The Problem
Water Pollution
50% of drinking water boreholes in Denmark contain pesticide residues or other pollutants, contaminating the groundwater [1].
Exceeding Limit Values
10% of the boreholes exceed the acceptable limit values for pollutants, posing a serious risk to public health [1].
Groundwater at Risk
Hazardous pollutants affect 70% of Denmark's youngest groundwater reservoirs, threatening future water sources [2].
Our Story
Among the most hazardous pollutants present in our waters are endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). These pollutants can interfere with the hormonal systems in humans or wildlife, leading to serious health issues like fertility problems. EDCs function by binding to endocrine receptors, disrupting processes controlled by nuclear hormone receptors (androgen, progesterone, thyroid, and retinoid) and non-nuclear receptors (dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin) [3].
Notable EDCs reported in drinking water, groundwater, and wastewater include bisphenol A (BPA), diethylstilbestrol, octylphenol, and nonylphenol. These pollutants often originate from cleaning agents, pesticides, and plasticizers like bisphenols and phthalates [3,4].
So... Our solution? EndoSense Biosensor
Biosensor Application
Biosensor Mechanism
EndoSense Design
For the design of EndoSense, we were inspired by the ROSALIND system [5] which is a systematic approach to using allosteric transcription factors in biosensors. These receptors bind directly to response elements (RE) on DNA after interacting with their corresponding hormone (or EDC). By using these hormonal receptors as the base of our biosensor, it is possible to sense all the EDCs that normally bind them [6,7]. Our system also includes the Broccoli aptamer, which functions as a reporter transcribed by the T7 RNA polymerase. This project will provide a new method to reduce time and cost of testing for EDCs. In the first iteration, we aimed to demonstrate a light proof of concept for the sensing-part of our system [7]. Learn more about our project here.
SENTINEL Software
During our brainstorming sessions, we faced difficulties linking endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) to their molecular targets. This inspired the development of SENTINEL (Sentence Extracting Networked Target Information using NLP and Exploration of Literature), an NLP-powered tool designed to automate the extraction of chemical-target relationships from PubMed articles. SENTINEL is a scalable, user-friendly database and includes integrated network analysis, allowing researchers to easily explore and visualize interactions between chemicals and receptors. By providing verified, curated information, SENTINEL simplifies the research process, making it easier for future teams to focus on insights rather than data gathering.
Stakeholders
By interacting with the world and people around us, we made sure our project was responsible and beneficial for everyone. Starting by exploring our own values we made sure the problem we tried to solve reflected them. By identifying and involving our stakeholders, we integrated their perspectives in every part of our project.
Our Impact
EndoSense supports the goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We considered the broader implications of our project’s impact on the following SDGs:
-
SDG 3: EDCs in water could cause serious health risks, including some hormone-related disorders. Identifying these compounds contributes to improving public health by reducing exposure to hazardous chemicals in drinking water and groundwater [6].
-
SDG 6: EndoSense could improve the water quality by detecting endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) and addressing the contamination of water sources. The project could make the water safer to drink by identifying harmful pollutants [8].
-
SDG 14: EDCs affect reproductive health in fish and generally wildlife. Controlling these pollutants helps at the protection of marine biodiversity and contributes to more balanced ecosystems [6].
