Local students from the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas, one of only 11 high school teams in North America, have been spending the summer in UT’s Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology’s Ellington Lab developing a bacteria that can sense Carbon Monoxide for the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition.
The team’s research involves the creation of a cost-effective carbon monoxide sensing bacterium that will aid the blind and deaf. The bacteria will emit a wintergreen scent to alert everyone when there is dangerous concentrations of carbon monoxide in the air. The team’s research has the potential to reduce the number of accidental deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The team will travel to MIT to present its findings in September.
Here are some recent news stories on the iGEM team:
http://www.texasstandard.org/shows/current/texas-high-schoolers-may-have-found-better-way-to-detect-carbon-monoxide/
LASA students developing bacteria to improve carbon monoxide detectors