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Standard Track Awards: Best Supporting Entrepreneurship

Access to health treatment for everyone is a big societal step forward.

To add a small stone to this objective, we decided to contribute the "good custody" of antibiotics with the creation of a new diagnostics device (DIANE) to detect pathogens in blood with selectivity, rapidity and sensitivity. To achieve this ambitious goal, we had to develop in parallel: the aptamers against members of a WHO list of pathogens, the carbon nanotube-based electrodes for their detection, the millifluidic analysis system which serves respectively to introduce and remove sample into and from the detection cavity of the device, the context dependant usage scenario, the electronic system which displays the results and address ethical and regulatory issues that may arise from the use of DIANE.

To develop a device as sensitive as possible we decided to design its core around an aptamer-based carbon nanotube electrode. Indeed, this kind of electrode is extremely responsive as it can react to as little as 1 bacterium per 5 ml of solution. First, we needed to find a selective set of aptamers for two of the pathogens we decided to work on: Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium. These aptamer sets were identified by the whole-cell SELEX approach (wiki1 link). Afterwards aptamers were attached to carbon nanotube electrodes chemically (wiki2 link). Thanks to their 3D structure, the aptamers can recognize selectively bacterial membrane proteins (surface or trans) or other molecules (lipopolysaccharides). When the aptamer, linked on the carbon nanotube electrode, binds to another molecule on the surface of the cell, the aptamer undergoes conformational changes. This alteration in geometry leads to a change in electrostatic interactions (charge attraction/repulsion) with ions, which in turn induces a potential difference along the electrode. It is this potential difference that we want to measure.

We wanted to create a device small enough to be easily portable (for remote regions, humanitarian areas and urban “point of care” testing). Therefore, we plan to use a millifluidic system which constitutes the path for the biological sample into the detection cavity. In fact, the aptamer-based carbon nanotube electrodes are in the detection cavity protected from external contaminants and shock. The millifluidic system is made of polyether ether ketone (PEEK) which is chemically resistant, has a very low friction coefficient, and is approved by the FDA.

The circuit is designed without nooks and crannies to avoid static pressure zones and therefore bacterial adherence with the formation of a biofilm. After analysis, the liquid biological sample is expelled into a disposable recovery bag. The biological sample is moved across the millifluidic circuit thanks to a miniature pump incorporated into the device. We worked with millifluidic engineers from SMC company (www.smc-france.fr) and with an industrial designer (ex-iGEMer) to optimize the external casing of the device and the milli-fluidic system.

The potential difference readout is processed by electronic system layer. The electrical signal induced by aptamer conformational changing is recorded through a voltage gate/port on an Arduino board.

The software code we included directs the Arduino board to compare this potential against a calibrated reference potential, to perform an analogic to numeric conversion and to display the measurements results on an LCD screen.

To make the measurement as reliable as possible, the Arduino board has been set up to do an average on 5000 points before printing a value so that high frequency noices are eliminated. The setup will allow to generate a result within 5-6 minutes.

We expect our device will be able to improve access to treatment for all thanks to its speed, precision, portability, robustness and its ease-of-use for non-expert users. Through this new rapid diagnostics tool we hope to reduce unnecessary use of antimicrobials by providing essential information on the exact type of pathogen to medical personnel, which in turn this will contribute to cutting down the selection pressure on pathogens and limit antibiotic resistance.

Education & Public Engagement

We envisioned DIANE not only as an IGEM project but also as a real start-up company. We collaborated with a professional who helps entrepreneurial scientists to accelerate their startup projects and with whom we worked every week. We have carried out a market study to determine our potential competitors but also our likely partners. We worked by making short iterations and meeting with professionals from diverse fields to minimize the risk of project failure. By involving potential customers and experts, we ensured maximum responsiveness to offer a product that meets market expectations. We conducted interviews to target our customer segments. To establish financial stability, we made presentations to investors and were able to convince them of the viability of our project to raise 27,260 USD; we also carried out crowdfunding and partnership. In collaboration with the legal department of the Institut Pasteur, we have considered the protection of our device.

Standard Track Awards: Best Wiki

We wanted to convey the DIANE universe through our wiki. Not experienced in code or design at all, three of us undertook to create the wiki step by step, by learning on our own. The entire code (Html, CSS, Java) and illustrations (illustrator, photoshop) were made by us.

DIANE : A moving universe

By browsing our wiki, you will meet two artistic visions which are cohabiting : mythology and technology

DIANE & Mythology

Concept:
Various references related to Diane, the roman goddess of hunting have been inserted. The bow spirit in the notebook is one of examples.

Colour :
The duck blue color reminds a particular atmosphere that may remind us of that of large forest lakes. The occasional use of the golden colour sublimates the universe by bringing magic.

DIANE & Technology

Concept:
The design of the left side bar is composed of various elements that evoke electronic circuit elements and carbon nanotubes in reference to the DIANE device constitution. Moreover, some of these elements are reflected in our DIANE logo, in a more refined graphic style.

Colour :
The use of the yellow colour is aesthetically striking with the duck blue colour and reminds us of the energy released by the circuit.

Text & Arrangement : Html & CSS

Animations : Javascript

Animations are maybe the most important artistic choice of our website - and probably our greatest pride - since they bring a little soul to our site. To realize them we used the JAVA language. Animations are intended to make our content attractive and entertaining for the visitor. We have designed it to be both original and compatible with good wiki navigation. Indeed, we took care to optimize it to make the user reading easy.

Wishing to transmit this complexe universe as well as possible, we have given a particular choice to each stage of creation. We have thought long and hard about the use of colours, the content arrangement or the animations of several elements of our wiki pages. We hope you will enjoy it !

Alexandre, Quentin & Elise