{"id":15638,"date":"2018-08-16T11:14:08","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T11:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alj.com\/en\/?post_type=perspective&#038;p=15638"},"modified":"2019-09-19T10:01:54","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T10:01:54","slug":"j-wafs-action-living-sensors-detect-water-contamination","status":"publish","type":"perspective","link":"https:\/\/alj.com\/en\/perspective\/j-wafs-action-living-sensors-detect-water-contamination\/","title":{"rendered":"J-WAFS in Action: \u2018Living sensors\u2019 to detect water contamination"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15639 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Tzu-Chieh-Tang-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Tzu-Chieh-Tang-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Tzu-Chieh-Tang-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Tzu-Chieh-Tang-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Tzu-Chieh-Tang-170x170.jpg 170w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Tzu-Chieh-Tang-70x70.jpg 70w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Tzu-Chieh-Tang-271x271.jpg 271w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Tzu-Chieh-Tang.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Tzu-Chieh Tang (Zijay) is a doctoral student in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT, funded by <\/em><em>the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Security Lab (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/jwafs.mit.edu\/\"><em>J-WAFS<\/em><\/a><em>). \u00a0His research is focused on developing \u2018living water sensors\u2019 that can record contaminant levels in water supplies and serve as bioremediation tools. \u00a0Originally from Taiwan, Zijay joined MIT after completing a masters at the Masdar Institute in the United Arab Emirates.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>J-WAFS communications and program manager <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/jwafs.mit.edu\/about\/people\/sutton\"><em>Andi Sutton<\/em><\/a><em> spoke to Zijay about his research and its aims.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>What brought you to study with J-WAFS at MIT?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I was an undergrad, synthetic biology was a relatively new field. \u00a0I came across a paper that looked at how you could apply the principles of computer science and electrical engineering to do circuit design in living cells, and I thought, <em>\u2018This is really cool!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always looked to nature for inspiration. \u00a0Many living things have self-cleaning and self-healing surfaces.\u00a0 They\u2019re all out there in nature. \u00a0Since it\u2019s very difficult to replicate these processes using artificial approaches, I wanted to know how I could use a living part of nature to recreate these systems. \u00a0So of course, I looked to MIT, which is one of the strongest places to do research in synthetic biology. \u00a0MIT also has a strong materials science community, which appealed to my interest in materials and surfaces, so it was a good combination for me.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> What problems are you trying to address with your research? <\/strong><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-15640 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Living-sensors-300x141.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"141\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Living-sensors-300x141.jpg 300w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Living-sensors-150x71.jpg 150w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Living-sensors.jpg 712w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Water sensing is usually done with electronic sensors or mass spectrometers.\u00a0 These methods provide better results than current biological sensors can provide. \u00a0Even though bio-sensing has been understood for a while, people haven\u2019t yet found a way to deploy bio-sensors safely and cheaply. \u00a0Our lab is trying to solve this problem. \u00a0We want to prove how bio-sensors can have advantages over electronic sensors, like functioning without a power supply, so they can be used in remote areas that lack modern infrastructure.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> How do your biosensors work?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our lab is engineering living materials that can sense and respond to environmental stimuli. \u00a0We are using synthetic biology to engineer microbes, such as <em>E. coli<\/em> and budding yeast, to sense and record specific contaminants (heavy metals and other chemicals) by lighting up when they come in contact with them.<\/p>\n<p>The major challenge of making a device out of living materials is that there is no actual structure to contain the cells. The <em>E.coli<\/em> that we use are free-floating; they don\u2019t form a bulk material. \u00a0So, we worked with <a href=\"https:\/\/alj.com\/en\/perspective\/j-wafs-action-good-vibrations-reducing-cost-water-desalination\/\">Professor Xuanhe Zhao\u2019s<\/a> group in the mechanical engineering department at MIT, to use a tough hydrogel they developed to contain the microbes. \u00a0This serves as a division of labor: the hydrogel provides the structural integrity, and the engineered bacteria do the sensing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> Does this produce the self-generating living system that you were originally inspired to make?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Actually, no. \u00a0What we\u2019d really like to do is see if we can make the microbes, or other living organisms, produce their own container, as well as doing the water sensing. \u00a0This is what I\u2019m working on now. \u00a0I\u2019m collaborating with someone in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London, as well as another lab in MIT\u2019s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, that uses yeasts to do bioremediation, to create a living filter that can sense and remove chemical and biological contaminants. \u00a0The work is still in its early stages, but the results are promising.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> Synthetic biology research often has a long time horizon. How will you define completion for your project?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Completion will mean that we can beat the results of the electronic water sensor counterparts in terms of specificity and sensitivity. \u00a0But we are not there yet. \u00a0I believe that if we can show the potential of our bio-sensors to be viable water sensing products for industry, we might get more support.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> How important has J-WAFS\u2019 support been for your research?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One area I\u2019m keen to do further research is in optimizing the sensors to see the true extent of their potential. \u00a0This is another way that J-WAFS has been really helpful. \u00a0Through J-WAFS, I was introduced to people at <a href=\"https:\/\/alj.com\/en\/news\/j-wafs-secures-first-corporate-research-affiliate-agreement\/\">Xylem Inc<\/a>., another J-WAFS research affiliate, about their interest in this work and possible future support. \u00a0This would never have happened if I had not had this J-WAFS\u2019 affiliation.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> Besides your current work, what other water research excites you at the moment? <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Based on my experience and discussions with others in my field, it\u2019s clear that there is already a lot of work being done in sensing and removing different contaminants from water, like heavy metal ions and chemicals. \u00a0Right now, though, we don\u2019t have very good sensors for pathogens like microbes. \u00a0I think it would be really nice if we could use the fact that some microbes can detect others to build bio-sensors to detect pathogens in food and water. \u00a0This is where we could beat electronic sensors in terms of sensitivity. \u00a0The issue of biological contaminants is, to me, equally if not more important than chemical ones.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> What are your next steps after MIT?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019m really excited about the research I\u2019ve been doing, but last year I was involved in a start-up competition. \u00a0So, I could see developing research for commercialization as a possible career path. \u00a0But, there are so many things I still want to do, so I\u2019m still exploring my options.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-15642 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/JWAFS-logo.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"732\" height=\"106\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/JWAFS-logo.png 732w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/JWAFS-logo-150x22.png 150w, https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/JWAFS-logo-300x43.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 732px) 100vw, 732px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":15641,"template":"","tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Living Sensors to Detect Water Contamination | 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