Team:Thessaly

Team: Thessaly - 2020.igem.org

Overview

Malnutrition is a modern and global health challenge, affecting one in three people. Environmental
factors asimbalanced intake of essential nutrients, like dietary fibers, and the lack of personalized
patient-centered care or genetical factors can lead to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), a
multifactorial family of gut related diseases, that affects 10 million people worldwide.
To tackle this major issue, we are developing.

Amalthea is a complete, personalized, modular platform, which provides diagnosis, evaluation of
the gut flora and treatment of IBD. A non-invasive encapsulated detection module, consisting of
a genetically engineered bacteria-based system and an electronic system, will identify metabolite
deficiencies directly correlated to IBD. Εxploiting a bio-electronic interface to enable real-time
monitoring on the patient’s smartphone.Based on this personalized data, a biosynthesis module
will respond with selective production of the missing metabolites, thus eliminating that nutritional
deficit and relieving the patient from the symptoms. Our product is designed in conjunction with
healthcare experts and according to international standards, to ensure biosafety.
With this work, we aspire to provide cost-efficient and innovative solutions for detecting intestinal
deformities and improving the gut microbiome, while facilitating one of humans’ essential
needs – to enjoy one’s food.

The horn of Amalthea

Ιn English known as cornucopia, is the symbol of abundance, goods, and prosperity of man. It refers to the broken horn of the goat Amalthea, who nursed Zeus, when his mother, Rhea, hid him in Mount Ida (Psiloritis), in order to save him from the bulimic tendencies of his father, Kronos. The nurse Amalthea raised Zeus with milk and honey. While playing with her, Zeus accidently broke her horn. In order to amend himself he bestowed upon it the gift of abundance. Her horn was the source of Zeus’s power and provided him with the essential nutrients to grow up, in order to dethrone his father and become the Greatest Of All Times.

Malnutrition

A serious problem in today’s world.

Deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients affect 2 billion people globally. Malnutrition is often mistaken for undernutrition, while there are 2 other basic groups of conditions; micronutrient-related malnutrition and overweight/obesity. It can cause an inability to absorb nutrients, which can lead to chronic diseases, such as Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBDs). Disorders that further aggravate the problem, creating a vicious cycle. A common occurrence in up to 70% of patients with active disease and up to 38% of patients in remission and having been associated with increased hospitalizations and poor clinical outcome.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

IBD is an umbrella term used to describe disorders that involve chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. The two main types of IBD include Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. All over the world the number of IBDs’ cases is estimated to be around 10 million (3.4 million in Europe and more specifically 10.000 in Greece). Diagnosis and treatment are complex due to the fact that the clinical picture differs in every single case. A challenging task we have to face is the fact that there is no confirmed medication that cures completely or doesn’t cause side reactions.

Amalthea turns synthetic

It is a complete, personalized, modular platform, which enables real time monitoring of the function of gut microbiota for
● non-invasive diagnosis and
● tailored treatment of IBDs.
This year we build the monitoring system, a capsule hosting a bio-electronic interface. Bacteria engineered to detect the molecular footprint of gut microbiota are combined with an electronic module to digitalize and transmit the data. We want to enable physicians to better accommodate their patients’ needs, primarily those who suffer from IBDs, contributing to the improvement of their well- being and quality of life.

Safety

Due to various parameters the interaction between the capsule, the genetically engineered bacteria, and human cells, faces many safety, security, and ethical risks. So, we designed two levels of safety to prevent any biological hazards.