A cell-free Manganese bio-sensor
Click below to drop water on the test strip
When the strip glows blue, our bacteria on the strip detected Manganese
A cell-free Manganese bio-sensor
When the strip glows blue, our bacteria on the strip detected Manganese
Children and adults who drink manganese-contaminated water can experience issues with memory, attention, and motor skills.
Infants may develop learning and behavior problems if they drink water with too much manganese in it.
Manganese water contamination is a problem that cannot be easily corrected in some places. Common treatment options include oxidizing filters, ion exchange, aeration followed by
filtration, and chemical oxidization followed by filtration. These are expensive solutions and not applicable to some communities.
Our goal is to engineer bacteria to sense the presence of manganese ions in water.
We have optimized our sensor for use in a cell-free platform, chosen a reporter that enables imaging of sensor output using a mobile phone, and designed portable luminescence imaging device (LID) hardware to enable the testing of water samples in the field.
Manganese contaminated water appears a muddy red-brown color
Move the mouse around the sink to see the contaminated water!
Tap on the sink to see the contaminated water!