Our first project idea was proposed to be a biosensor detecting ANAs hopefully preventing autoimmune disease (ANAlyze This). In order to learn more about how autoimmune disease affects a person’s everyday life, we interviewed Jared Heidinger on April 27th, who was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2018. We learned that it takes around three years for MS to be diagnosed in Canada, which is because the diagnosis of MS is through exclusion and not by direct testing (ruling out every other result, with MS being the last one.) This was in line with one of our project goals, which was to reduce the amount of time that it takes to diagnose an autoimmune disease. When introduced to the project idea, Jared Heidinger added: “There’s so much autoimmune disease. MS in Southern Alberta has the highest concentration in all of Canada, and to be able to have some sort of diagnosis would be amazing.” However, feedback from judges of the Tech Future Challenge recommended we research into alternatives for the biosensors, as it appeared that ANA detection was not necessarily a test that should be conducted at home or too often.

When we transitioned our project into Chromosense, we were given the opportunity to tour the fish facilities in both the University of Lethbridge and the Lethbridge College. Holly Shepard at the University of Lethbridge gave us a tour of their facilities where they were researching Minnows, Zebrafish, and Japanese Medaka. Holly Shepard told us that their “main focus is prevention,” which was important because “once there is a contamination is takes a very short time for the whole system to get contaminated.” To minimise and prevent contamination, they had many precautions in place. Before entering each room, we were not allowed to bring food/drink and had to step on a mat which disinfected our shoes. In the Zebrafish tanks, they used pictures of rocks instead of real rocks due to risk of contamination. The filtration systems of all the tanks has a portion which picks up large particles, a UV machine that prevents parasites from reproducing, and bio filters which allow denitrifying bacteria to grow. We were informed that their systems had a recent cholera outbreak, and when we were there, they were still decontaminating the systems. Aside from decontamination, they were worried about whether the cholera was a human strain or a fish one, because more measures would be needed if it posed a risk to human health. Prevention is taken very seriously because once there is an outbreak, it takes a long time to decontaminate and start everything back up.

Tour of U of L's Fish Facilities

During the Aquaponics Research Facility tour at the Lethbridge College, we were informed about the relationship between fish and plants in an ecosystem and how they eliminate the waste produced by one another. We were shown how the waste released by fish into water flows into a water filtration system that uses biofiltration tanks and other machines (e.g. waste filtration and sedimentation tanks, biochar trickling filters, deep water culture, nutrient film, and substrate drip-irrigated beds) to rid the water of naturally occurring chemical compounds that are harmful to plants and animals (e.g. ammonia, nitrites).

The water recirculation works using hydrostatic pressure. This water becomes a food source for microorganisms, which is converted into mineral nutrients used by plants. The Aquaponics department has developed a formula taken from the filtered fish water and has used it to help grow plants in their newly constructed greenhouse. The greenhouse is not far from the fish enclosure and is used to grow plants and produce. The water from the fish enclosure is recirculated through water culture troughs in the greenhouse and released into plant trays. This water eventually makes its way through plant troughs and is pumped back into the fish tanks, so the process repeats itself.

We were able to look into the open, cylindrical fish tanks and feed some of the smaller fish. When observing the smaller fish, the difference in behaviour and physical appearance was very apparent. The guide explained how differences in fish appearance, behaviour, and fish fatalities are how they determine possible diseases in their water. The water filtration system and the aquaponics greenhouse created by Lethbridge College exhibit how fish waste can be eliminated almost completely and used to create a viable plant food source.

Tour of Lethbridge College Aquaculture Centre of Excellence Fish Facilities

During the summer, two of our team members conducted research and interviews while in different countries to help contribute to our research. One member went to Germany, where she researched aquaculture in Germany. She concluded that aquaculture was not sustainable when it came to feed production, since it was a big source of greenhouse gases and that fish needed a lot of feed, for example, 1kg of salmon ate four times of its weight in fish protein. Another difficulty of aquaculture was how a lot of space is needed, in turn forest and other ecosystems were destroyed. Since fisheries were built in coastal regions, they also posed a risk of contamination to wild fish. Aside from destroying ecosystems, aquaculture also left a negative impact on the environment due to waste production and overflow (of feces, antibiotics/medication, and leftover food) into water systems.

The fish in aquaculture systems were overcrowded, which resulted in the spread of more diseases. The fish had more fat and less protein than wild fish, and were contaminated with antibotics/drugs and dyes which changed the colour of their flesh, which made them inferior product when compared to wild fish. Fish in aquaculture systems also posed a risk to wild fish, because they were more likely to carry disease and were able to disrupt the ecological balance of the ecosystem. The most popular fish in Germany are the Alaskan pollock, salmon, tuna, herring, and shrimp. In 2018, Germany produced around 0.3 million tonnes of fish, which was worth around $467.1 million USD, and around $17.4 million USD was used for management, infrastructure, marketing, and for fishing communities.

The other team member interviewed Leona Nortega, who worked at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in the Philippines. She was assigned in the Fisheries Integrated Laboratory Section, which was in charge of conducting fish disease investigations. The most common diseases they faced were white spot syndrome in shrimp and Trichodiniasis and fluke infestation in finfish. To test for these diseases, they used PCR for viruses, necropsy, gross physical examination, parasitological examination, and water quality analysis. Disease control was difficult for them, especially giving treatments, so they were doing their best to prevent any outbreaks and disease.