surface of Escherichia coli cells, followed by adsorption onto a glassy-carbon electrode. Tyrosinase oxidizes BPA to form Catehol, and then oxidizes Catehol to form O-Quinone, which can release electrical energy and convert BPA concentration by detecting current.
Risk Assessment
Since our products contain genetically modified organisms in the lab, even inside a "containing" device. Before we put our devices into production, testing, and application beyond the lab, extensive testing should be performed to ensure whether our engineered bacteria is definitely safe for humans and the environment. We would remind the user whenever after they have used this device, through it into the alcohol bottle for sterilization, and it's suggested used in a closed environment.
