This past month, members of S&T’s International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) design team submitted their project involving a system that detects and eliminates antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Modular Infectious Disease Annihilation System, or MIDAS as the team refers to it, aims to destroy antibiotic-resistant bacteria via pyroptosis (the formation of pores in a cell membrane) by introducing a lambda phage-deployed Craspase system and fusion proteins. Craspase is a protease that cleaves a specific target protein when activated by the binding of an RNA molecule. The team intends to continue working on MIDAS and creating a second version for the upcoming 2025 iGEM competition. The team hopes that the continuation of this project will open an avenue for addressing the rising concern of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

To learn more about the team’s work on MIDAS, check out their website.