Team:Gaston Day School

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A recent WHO and UNICEF report estimates that as of 2010, almost a billion people around the world lack access to contaminant free, safe drinking water (WHO & UNICEF, 2012). This poses a significant health risk to individuals and especially children. The United Nations approximates that 3 million people, in developing countries alone, die each year from water related illnesses (UNESCO, 2009). In the United States, water quality is strictly monitored by government agencies. But in many places a lack of regulation combined with poor irrigation leads to a hazardous situation. In 2012, the Gaston Day School iGEM team created biological heavy metal detectors. However, they were not sensitive enough to be a practical application of the BioBricks.


At the 2011 competition, the UC-Davis team presented a novel protocol for Mutagenic PCR. We are using this procedure to alter the sensitivity of our detectors by mutagenizing both the Cadmium Sensitive Promoter (K174015) and our Cadmium Detector Construct (K824008). In addition to the mutagenic promoter, we will incorporate sensitivity tuners created by the 2009 Cambridge iGEM team in an attempt to decrease the detection threshold.


1. WHO, & UNICEF, (2012). Progress on drinking water and sanitation. Retrieved from UNICEF Division of Communication website: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2012/9789280646320_eng_full_text.pdf

2. UNESCO. (2009). Water in a changing world. Retrieved from UNESCO Publishing website: http://webworld.unesco.org/water/wwap/wwdr/wwdr3/pdf/WWDR3_Water_in_a_Changing_World.pdf

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