“The SDGs aren’t just a list
of goals. They carry the hopes, dreams, rights and expectations of people
everywhere.”
-António Guterres, 9th Secretary-General of the United
Nations
As young scientists, we see it as our responsibility to protect the world we live in. This has been an important aspect that we have kept in mind all throughout the duration of our project - from brainstorming for ideas to the lab work and our human practices. We made sure to talk to experts and stakeholders in order to achieve the best possible results: a biosensor, that will hopefully one day help to keep our environment clean. In the following we will explain exactly how our project can help to meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
Find out more about the SDGs here!
But we need your help to implement the SDGs in actual practice and to protect the environment and our socio-economic coexistence. Our Hydro Guardian came along this contaminated area. Let's clean this area together and learn something meaningful for our everyday actions.
Click on the icons below and help the Hydro Guardian to save the area from pollution.
Our hero has recognized the problems of our time. We have specifically addressed the issues of health, clean water and climate change. But dealing with a problem alone does not solve it. The partnerships we have entered into have created a strong network of current and future superheroes - we have been able to reach a new generation of superheroes through project-related collaborations and a significant educational component of our children's book. With the help of our IT superheroes and their modeling, we were able to develop a tool that allows us to better understand and address the connections that our bio and physics superheroes were able to uncover. The Hydro Guardian has laid the foundation for future implementation - now it's up to all of us to make it happen.
SDG 3: Promoting Health and Well-being – What It Means and Why It Matters
Let’s guide our little hero towards SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being. SDG 3 directly relates to the health risks faced by children playing in a polluted park. In such an environment, exposure to harmful substances like chemicals, waste, or contaminated water can lead to illnesses, respiratory problems, or skin infections. These health hazards prevent children from safely enjoying outdoor activities, limiting their physical and mental well-being. The goal of SDG 3 is to reduce exposure to such environmental dangers, ensuring that children grow up in healthy spaces that promote their development. The cellular sensor developed by your team, which detects antibiotic and heavy metal residues, can be used in addressing the health risks outlined in SDG 3 within polluted environments like parks. By identifying the presence of harmful substances such as antibiotics and heavy metals in water or soil, the sensor enables early detection of pollutants that can threaten children's health. This technology can be used to monitor contamination levels in areas where children play, like polluted parks, and inform cleanup or preventative actions. Ultimately, it contributes to creating safer, healthier spaces by providing a tool to monitor environmental health risks, aligning with SDG 3's objective of promoting well-being and reducing exposure to hazardous substances.
Supporting SDG 3: Our Cellular Sensor for Antibiotic and Heavy Metal Detection
We want to contribute to minimize the health risks associated with environmental contamination by antibiotics and heavy metals. Both types of pollutants are known to have significant adverse effects on human health. Antibiotics in water animals contribute to the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance, which is a major global health threat. By developing our Hydro Guardian sensor that detects antibiotics in water, the project contributes to early identification and monitoring, enabling better management of these contaminants to protect public health. Furthermore, heavy metal contamination poses direct toxicological risks to human populations, causing various chronic diseases and developmental issues. The project’s ability to detect these substances in water systems is crucial for identifying hazardous levels of pollution and preventing the associated health risks. Through this, the project aligns with SDG 3's goal of reducing exposure to hazardous chemicals and pollutants, contributing to improved health outcomes and well-being for communities exposed to these environmental risks.
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation – Securing a Sustainable Water Future
Now, we send our hero directly to SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, which directly addresses the issue of polluted wells in a park. Contaminated water sources, such as wells, pose serious health risks, as they can harbor harmful bacteria, chemicals, or heavy metals, making the water unsafe for human consumption or recreational use. This contamination affects not only the well-being of park visitors but also the surrounding environment. SDG 6 aims to ensure the availability of clean, safe water for everyone by improving water quality, reducing pollution, and promoting proper sanitation practices. In the case of a polluted park well, this goal seeks to provide access to safe drinking water and to restore water sources to a healthy, usable state.
Supporting SDG 6: Our Cellular Sensor for Water Quality Monitoring
Our team’s cellular sensor can be applied here to monitor and detect the presence of antibiotics and heavy metals in the well water, allowing for early intervention to prevent exposure to harmful substances. By integrating the sensor, authorities can receive real-time data to manage and address contamination levels. Additionally, it promotes sustainable water resource management by addressing pollution sources that threaten both human health and ecosystems. The Hydro Guardian mascot raised awareness about the importance of water safety and pollution prevention in the park, helping the public understand the dangers of contaminated water and the solutions available.
SDG 13: Climate Action – Combating Climate Change for a Healthy Planet
As contamination can cause considerable harm not only to people but also to the environment, a direct plan to face climate change (SDG 13) had to be developed by training and educating a Hydro Guardian. SDG 13 of the UN, focused on Climate Action, is directly relevant to the issue of dying trees in a park, which are often a result of climate change-induced environmental stress, such as rising temperatures, droughts, and polluted water sources. These conditions weaken trees, making them more susceptible to disease and death, which in turn affects the overall ecosystem and biodiversity. SDG 13 aims to address these challenges by promoting actions that faces climate change and help ecosystems adapt. By improving environmental management and reducing pollutants, SDG 13 seeks to restore healthy vegetation and prevent further degradation caused by climate stress. The dying trees in a park serve as a local example of the broader impact of climate change, underscoring the need for urgent action to protect green spaces.
Supporting SDG 13: Our Cellular Sensor for Environmental Health Protection
Our cellular sensor is needed to monitor pollutants such as antibiotics and heavy metals that may enhance the trees' stress, providing valuable data to address environmental hazards. The Hydro Guardian has to engage the children in understanding the importance of clean environments and climate action. Through educational campaigns for example in schools, he can encourage people to take part in preserving green spaces and reducing pollution, aligning with the goals of SDG 13.
SDG 14: Life Below Water – Preserving Lakes, Oceans and Marine Ecosystems
In the context of SDG 14: Life Below Water, protecting aquatic ecosystems is a critical global objective, and this responsibility extends even to small, local water bodies such as park ponds and lakes. Imagine visiting a park where the normal fish population has mutated to special monster-like fish. Instead of happy, viable fish, you now see withered, sickly creatures—some even showing deformities due to exposure to pollutants like antibiotics and heavy metals. Such a scenario is a stark reminder of how water pollution impacts life below water. Antibiotics can disrupt aquatic microbial communities, while heavy metals poison fish, leading to their poor health and, in extreme cases, mutations. These effects cascade through the food chain, threatening biodiversity and the balance of entire aquatic ecosystems. The goal of SDG 14 is to reverse this damage by reducing marine pollution, protecting habitats, and fostering sustainable practices that ensure aquatic life. The UN’s target is clear: we must take urgent action to protect water bodies from harmful contaminants and ensure that they remain a sanctuary for the creatures that depend on them. Clean water is essential not just for the fish, but for the entire ecosystem, including humans.
Supporting SDG 14: Our Cellular Sensor for Detecting Contaminants in Water
Our iGEM project steps in as a solution to this pressing issue. By developing a cellular sensor capable of detecting the presence of antibiotics and heavy metals, our Hydro Guardian provides a practical tool to monitor water quality in real time, furthermore that’s the reason why our Hydro Guardian needs a surfboard. This technology can be deployed in park ponds to track pollutants and warn of rising contamination levels before irreversible damage occurs. This helps protect local fish populations and ensures that water remains a healthy environment for aquatic life. You and the Hydro Guardian can lead the way in making the invisible problem of water pollution visible and inspire people to make changes—like reducing plastic waste and chemical runoff—to safeguard life under water. Together, through awareness and action, our project contributes to the urgent mission of SDG 14 by protecting not only park fish but life in water bodies everywhere.
SDG 15: Life on Land – Protecting Ecosystems and Biodiversity
SDG 15: Life on Land focuses on protecting terrestrial ecosystems, promoting biodiversity, and halting land degradation. It calls for the restoration of degraded ecosystems and sustainable management of all types of life on land, from plants and animals to soil health. This goal is vital even in small, urban green spaces like parks, where human activity and environmental stressors can significantly impact local wildlife. Imagine a park where trees and plants are dying, and animals like dogs and birds are suffering from exposure to pollutants. Dogs might appear lethargic or ill, a direct result of drinking contaminated water or interacting with a polluted environment. The goal of SDG 15 is to ensure that ecosystems, even small urban ones, are maintained in a way that supports the health and diversity of all species that rely on them. For parks, this means protecting not only the trees and plants but also the animals like dogs and other creatures that call the park home. Pollution—especially from heavy metals and chemical runoff—affects land-based animals by contaminating their water sources, degrading soil quality, and introducing toxins into the environment, all of which can lead to illness and even death.
Supporting SDG 15: Our Cellular Sensor for Environmental Contaminant Detection
Our innovative cellular sensor designed to detect antibiotics and heavy metals, directly supports SDG 15 by offering a solution to monitor environmental hazards that threaten terrestrial life. By deploying this sensor in park environments, the presence of harmful substances in the soil and water can be tracked, providing early warnings about pollution levels before they harm the local wildlife, such as dogs and birds that regularly interact with these environments. The sensor helps identify sources of contamination, enabling better environmental management and efforts to restore the park’s ecosystem to a healthier state.
Partnerships for the Goals – Strengthening Global Collaboration for Sustainable Development
SDG 17, "Partnerships for the Goals," emphasizes the importance of global cooperation to achieve sustainable development across all sectors. It highlights the necessity for partnerships between governments, the private sector, academia, and civil society to address complex global challenges. By fostering collaboration, SDG 17 seeks to mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial resources. This goal is crucial because no single entity or country can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in isolation. Global challenges like climate change, poverty, and health inequities are interdependent, requiring concerted efforts across borders and disciplines. Strong partnerships enable the pooling of resources and capabilities, increasing the efficiency and impact of initiatives targeting SDGs. Collaboration also helps harmonize common goals, ensuring that progress in one area does not negatively affect another. Through partnerships, innovations and sustainable practices can be scaled up, accelerating progress toward the 2030 Agenda. Thus, SDG 17 is foundational, acting as a catalyst for the success of all other SDGs.Supporting SDG 17: Our iGEM Project Takes Advantage of Collaborations for Environmental Health
Despite all of our hero's efforts, we are of course aware that we cannot solve that many challenges and tasks of our world on our own - we need support. In accordance with the iGEM project concept, the Hydro Guardian calls his colleagues. In alignment with SDG 17, the formation of partnerships to achieve our goals, we have brought in a wide range of experts and other iGEM teams to help us implement our tasks.
We’ve teamed up with experts like Prof. Marcus Horn (Microbiology, Leibniz University Hannover), Peer Lindenhayn (Urban Drainage Hannover) and the company What-a-bird. Their guidance has been crucial in refining our project to address water pollution effectively and how we could cooperate together to make a better world possible. Additionally, our collaborations with other iGEM teams create a global network of superheroes, all fighting for a cleaner, healthier planet. We've even compiled an international cookbook featuring recipes from our iGEM partners to keep our heroes fueled! But all the great superheroes that we have brought together to implement the SDGs also logically need support. We must contribute to the creation and understanding of a new generation of superheroes. To educate our superheroes of tomorrow, we have written a children's book to highlight the dangers of antibiotic and heavy metal residues and share solutions to improve our environment. A children's book can play a fundamental role in supporting our project in alignment with SDG 17 by supporting awareness and understanding of environmental issues from a young age. By engaging children with relatable stories and characters, our book can introduce complex topics like antibiotic resistance and heavy metal contamination in a child-friendly manner. This early exposure can inspire the next generation to take an active interest in sustainability and environmental health. Furthermore, a children's book can serve as a tool for educators and parents to initiate discussions about global challenges and the importance of partnerships in addressing them. Additionally, partnerships with schools and libraries can help disseminate the book widely, reaching diverse audiences. Moreover, the book can highlight real-world applications of our cellular sensor technology, illustrating how science can contribute to solving pressing environmental issues. Ultimately, a children's book can be a powerful vehicle for education, awareness, and partnership, contributing significantly to the objectives of SDG 17. Through the work of the Hydro Guardian and his friends, we not only contribute to achieving the SDGs but also demonstrate how synthetic biology can drive sustainable solutions for the world's most urgent challenges. Together, with the support of science, teamwork, and a bit of superhero flair, we can create a brighter, more sustainable future!
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, comprise 17 globally objectives aimed at addressing the most critical challenges facing humanity and the environmental development. These goals provide a concrete framework to guide sustainable development projects across social, economic, and environmental dimensions, enabling measurable progress. The 17 SDGs can be divided into three overarching categories: social, economic and environmental sustainability. The SDGs thus represent a set of objectives; they constitute a universal mandate that emphasizes the urgency of addressing global challenges in a comprehensive manner. By recognizing the interdependence of social, economic, and environmental dimensions, the SDGs provide a framework for a world where innovation can flourish, prosperity is shared, and the environment is preserved for current and future generations. These goals are characterized by clear and measurable targets, offering tangible benchmarks for the progress of sustainable projects worldwide. By integrating these specific aims, different projects can align their efforts with global priorities, ensuring that their initiatives contribute effectively to the broader vision of sustainable development. The iGEM competition is not just a platform for synthetic biology but a vehicle for achieving global sustainability. Our project directly addresses several SDGs, demonstrating how iGEM teams worldwide contribute to these global objectives. Through collaboration, innovation, and real-world problem-solving, iGEM projects like ours show how science can meet the UN’s goals and tackle the most urgent environmental and public health issues. The development of our cellular sensor in eukaryotic cells capable of detecting antibiotics and heavy metals in aqueous samples through fluorescence contributes directly to numerous key SDGs set by the United Nations, particularly in the category of environmental sustainability.