Contents
Context
- Statistics related to Campylobacter and food poisoning - incidence, from a socio-economic perspective how bad is it, in different countries how bad is it etc
Characteristics
- Brief notes on the actual physical characteristics of C jejuni and what growth conditions it likes etc
Prevention
Treatment
Current Detection Methods
Our device
In an attempt to reduce incidences of food poisoning by Campylobacter jejuni we decided to create a biosensor that was able to detect the presence of Campylobacter jejuni quickly and accurately. To do this we aimed to create a two part biosensor that will detect both xylulose – a rare sugar that is present of the Campylobacter jejuni capsule – and autoinducer-2, a quorum sensing molecule used by campylobacter. For the detection of xylulose two possible avenues were explored: utilising the mannitol operon, that is known to detect xylulose but may have some off target affects; and mutagenesis of the arabinose operon with an aim to change its target sugar to xylulose. The detectors for both xylulose and autoinducer-2 will form the two components of an AND gate that will ensure only a signal is seen when both xylulose and untoinducer-2 are present. Regarding the application of our biosensor we designed a device that would house the biosensor to make the application simple and easy. In addition to this we also looked at producing xylulose in a cheap and efficient way as the cost of xylulose held us back with regards to thorough testing of the biosensor elements. All of the above were done with thought of the implications with regards to human practices and how a genetically engineered biosensor would be received by the public.
- Why xylulose/why autoinducer-2?
