<p>In China, issues caused by the copper ion contamination are gradually increasing and the consequences are now beginning to surface. Not only is the problem of pollution of vegetables mentioned in the left picture, but many products in life are also affected by copper pollution, like red wines and aquatic products such as oysters.</p>
<p>Under these circumstances, consumers are anxious about food contamination problems, including dizziness, nausea and stomach ache. Moreover, a lot of contaminated food products can't be sold. And as a result, farmers' yields and revenue significantly suffer. Copper pollution is a growing threat.</p>
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<h3>Current Solution is NOT Ideal</h3>
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<p>Even though there are some relevant instruments, they are not ideal. But don't lose hope, our product is here to help. It is not only portable but also low cost and doesn't require professional control. Our project is different.</p>
<p>Unlike previous iGEM teams, we utilize the E. coli endogenic copper sensor CueR to regulate our signal plasmid. Where promoter pCopA will be activated by CueR-Copper complex to express the downstream fluorescent protein mVenus. Therefore, with a higher concentration of copper, the stronger the fluorescent signal.</p>
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<p>Since we want to fine-tune our circuit dynamics with more CueR in E. coli, another plasmid was constructed for CureR over-expression under the control of a promoter library containing more than 50 different promoters.
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<p>We demonstrated the response curves of the two plasmid systems with variable CueR concentration in vivo, which allowed us to customize our flexible copper biosensor in the future.</p>
<p>To conclude, our mission is to create a cutting edge instrument for detecting copper ions which we'll all benefit from. People will drink safer water, enjoy food that's free from contamination. This is the kind of world we want to build. </p>
