Team:WLC-Milwaukee/Human Practices

PLACEHOLDER

WLC iGEM 2019 | Investigations

Investigations and Impact

Our team began investigating the prevalence of lead in Milwaukee’s water and the devastating effects of lead poisoning. We researched different lead detection systems and kits and determined if a cheaper and more efficient method was possible. Keeping this in mind, we sought to create a way to not only raise awareness of this issue plaguing our hometown, but to also offer a remedy that can promote water safety and benefit our community as a whole.

Milwaukee has especially been affected by high levels of lead in the water both historically and recently. Between January 1st, and October 30th, of 2018, 22,744 Milwaukee children were tested for lead poisoning, of those who were tested, 941 were found to have elevated blood lead levels. On a broader level, it is estimated that 1.2 million children in the United States suffer from lead poisoning. High blood lead levels can especially hurt young children and can cause symptoms such as developmental delays, learning disabilities, and problems with hearing. Similarly, adults can be severely affected by lead in the water as well leading to hearing loss, severe headaches, irritability, and sleeping problems. Our project’s goal is to help prevent such cases by creating a capsule which contains a genetically modified strain of non-harmful E. coli.

In order to do so, we needed to research different capsule types and how capsules work on a molecular level. We found that the gelatin membranes that make up capsules are the reason they dissolve well in water and are able to cause almost immediate results. This is significant to the success of our project because immediate results in testing of lead in water will allow for people utilizing our capsules to more quickly understand the danger of what they might be ingesting.

Education of the topic of lead contamination and lead poisoning is another way to possibly prevent it in the future. Many people are not aware of the fact that lead may be in their water, let alone the effects it can have on them. By removing the sources of lead from water in individual homes and facilities, lead contamination can be significantly decreased. Educating the population about ways to do this is another one of our team’s goals. Certain steps to prevent lead contamination is to update pipes and faucets that may have lead pipes, remove lead paint from older homes, and examine the lead paint and make sure that it does not chip off and fall into the soil. We have sent out brochures educating the public on lead safety and steps to take in order to minimize this issue as a part of our outreach to the community.

Our team investigated the issue of lead in waters of developing countries as well and found that contaminated waters are a severe danger to people in those countries. Since developing countries are often impoverished, resources are allocated to other issues besides water management and research, making lead poisoning a significant danger to populations in those countries.

One of our team members interviewed Dr. Joe Stetter, the president of KWJ Engineering (a company that specializes in electrochemical sensors). He approved of our idea to use methyl salicylate as the detection scent for our sensor. He also discussed how lead poisoning was an issue worldwide, mentioning how other countries generally improved with respect to lead poisoning symptoms after the pipes were replaced. As lead poisoning can cause such irritable and detrimental symptoms, the replacement of these pipes greatly improved these areas.

The WLC-Milwaukee iGEM team found great interest in the city of Milwaukee because the issue of lead contamination is so pertinent. Our Lead Scentsor aims to remedy this problem and promote safety among Milwaukee citizens in a cost-effective and efficient way.




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  • star_borderWLC iGEM spend a significant amount of time researching and analyzing the need of a lead sensor in our community. We put much thought into how our sensor would affect the community.

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  • star_borderOur team spent a large amount of time perfecting the design of our project. Early on, we talked to an expert on sensors that has multiple companies dedicated to sensors. After much consideration between scents, we chose wintergreen, a scent that would be unique enough to be able to smell easily. We also conducted a small-scale perception test to determine whether wintergreen would be perceived at small concentrations.