Team:Bolivia/Description
Year after year the rural communities in Bolivia suffer from water shortages so they are pushed to look for other water resources in other places that sometimes are costly. In Bolivia besides the natural environmental contamination with heavy metals the mineral mining industry contributes to a rampant contamination of rivers and lakes, exceeding the concentration of heavy metals maximum permissible limits. The problem we face is that there is no cheap way of detecting them in water: Arsenic contamination in drinking water, lakes and rivers in the highlands of Bolivia. Arsenic is present in the 5 continents of the planet and affects about 15 million people in the world, being the most harmful metal, arsenic was reported to be found mainly in rural areas and cities of Bolivia representing a great threat, and its exposure can cause chronic diseases in major organs of the body. (1)
Background
Heavy metals have an atomic density of approximately 4000 kg/m3 or more. Being highly toxic (classified as such by international organizations), they cause serious illnesses in humans and in extreme cases even cancer, even if found in very low concentrations. Arsenic is found in all types of water of the Altiplano plateau, mostly in its oxidized form (As [V]) when released from its natural sources, it also precipitates in secondary minerals where it is generally stable in the form of saline precipitates and Fe oxides. (2)
Drinking water sources used by mostly rural and indigenous communities around lakes and/or rivers in the Bolivian altiplano are affected by drought and a combination of natural contaminants such as mineral deposits, brines, thermal waters and volcanic rocks, as well as anthropogenic sources related to mining activities and the release of acid mine drainage (AMD) (4).
In view of such problems, there is a need to constantly monitor arsenic concentrations in drinking water in order to take action, and for this it is important to understand heavy metal detection methods with emphasis on the design of cost-effective, environmentally friendly and user- acceptable sensor systems for on-site applications, in addition to high sensitivity, selectivity, reproducibility and stability. (5)
Nowadays, heavy metal detection can be achieved by spectrometric (high sensitivity, high cost), electrochemical (easy to use, limited sensitivity) and optical (easy to use, low selectivity) methods, i.e. sophisticated conventional techniques such as atomic absorption spectrometry and mass spectrometry, among others, involving the coupling of separation techniques, such as HPLC. These techniques are characterized by their high sensitivity, but have the disadvantages of long analysis time and high cost. (6)
In recent times, biotechnology and synthetic biology have been applied to the development of cell-free or whole-cell biosensors, which represent an alternative to traditional analytical methods, with comparable sensitivity, easy handling, portable, fast and even cheaper, although sensitive to changes in temperature and pH. (7)
Our project
The project presented by our team is the design and construction of a bacterial biosensor to detect and quantify arsenic in water sources. We also designed a portable device that will hold the biosensor, so one can analyze water samples in rural areas. In this way we propose an innovative and accessible alternative that contributes to an environmental monitoring service.
The detection principle of our biosensor will be colorimetry through the production of a violet chromoprotein that will serve as colorimetric assay to quantify the concentration of arsenic in different water samples.
Genetic constructs for arsenic detection
For the construction of the bacterial biosensor, a battery of four genetic circuits will be designed and built, with different sensitivity intervals, which will have the following elements:
Input module conformed by a weak constitutive promoter gene (BBa_J23109) that is in charge of the expression of the arsR protein (BBa_J15101).
Processing module consisting of the inducible Pars promoter (BBa_K190015) and a double amplifying cascade (HrpRS-pHrpL-RinA). Output module consisting of an inducible pRinA-p80 promoter and the mRFP1-Violet reporter gene.
Arsenic detection using the FADSR device
FADSR (fast arsenic data sample reader) is the mechatronic portavle device designed by the team and constructed of a resistant and lightweight material, suitable for field work, which allows the interpretation, recording and dissemination of results for the detection of arsenic in water samples. The data will be observed by the operator in real time from 18 different samples quickly and accurately in a small space. This device contains batteries that give it a lifetime without the need for a continuous power supply. The design was inspired by igem Peshawar's 2017 MAX (Metal Alert Xystem) design (8)
References
De Loma J, Tirado N, Ascui F, Levi M, Vahter M, Broberg K, et al. Elevated arsenic exposure and efficient arsenic metabolism in indigenous women around Lake Poopó, Bolivia. Science of The Total Environment. marzo de 2019;657:179-86.
De Loma J, Tirado N, Ascui F, Levi M, Vahter M, Broberg K, et al. Elevated arsenic exposure and efficient arsenic metabolism in indigenous women around Lake Poopó, Bolivia. Science of The Total Environment. marzo de 2019;657:179-86.
Tapia J, Murray J, Ormachea M, Tirado N, Nordstrom DK. Origin, distribution, and geochemistry of arsenic in the Altiplano-Puna plateau of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Perú. Science of The Total Environment. agosto de 2019;678:309-25.
Ormachea Muñoz, Mauricio, & Quintanilla Aguirre, Jorge. (2014). DISTRIBUTION OF GEOGENIC ARSENIC IN SUPERFICIAL AND UNDERGROUND WATER IN CENTRAL BOLIVIAN HIGHLANDS. Revista Boliviana de Química, 31(2), 54-60. Recuperado en 15 de septiembre de 2021, de
Quaghebeur W, Mulhern RE, Ronsse S, Heylen S, Blommaert H, Potemans S, et al. Arsenic contamination in rainwater harvesting tanks around Lake Poopó in Oruro, Bolivia: An unrecognized health risk. Science of The Total Environment. octubre de 2019;688:224-30.
Usman K, Al-Ghouti MA, Abu-Dieyeh MH. Phytoremediation: Halophytes as Promising Heavy Metal Hyperaccumulators. En: Saleh HE-DM, Aglan RF, editores. Heavy Metals [Internet]. InTech; 2018 [citado 15 de septiembre de 2021]. Disponi
Rajakovic, L., & Rajakovic-Ognjanovic, V. (2018). Arsenic in Water: Determination and Removal. En M. Stoytcheva & R. Zlatev (Eds.), Arsenic—Analytical and Toxicological Studies. InTech.
Devi, P., Thakur, A., Lai, RY, Saini, S., Jain, R. y Kumar, P. (2019). Avances en los materiales para la detección óptica de arsénico en agua. Tendencias de TrAC en química analítica , 110 , 97-115.
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