rapid, convenient, and efficient pesticide residue check
CHECK YOUR FOOD, CHECK FOR SAFETY
Pesticide residue refers to the pesticide that may remain on or in food, after they are applied to food crops.
In 2021, the EU found that 44.3% of 87,863 food samples contained multiple pesticides, while the U.S. Pesticide Data Program reported 57.5% of 10,127 samples with more than one pesticide.
China has become the country with the largest amount of pesticide application in the world. The total amount of pesticide application in China in 2018 is as high as 1.41 million tons.
Combining synthetic biology, we came up with the solution:
PESTACHECK
BAID-China 2025 is developing a safe, low-cost, and accessible pesticide residue detection test strip.
Using the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition assay as our core principle, we first optimize AChE through alanine scanning to improve sensitivity and stability.
The optimized enzyme was initially expressed with E.coli, However, the yield is not satisfied.
We then expressed the enzyme in a cell-free expression system, enabling rapid and scalable protein synthesis.
After testing of the enzyme's thermostability, we immobilize the most outstanding AChE mutant onto gold nanoparticles (AuNPs).
