![LEADer](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/leader-final.png)
![Gold medal](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/gold-medal.png)
Lead poses a
Worldwide
Health
Emergency
Lead is estimated to have killed 540,000 people globally in 2016.
In October 2021, CDC revised the Blood Lead Reference Level from 5 μg/dL to 3.5 μg/dL for the first time in 10 years suggesting that this problem had been drastically underestimated.
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/index/threat.png)
1 in 3 children worldwide are affected by Lead
275 million+
Children in India affected by the ill effects of Lead
800 million+
Children worldwide affected by the ill effects of Lead
Economic Implications
It is estimated that diminished IQ in lead-poisoned children results in a loss of $236.1 billion (12.5% of India’s GDP) in economic productivity every year. 21.7 million of healthy life is lost to Lead poisoning which translates into a cost of $977 billion (range $728.6–1162.5 billion) of international dollars.
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/index/lead.png)
Problem
Current methods of recovery are inefficient and uneconomical at the low concentrations of lead present in groundwater and wastewater, but even these low concentrations are harmful to life forms.
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/index/problem1.png)
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/index/problem2.png)
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/index/problem3.png)
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/index/sol1.png)
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/index/sol2.png)
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/index/sol3.png)
Solution
We develop a comprehensive solution to lead contamination and poisoning by addressing two needs - the accurate detection of lead and its remediation.
How we do it ?
We engineer bacteria to express lead-binding proteins on its cell surface to recover lead from water by trapping it. This lead can later be recycled.
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/index-how.png)
We will develop a frequency-based whole-cell biosensor, better than traditional intensity-based biosensors with easily digitised frequency, robustness to beam power and exposure time, decoupled from growth state of individual cells, hence having greater accuracy.
Implications
1
Safe and clean lead-
free water.
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/imple-1.png)
2
Recycled lead.
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/imple-2.png)
3
Democratised access to
monitoring of lead.
![](https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4428/wiki/index/imple-3.png)