Advances in biosensor engineering have enabled the design of programmable molecular systems to detect a range of pathogens, nucleic acids, and chemicals. Here, we engineer and field-test a biosensor for fluoride, a major groundwater contaminant of global concern. The sensor consists of a cell-free system containing a DNA template that...
Recent advances in cell-free synthetic biology have spurred the development of in vitro molecular diagnostics that serve as effective alternatives to whole-cell biosensors. However, cell-free sensors for detecting manmade organic water contaminants such as pesticides are sparse, partially because few characterized natural biological sensors can directly detect such pollutants. Here,...