NSF Convergence Accelerator Real-World Chemical Sensing Applications: Engineered Microbial Sensors for Monitoring Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Drinking Water

About This Grant

This project is developing an inexpensive and accurate point-of-use test for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at drinking water facilities. The very nature of the strong carbon-fluorine bond in these molecules makes them persist in the environment and the human body. There is growing evidence that forever chemicals cause cancer and other diseases, and it is expected that stricter guidelines on the levels of PFASs allowed in drinking water will be implemented in the future. Current methods for testing for PFASs in drinking water must be carried out off-site, rely on expensive specialized equipment, and have a turn-around time of days to months. The TrueBlue sensing devices developed here will combine the ability of biological systems to recognize virtually any pollutant with high sensitivity combined with readout electronics in a small disposable “dipstick” format; sensing can occur within 1-2 hours. One of the research teams of this collaborative effort will design these hybrid bioelectronic devices to detect PFAS compounds using the latest advances in artificial intelligence. This team’s efforts are complemented by a world-leading applied research team that has been working with the New York City (NYC) Department of Environmental Protection for nearly three decades to advance water resource recovery in NYC, one of the largest metropolitan regions in the world. The intellectual merit of this project comes in delivering a transformative technology for detecting PFASs and other pollutants in water and advancing the design and application of hybrid bioelectronic devices using artificial intelligence. The broader impacts span from improving human health by minimizing exposure to PFAS compounds in the environment to rich training opportunities for future generations of STEM researchers. This project seeks the convergence of the fields of synthetic biology, bioelectronics, machine learning, and water resources engineering to provide point-of-use sensors for assessing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. Because of the unique strong carbon-fluorine bond, PFAS, or "forever chemicals", persist in the environment and the human body, causing cancer, liver damage, immune system disruption, and developmental issues in children. Current methods for testing for PFASs in drinking water must be carried out off-site, rely on expensive specialized equipment, and have a turn-around time of days to months. In contrast, the TrueBlue biohybrid devices developed here can be utilized on-site and will use equipment that is 100-fold less expensive. This transformation will be achieved by building an entirely new class of biohybrid device that co-opts the specificity of a yeast G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), the sensitivity and remote sensing capabilities of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) read-out devices, and state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms to de novo design the GPCRs to recognize key PFAS compounds. The project includes manufacturing scale-up to provide a minimal viable product for commercialization and drives the product to start-up company creation, including the development of a go-to-market plan, regulatory plan, and commercialization plan. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.