top of page

KIDRONNAR (2016-2020): From conflict on wastewater management in the Kidron/Al-Nar basin towards sustainable development by decentralised local solutions for wastewater treatment and reuse.

Funding: UNESCO-IHE
Partners: Dr. Peter van der Steen, Dr. Jack van de Vossenberg et al (UNESCO-IHE); Prof. R. Laster (HUJI); Dr. Jawad Hasan (Al-Quds University); Joktan Cohen, Hans Bekkers (Engineers without Borders); Municipality of Ubadiyah.

Untreated wastewater of 300,000 people is discharged from a number of local communities into the Kidron/Al‐Nar stream, which flows from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea and along the way forms an environmental and health hazard. The political setting of the river basin is complicated, since it is located in west and east Jerusalem and Areas A, B and C (delineated in Oslo agreements). This 'open sewer' has caused Palestinian farmers to leave their lands and has increased disease incidence and nuisance from odour/flies in the town of Ubadiya. Pollution of groundwater (West‐Bank aquifer) is likely as well.


The main objective of the project is to investigate and demonstrate the feasibility of a decentralized approach to treatment and reuse of wastewater in the Kidron/Nar basin. Within this framework, our role is to monitor the quality of the raw wastewater and treated effluents of the various treatment options tested.

Research

As is clear from the definition above, at the heart of every biosensor is a biological entity, the purpose of which is to react with the target analyte(s) and generate a readily quantifiable signal. Whereas traditional biosensors are based on the unique specificity of enzymes to their substrates, antibodies to antigens or that of nucleic acids to their complementary sequences, we have been promoting the use of a different concept, that of whole cell biosensors. An intact live cell, containing a selected gene promoter fused to a reporter gene, serves both as the sensing and the reporting element; the specificity of the system is controlled by the choice of gene promoter, and the type of signal generated (and hence the hardware needed for measuring it) is dictated by the choice of reporter systems.


The small size requirements, rapid responses and sensing versatility of bacterial-based whole-cell biosensors allow their convenient and efficient adaptation for laboratory as well as field applications, for environmental, pharmaceutical, security and industrial uses. The relative ease by which molecular sensing and reporting elements can be fused together to generate dose-dependent quantifiable physical responses (luminescent, fluorescent, colorimetric, electrochemical) to pre-determined conditions allows the construction of diverse classes of sensors. Over the last two decades, we have employed this principle to design and construct microbial bioreporter strains for the sensitive detection of either:


(a) Specific chemicals (e.g. TNT or DNT)
(b) Groups of chemicals sharing either chemical characteristics (e.g. heavy metals) or biological activity (e.g. oxidants)
(c) Global biological effects such as general toxicity or genotoxicity.

 

In many of these cases, additional molecular manipulations beyond the initial sensor-reporter fusion may be highly beneficial for enhancing the performance of the engineered sensor systems. 

Ongoing biosensor-related research efforts

Remote detection of buried landmines (and other explosive devices)

Partner: Prof. A. Agranat, the Optoelectronic Computing Laboratory, Applied Physics, HUJI

Over the last few years we have succeeded in designing in constructing an Escherichia coli bioreporter strain for the sensitive detection of  2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) traces. This and similar bioreporter strains have been demonstrated to generate an optical signal in response to the low DNT concentrations characteristic of soils above buried landmines, and thus provide a potential means for the remote scanning and mapping of suspected minefields. Response characteristics (signal intensity, response times and detection threshold) were significantly improved following a directed evolution process, in the course of which random mutagenesis of selected chromosomal regions was followed by robotic-aided screening and selection of improved variants. In parallel, an optoelectronic system for the remote scanning and quantification of the bacterial fluorescence was developed by the Agranat group. The system consists of a modulated laser beam (λ = 488 nm) as the excitation source, with a telescope-based light collection system for emission monitoring, and employs a phase locking detection scheme. When the reporter bacteria were encapsulated in hydrocolloid carriers (2-3 mm Ø) and spread over an outdoor test site, the combined system successfully mapped the location of buried explosive devices in the scanned area.

TREES (2016-2019): TRacking Effects of Environmental organic micro-pollutants in the Subsurface

Funding: BMBF/MOST

Partners: Dr. G. Reifferscheid and Dr. S. Buchinger. German Federal Institute of Hydrology, Koblenz, Germany

We aim to develop an innovative technological platform for monitoring organic micro-pollutants based on the assessment of their biological effects. A combination of planar chromatography, mass spectrometry and whole cell biosensors is employed for multidimensional detection and tracking of organic micro-pollutants and their transformation products after extraction and pre-concentration from the water phase. We proceed from the combination of thin layer chromatography with existing biosensor-based (eco)toxicological assays to the development of advanced sensor-strains (both bacteria- and yeast-based) suitable for the multiparallel detection of (eco)toxicological effects.

Bioengineered cell biosensors for detection of chemical and biological threats (2016-2019)

Funding: NATO Science for Peace Program
Partners: Prof. Elisa Michelini, University of Bologna, Italy; Prof. Eugen Gheorghiu, International Centre of Biodynamics, Bucharest, Romania; Prof. Yoshihiro Ohmiya, BioMedical Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

A rapid response to a chemical or biological terrorist attack, as well as to an accidental release of toxic environmental pollutants, requires the ability to monitor and detect chemical or biological agents, so that an early warning can be raised, potential health risks defined, and proper countermeasures are employed. The project partners develop a battery of bioengineered live cell biosensors, "tailored" to respond to different agents by the generation of measurable and quantitative dose-dependent signals.

LumiCellSense (2016-2019): a Smartphone-compatible bioluminescent hand-held toxicity analysis system

Funding: Hebrew University-Academia Sinica Collaborative Program
Partner: Dr. Ji-Yen Cheng, Acadamia Sinica, Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Increasing water pollution by contaminants from human activities poses threats to the ecosystem and human health. Usage of veterinary drugs results in residual drugs in dairy products, eggs and meat. An affordable and portable device would greatly help the on-site analysis of toxicants. To answer to this need, an innovative live cell biochip, incorporating live bioluminescent bacterial sensor cells onto a solid platform is being developed.

A device that uses specific biochemical reactions mediated by isolated enzymes, immunosystems, tissues, organelles or whole cells to detect chemical compounds usually by electrical, thermal or optical signals.


*IUPAC, 1997. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford

Biosensor*

Whole-cell Biosensors

bottom of page