Infectious diseases have been a problem in the world for many centuries. Millions of people get sick or even die every year due to epidemic outbreaks, especially in tropical regions. Examples include the parasitic disease African Sleeping Sickness, or viral diseases like Zika virus, chikungunya or Mayaro. Access to health care in affected areas is lacking, and no vaccines are available for these diseases. This means an infectious disease has the potential to spread almost uncontrollably if no interventions are made. Even diagnosing patients is often not possible. How do you then stop an epidemic? In the rural villages of tropical areas, neither doctors nor field teams have the equipment to perform reliable screening tests.

This is why iGEM Wageningen UR 2017 created Mantis: a Modular ANtigen-based Test for Infectious diseaseS. Mantis is a point-of-care diagnostic test, that can be used in the field and requires minimal training and equipment. The whole-cell biosensor is robust, can be produced locally and can be adapted to any new situation. It binds and detects pathogens directly and produces a clear fluorescent signal. This is measured in our 3D-printed device, which includes GPS and data storage for convenient monitoring of the epidemic. Explore our wiki to learn more!

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