Nuclear energy, already a practical solution for supplying energy on a scale similar to fossil fuels, will likely increase its footprint over the next several decades to meet current climate goals. Gamma radiation is produced during fission in existing nuclear reactors and thus the need to detect leakage from nuclear plants, and effects of such leakage on ecosystems will likely also increase. At present, gamma radiation is detected using mechanical sensors that have several drawbacks, including: (i) limited availability; (ii) reliance on power supply; and (iii) requirement of human presence in dangerous areas. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a plant biosensor (phytosensor) to detect low-dose ionizing radiation. The system utilizes synthetic biology to engineer a dosimetric switch into potato utilizing the plant's native DNA damage response (DDR) machinery to produce a fluorescent output. In this work, the radiation phytosensor was shown to respond to a wide range of gamma radiation exposure (10–80 Grey) producing a reporter signal that was detectable at >3 m. Further, a pressure test of the top radiation phytosensor in a complex mesocosm demonstrated full function of the system in a ‘real world’ scenario.

中文翻译：

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用于环境监测的工程伽马辐射植物传感器

核能已经是一种与化石燃料规模类似的能源供应的实用解决方案，在未来几十年内可能会增加其足迹，以实现当前的气候目标。现有核反应堆在裂变过程中会产生伽马辐射，因此检测核电站泄漏的需要以及此类泄漏对生态系统的影响也可能会增加。目前，使用机械传​​感器检测伽马辐射有几个缺点，包括：（i）可用性有限；(ii) 对电力供应的依赖；(iii) 危险区域人员存在的要求。为了克服这些限制，我们开发了一种植物生物传感器（phytosensor）来检测低剂量电离辐射。该系统利用合成生物学对马铃薯进行剂量测定转换，利用植物的天然 DNA 损伤反应 (DDR) 机制产生荧光输出。在这项工作中，辐射植物传感器被证明可以响应大范围的伽马辐射暴露（10-80 格雷），产生可在 >3 m 处检测到的报告信号。此外，在复杂的中宇宙中对顶部辐射植物传感器进行的压力测试证明了该系统在“现实世界”场景中的全部功能。