Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that colonizes in immunocompromised patients. It is commonly found within hospitals and is the predominant microorganism responsible for chronic lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. The bacterium also causes 12% of hospital-acquired urinary tract infections, 10% of bloodstream infections, and 8% of surgical wound infections. Existing detection methods utilize expensive, time consuming blood and cell cultures. Our goal is to transplant elements of the organism’s natural quorum sensing system into E. coli in order to create a novel sensor that is able to detect the presence of this bacterium within a blood sample both quickly and effectively.

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Safety Proposal