(191db) Engineered Bacterial Biosensor to Detect Endocrine Disruptors

Hormone disrupting compounds are pervasive. They are found in plastics, pesticides, and medications, among other sources. Though the full impact of these compounds has not been fully elucidated, these chemicals are linked to a variety of health problems, including diseases such as diabetes and cancer, obesity and infertility. We have developed a detection strategy based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to quantify endocrine disrupting compounds that is both fast and portable. Our method requires no specialized skills to perform, and, rather than responding to individual chemicals, this system reports the total estrogenic activity of a sample. We have engineered E. coli to surface-express a native estrogen receptor construct. This approach will be broadly applicable to the detection of chemically dissimilar classes of compounds that bind to a single receptor.