Expert in Epidemiology

Professor Cristina Canova has worked on many studies carried out to have a deeper understanding on the effect of PFAS on human’s health.

On the occasion of the event at Pressana, we wanted to give some space to an expert in epidemiology that worked on the PFAS problem. For this reason we asked for the participation of professor Cristina Canova and asked her to open the evening with a presentation of her recent research on the effects of PFAS.
She had a key role in helping us organize the event at Pressana and also in responding to some of the questions that the public had.
For more information on the event mentioned look Society Engagement-Roundtable with Citizens.

Expert in the Neurological Effects of PFAS

In the first stages of our project, we decided to try to have a global point of view on the problem. For this reason we asked some professors from our university that work on PFAS to tell us the topic of their research and how they approach it.
We asked Professor Mario Bortolozzi who works at the Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) to meet us. On this occasion, we had the opportunity to visit his lab and have him explain his research as an expert in the Neurological Effects of PFAS.

Experts in the Sociological Impact of PFAS

The decision to undertake a project that takes an active role in the fight against PFAS contamination stems from the profound impact this issue has had on our lives and those around us, especially given its strong connection to our local area. This naturally led us to address the psychological implications it has had on the most affected communities.

Our research brought us to the book Cattive acque. Contaminazione ambientale e comunità violate ("Bad Waters. Environmental Contamination and Violated communities"), where professors Adriano Zamperini and Marialuisa Menegatto present their sociological research on the tangible impact of PFAS on people's lives and their interactions with authorities and the scientific community. We held an introductory meeting with the researchers on 19/3/2023, where they expressed great enthusiasm for our project and offered to assist us in establishing communication with the public. They provided valuable advice on how to approach the citizens, emphasizing the importance of building trust and maintaining transparency, with a clear commitment to outreach and even involving the community in the project’s design, taking into account their direct experiences. The importance of helping citizens understand the scientific principles underlying the project also emerged.

Expert in Bioethics

Professor Dietelmo Pievani covers the first Italian chair of Philosophy of Biological Sciences at the Department of Biology of the University of Padua. He is a renowned science communicator who wrote the introduction to the before mentioned book ‘Cattive acque. Contaminazione ambientale e comunità violate ("Bad Waters. Environmental Contamination and Violated communities").
We interviewed him, gathering insights into the social impact of PFAS and how to discuss the issue with different social groups. To share the knowledge we gained, we published the interview on our website and Instagram account.
Additionally, the professor suggested organizing a roundtable with the community to foster debate and receive direct feedback on our project. He continued to assist us in planning and organizing the event, and eventually participated as a moderator, ensuring the smooth running of the evening (more information on it could be found in Society Engagement-Roundtable with Citizens).

Expert in Organic Pollutant Degradation

Professor Ester Marotta's main research activity deals with the use of non thermal plasma for the degradation of pollutants such as PFAS. We contacted her in the first stages of our project to have an idea of the current state of the art on PFAS degradation and guidance in finding a possible solution.
She was enthusiastic and willing to help us from the beginning. We kept in touch with her during all stages of the process, we exchanged ideas, opinions and views. She also shared with us a thesis of one of her doctoral students on GAC adsorption and gave us access to her laboratories to test what we found in literature on GAC and AER desorption.

Expert in Biocatalysis

Professor Elisabetta Bergantino is an expert in molecular biology working at the University of Padua. One of her most recent works, focused on the use of cyanobacteria as biocatalysts, served as an inspiration and starting point for the design of our project: from this, a possible synergy between the catalytic actions of laccase and dehalogenase was identified and proposed. The professor followed the design phase of our work with great interest, suggesting experimental approaches and solutions, and assisting us in the design process.

Canadian Start-Up for PFAS Sensors

In the early stages of the project, while we were trying to conceptualize a well-round project, we understood the importance of a PFAS sensor in a real-case scenario.
This tool could be used in multiple steps of an industrial process (as you can easily see in Plant Design).
After a meeting with an UniPD professor, an expert in biosensors, we understood that the creation of a PFAS sensor from the ground up would not be possible in the given time period.

We therefore looked up if a product like this could be found in the market.
We found only a start-up: FREDsense Technologies. It’s a canadian company, founded after a participation in iGEM 2013, that offers analytical services and it’s currently developing portable field kits for PFAS detection.

We decided to contact them and organize a preliminary meeting with CEO David Lyod to talk about our team, our project and their product.
It was the beginning of an exchange of information between us that has given us the opportunity to send them groundwater samples from our region, collected at a Acquevenete’s facility in the so called ‘Red Zone’ (a highly PFAS polluted area).

Veneto’s Water Service Provider

To fully understand what has been done since 2013, when the grave problem of PFAS in Veneto was discovered, to find a solution to it we decided to contact Acquevenete, a water service provider in the so called ‘Red Zone’ in Veneto (which correspond to the most polluted one, with a median of 44.2 ng/mL for PFOA alone when it’s known that when the additive sum of PFAS concentrations in plasma is greater than 2 ng/L health problems can occur).

To be able to provide 515.000 residents with clean water Acquavenete has installed filtration plants that use granular activated carbons (GAC) filters.
Unfortunately this is a downstream solution, which only allows the problem to be contained.
In fact, there are currently no degradation methods for these pollutants; when an aquifer, from which water is drawn for the water supply system, is considered polluted you simply stop drawing from it. But the problem remains.
The company has stressed how important the research on this topic and a contribution like our is.

We established a partnership with them that has allowed us to get technical data on their filtration systems.
Moreover Acquevenete has given us the opportunity to visit one of their plants, where we were able to witness the changing of the filters and collect some GAC samples that we then use in our experiments, and groundwater samples before and after the filtration stage. We then shipped the latter to FREDsense Technologies for some analysis. Our team believes that a collaboration between the two, now in communication thanks to us, can be mutually beneficial. In fact, it would allow a comparison of analytical techniques used by different organizations and in relation to samples collected from significantly different territories.

We are grateful for the willingness shown by both companies, committed to the common goal of tackling the global problem of PFAS pollution.

Company Producing PFAS-Free Cookware

Through our researches we learned about an italian company that sells PFAS-free non-stick pans and kitchenware.
We decided to contact the company founder, Rossana Dian, famous food blogger that has taken the issue of PFAS pollution to heart, leading her to the creation of the CucinoSano product line.
From the beginning she was willing to help us in publicizing the team and the project through her instagram account, allowing us to reach her 415k followers.
Furthermore she has given us a substantial donation and help us make our fundraising known.

Activists’ Group Raising PFAS Awareness

Following the advice of social psychology Professors Zamperini and Menegatto (Experts in the Sociological Impact of PFAS), we reached out via Facebook to MammeNoPFAS, a group of residents from PFAS-contaminated areas who have come together to support their community. This network serves both to exchange practical information on mitigating the health effects of PFAS contamination and to disseminate scientific knowledge about the chemical nature and health impacts of these substances.

We held an introductory meeting on 18/04/2024, with group representatives Laura Facciolo, Michela Zamboni, and Giuliano Fin. They expressed great enthusiasm for our work, emphasizing the importance of giving people hope and showing them that someone is addressing their concerns.

MammeNoPFAS is a highly active group with numerous connections to researchers worldwide who have studied potential PFAS degradation methods. They generously offered to share contacts and data with us.
In particular, they helped us arrange a video call with Professor Philippe Grandjean, a world-widely known expert in environmental medicine who has focused on raising awareness about the health effects of PFAS. During this call, the expert provided us with an in-depth overview of the subject and his research findings, which revealed that there is no safe minimum threshold for PFAS exposure without toxic effects on health.

Additionally, MammeNoPFAS shared valuable information with us, such as methods for detecting PFAS in the environment and strategies for spreading awareness.

Veneto’s Environmental Safety Agency

We had the opportunity to meet with some members of SIAN (Food Hygiene and Nutrition Service), whose goal is to improve individual and collective health by ensuring safe and quality food. They told us about a study that they are currently doing by sampling multiple animal products (such as milk, eggs, meat) from Veneto Red Zone, the most polluted with PFAS.
They are also monitoring farms and ranches in that area that use groundwater as sources of supply and if they detect a concentration of PFAS above the recommended limit, they will proceed to shut down the groundwater supply and seize the products, until they can be sure that the water used for production is safe, for example by using aqueduct water.

Introduction to Synthetic Biology Principles and Presentation of iGEM

In addition to talking to high school students, we also felt it was important to talk to university students.
Some professors from different STEM faculties gave us the opportunity to use part of their lesson to inform students about iGEM and give a brief introduction to what is synthetic biology, its possible applications and how it unites different scientific fields.
We also used these meetings to make our team known and temp the students to be part of the 2025 Team.

We did this in the faculties of medicine, biology (specifically molecular biology and biotechnologies), engineering (biomedical engineering and computer engineering) and chemistry.

The University of Padua has created a Synthetic Biology Center, a meeting point for professors and students from different faculties, STEM and humanities, to allow a deeper collaboration to utilize synthetic biology to solve current problems.
During the inauguration of this center we were given the opportunity to participate and present us and our project.

Science4All: Science Festival

Every year in September, the University of Padova organizes a science festival where students, professors and researchers can present their work to the population.
For this occasion we prepared some material that could show people of all ages what it is like to work in the scientific and engineering field.
We prepared many agar petri dishes where children could put their fingers and observe in the following days the growth of different microorganisms that were on their hand.

Our university also allowed us to display some OGM plants that are used for research and some microscopes where people could observe different leaves and peels.
Another main attraction was a game where people would write their name on a computer and a code would identify the letters and pick out the corresponding amino acid. The sequence of amino acids would then create an ideal protein.

NEXT: Engineering Festival

This year in May our University organized a festival called “NEXT”. In this occasion, students in STEM had the opportunity to present to others what they are passionate about or the project they are working on. This was done in a public space and every group was assigned a space where they could present their material.
Our team participated and presented our iGEM project about PFAS biodegradation. We decided to talk about the PFAS pollution, ask other students and outside people what they knew about this problem, but also introduce our solution and how we approach the topic.
In a “show and tell” kind of way, we brought with us a small bioreactor, a 3D model of a PFAS molecule, a prototype of PFAS sensor, some GAC filters and some engineered plants given by our professors to represent the genetic engineering part of our work. These materials were the gateway to people’s curiosity and a way to break the ice and start a conversation with anybody that was interested in what we do.

We also made a social experiment about the knowledge of the PFAS problem by asking people to ask some questions and express their answers with some thread on a poster. With this spaghetti chart, we could have an idea of what people think and know by just taking a glance.

Roundtable with Citizens

Given the impact of the damage caused by PFAS pollution in the Veneto area, our team thought it would be meaningful to engage in a face-to-face conversation with people from the most affected areas to hear their fear and concerns . Our team member Laura Acerbi was affected firsthand by the problem and had to undergo medical screenings to ensure her health. In fact she was kind of the starting point for our project.

Thanks to the municipal councilor Adriana Dalmaso, we had the opportunity to cooperate with the Pressana municipality, a small village of about 2500 inhabitants, Laura included, but only one of the hundreds of villages affected.

After about 3 months of work on it, on the 18th of July we hosted an evening event open to the public where we could expose our ideas and what we are doing to make our project SurPFAS advance but, most importantly, where we could listen to what people who lived through the problem had to say. As a matter of fact, we think that it is important for the scientific world to have a direct relationship with the population in order to understand worries and opinions about a bioremediation project like ours and develop it accordingly. Moreover, this was a good occasion to test market interest in the solution we are developing.

The evening had an informative approach and saw the participation of Professor Dietelmo Pievani (professor of bioethics at UNIPD) and Professor Cristina Canova (epidemiologist at UNIPD). The event started with a speech by Professor Canova where she presented some of the data she collected during her research on the effects of PFAS molecules on people’s health, then we presented our project, what our goals are and how we intend on achieving them. At last, we felt it was necessary to set aside some time to have an active interaction with the public starting from some questions that we prepared in advance. The smooth running of the evening took place thanks to the mediation of Professor Pievani.

The organization of the event was possible thanks to the availability of the municipality that believes it is important to inform the population and thanks to the help of professors of our University. In particular, Professor Pievani and Professors Zamperini and Menegatto (Sociology department UNIPD) advised us on the most effective way to interact with people who were affected by the problem and they helped us find the correct structure for the event.

In addition to the population, we had invited some companies who we collaborated with and Legambiente which is a voluntary organization who deals with environmental problems in italian regions. Legambiente Veneto cooperates with other local organizations in the “operazione fiumi” that is a project that plans to analyze the state of the rivers in the area and measure, for the first time, the levels of PFAS in the waters.

Every member of the audience was given a brochure with a brief description of our project, a list of possible questions that could be asked during the evening and our contacts.
On the back of the brochure there also was a qr code connected to a questionnaire. This was made to allow people who didn’t have the opportunity to talk during the event, to tell us their opinion.
We received answers from people of all educational levels and backgrounds. One of the questions asked in the questionnaire was about possible ways, other than degradation, to combat PFAS pollution: 53.1 % of those who took part in the survey believed that the problem should be dealt with directly at source, by banning the sale of products containing these molecules and possibly finding environmentally sustainable alternatives. On the contrary, 31.3 % of the remainder believe it is necessary to find a methodology to remove PFAS already present in the bloodstream.

We also asked whether the presence of genetically modified organisms (Escherichia coli) within a degradation process such as the one we hypothesized would cause any kind of concern: 90.6 % of respondents did not feel particularly worried since they will be within a closed environment such as a bioreactor.
In this regard, however, someone emphasized the need to clearly inform the population about what happens and how in a process in which genetically modified organisms are present.

People who took part in the survey believe that PFAS removal is most urgent on water matrices, with priority being given to industrial wastewater (40.6%) and groundwater (31.3%). Household water treatment is perceived as less of a priority.
None of the participants considered it necessary to work primarily on air. However, several people asserted the need to work on all matrices at the same time.
Thus, it appears that those interviewed believe that the removal of PFAS should start with the cleaning of aqueous matrices, such as groundwater. After that, the study should move on to wastewater from industrial plants and finally move on to soils receiving such water and the air surrounding industrial plants.
This information therefore allows us to confirm our choice of matrix and identify future research steps.

As a last question on the survey we asked what weaknesses could they find in our project in order to change our path and fortify them.
Many people have emphasized the importance of having a project that could be economically sustainable so that it could be realized in the real world. This led us to create a strong business plan that can be found in Business Plan.

Local research projects on PFAS contamination

Following our educational event in Pressana (for more information visit Society engagement- Roundtable with Citizens) we were invited to talk about PFAS pollution in Veneto and to propose surPFAS solution in Cologna Veneta, another town in the most polluted area in the region.
The event was organized with the aim of giving young people a space to present their research in the field of PFAS pollution control and to inform the citizens affected by this issue about the attempts of the scientific community in trying to develop a solution.
This occasion was well accepted by the population, enthusiastic about the surPFAS project as they saw it as a concrete answer to the problem.

Let’s talk science: podcast of Promega Italia

In January, we were contacted by Giacomo Grisafi, Digital Marketing Specialist for Promega Italy, who asked us to participate in an episode of Promega’s ‘’Let’s Talk Science’’, a podcast hosted by Giuseppe Mancuso where researchers have the opportunity to describe their work and field of research to a wide audience.
We took this opportunity to talk about what iGEM is, describing both P.A.S.T.A. (the project of the 2023 iGEM team of our university), and the first stages of SurPFAS.
In addition to that, we explained the problem of water contamination caused by PFAS, hoping to spread information about this extremely worrying topic. We also discussed the future of synthetic biology at our university. This science branch is attracting more and more interest in Padua thanks to the recent creation of the Synthetic Biology center, that has the goal of creating new synergies between different departments.

Participation in FOSAN conference on PFAS

Through MammeNoPFAS ( we had the possibility to attend, as part of the audience, one day of a 2-day PFAS conference organized by ‘Osservatorio PFAS’, run by FOSAN (a Research Organization for the Study of Food and Nutrition), on the risk assessment in the agribusiness supply chain from primary production to packaging. During the event we had the honor of hearing from experts on the epidemiological aspects of PFAS, focusing on their toxicity and related environmental pollution. We also covered in depth what are the clinical manifestations associated with these molecules (endocrine disruption, maternal-fetal alterations, male and female fertility, metabolic alterations, and related cancers). On of the speaker was a colleague of Prof. Cristina Canova, from the University of Padova, who presented her work, which we found extremely interesting, leading us to contact her from the roundtable with the citizens organized by us (for more information on her and the event visit Collaboration & Partnership - Expert in Epidemiology and Society Engagement - Roundtable with Citizens).

Our Instagram Account and Website

Our Instagram account is our primary outreach platform, exploiting the fast and direct communication through social media for scientific dissemination. By posting content in both Italian and English, we aim to engage and educate a wider audience. We regularly share "science pills" that break down complex aspects of PFAS contamination into simple and accessible language. We cover topics like the history of PFAS, the chemical nature of these substances, and highlight special insight on our work; by doing so, and also by sharing some information about ourselves, we want to engage the population in our project.

In addition to Instagram, our website serves as a more comprehensive platform where we expand on the information shared on social media. Here, visitors can find detailed articles and interviews with PFAS experts, providing an in-depth understanding of the issue.

Collaboration with Influencers

Our collaboration with influencer Rossana Dian (@cucinosano) has been instrumental in promoting our Instagram account, allowing us to reach a broader audience, particularly in our local area. This partnership has generated significant positive feedback on our project through direct messages.

Local Newspapers

Aware of the local impact of our project, we involved from the beginning citizens into our project, to promote and exchange of ideas. Local newspapers were amazed by this enthusiasm and further helped us promoting SurPFAS. In the articles PadovaOggi and Il Gazzettino wrote, we had the opportunity to share our GoFundMe campaign: the financial support received was crucial for permitting us to participate to iGEM and also made us aware of the impact we were having on local communities.

FREDsense Technologies

During the past few months we had the opportunity to collaborate with FREDsense Technologies, a canadian company that offers analytical services and it’s currently developing portable field kits for PFAS detection.

This start-up was founded after a participation in iGEM 2013.

They have given us a few tips on what to focus on for competition and technical support.
In fact, they provided us with information on their sensor, which is under development, and analytical tests on a sample of water from our territories.
For more information on this visit Collaboration & Partnership - Canadian Start-Up for PFAS Sensors

PASTA

The iGEM 2023 team from the University of Padova has given us substantial support from the beginning. They were the spark that led to the creation of the 2023 Team, the first italian group to participate in iGEM since 2017. They also were the one that inspire the individual components of our current team and make us aware of the experience offered by the iGEM Community. They also have given us precious advice and suggestions on how to set up the project, the website and the events with the public. Last September they involved us in managing their stand in the Science4All event (for more information about that look Society Engagement - Science4All: Science Festival), allowing us to have our first experience with the public.

iGEM Mentorship Programme

In May we applied for the iGEM Mentorship Programme, created with the goal of bringing new teams and alumni together, and enabling everyone to meet their targets for iGEM 2024. We were matched, by the iGEM Community with Kavya Prathap Kumar.

She has been a source of advice from the beginning and her passion and her strong desire to help us left us speechless.
We are really grateful for her involvement in our project.

She has given us feedback on our short video and on how to present the general idea of surPFAS, she helped us keep up with iGEM deadlines and make sure to have everything ready for when needed.

Mini Jamboree in Toulouse

This summer we took part in the European Mini-Jamboree organized by the Toulouse iGEM team. We were invited to spend two days in Toulouse, where the students of the home team had planned several activities for us, allowing us to get in touch with students from 10 other Igem teams, exchange ideas and warm up before the Grand Jamboree.
It was an exceptional opportunity to further improve our project.

Each invited team exhibited a poster and presented their project in 15 minutes live talk in front of students, professors and iGEM judges.
The feedback we received was incredibly valuable, helping us understand our work's strengths and weaknesses and giving us important guidance on how to best prepare the exposition to the public.
In particular, we were suggested to consider the implementation of our system also within an industrial context, in addition to groundwater, as a PFAS-purification method in wastewater. This made us reflect upon the future prospects of our project, and the possibility of expanding our system to new applications. With this in mind, we decided to also conduct growth test on Escherichia coli in a wastewater matrix, check out the results in our Model page.

In addition to this, we had a great exchange of knowledge and ideas with the other groups not only during the official presentations but throughout our entire stay, which led to improvement in our working approaches and provided us with new ideas to continue our iGEM experience in the best possible way.

We thank the Toulouse iGEM team for their efforts and generosity in organizing this wonderful event, and all the participants for being part of such a memorable experience.

Online Mini Jamboree with Michigan Team

On the 22nd of September we attended an online symposium, organized by the Michigan iGEM team, where eleven iGEM teams, working on projects focused on bioremediation, were present. During this Mini Jamboree it was possible to share our projects with each other, our perspectives on the different issues and give each other feedback before the Jamboree in Paris. The experience as a whole was very comforting, as we shared the various difficulties we encountered during this year and listened to the solutions and helpful advice offered. It was very interesting to see what each team's selling point was and how they were able to present it in such a masterful way, it was also a wonderful thing to know that people out there are as invested in the environment’s health as we are.

Meetup with Pisa-IT Team

After more than 10 years, two different Italian iGEM teams participate during the same year at the competition: when finding this out, we immediately thought it could be extremely enriching meeting up and discussing our shared experience, coming from a similar background. When we met in person at the Mini Jamboree in Toulouse, the Pisa-IT team was very enthusiastic at the idea of getting together again in Italy, and so we reconnected a few weeks later via texts and we started to organize a new meet-up. During this meet-up, which will take place at Padua the 11th of October, we plan to present our iGEM project during a mock-up presentation and judging session, where a few iGEM judges will be present thanks to the help of our secondary PI. Next, a brief Q&A with the members of the iGEM 2023 team will take place, where we will talk about their experience at the Jamboree: it will be the perfect opportunity for both our teams to prepare ourselves as best we can for the final presentation in Paris. After the hard work is done, we will have lunch together and visit the city of Padua in the afternoon, including a tour into the famous Orto Botanico of Padua, since the project of the Pisa-IT team revolves around plants health and we’re sure they will appreciate the tour very much.

Participation in iGEM Startup Summer School

On July 20th and 21st, a member of our team participated in the iGEM Startups Summer School, a congress organized by iGEM to prepare and guide students in drafting the wiki to be competitive for the Best Entrepreneurship Prize. During these sessions, the evaluation criteria were presented, along with the key elements that need to be included in the wiki.

The presentations helped us understand the areas to focus on and the concepts to outline in order to become a startup, both from a research and development perspective as well as an economic one.

We truly appreciated this initiative by iGEM, which guided and motivated us to further explore the practical application aspect. This way, our project will not just remain in the realm of research but will have real-world applications, helping the community.

Recruitment for the 2025 Team

A few professors from different STEM faculties gave us the opportunity to use part of their lesson to inform students about iGEM and give a brief introduction on what synthetic biology is.
We also used these meetings to make our team known and encourage STEM students to be part of the 2025 Team.

We talked with students enrolled in Medicine, Biology (specifically with the one from molecular biology and biotechnology), Biomedical Engineering, Software engineering and Chemistry.

After this we organize a meeting for those who were interested or curious on what we do. On this occasion we talked in more detail about what a participation in the iGEM competition entails. We encountered a high level of participation from those present, who asked many questions on the topic.

We then held a round of interviews with the ones that expressed their willingness to participate in the future 2025 team.

Of the 40 young people who applied we had to, reluctantly, only choose 15.

To end the recruitment process on a fun note we organized a happy hour with the Mutans team 2023, 2024 and 2025 of the University of Padua, thus launching the future team with the value of cohesion between past and future teams.