Team:LASATX
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Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School
Most commercially available CO detectors change color and sound alarms in the presence of a deleterious accumulation of the substance. However, while this may provide protection to some, we wanted to extend this system of defense to those who might not benefit from this mechanism (e.g. those who are blind and deaf). Our project aims to create a CO sensor that can give a fragrance to this odorless gas and thus warn those nearby through their sense of smell.
We introduced a carbon monoxide-sensing mechanism and a wintergreen fragrance (methyl salicylate) pathway into E. coli so that in the presence of CO, our engineered bacteria will emit a wintergreen smell. With a CO-induced wintergreen pathway, we hope to provide a working CO sensor that is useful not only to the general public but especially to those who find current CO sensors impractical.