Per-polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) are a group of microplastics known as forever chemicals (Reckard, 2022). PFAS can be found in various industrial products and throughout the environment including our drinking water supply (Schaider 2017). Exposure to PFAS is found to cause multiple adverse health effects such as affecting the reproductive system, thyroid, endocrine disruptors, etc. (Reckard, 2022). Our research proposes the construction of a transgenic bacterium to degrade PFAS in the drinking water supply into harmless organic material that would then be eliminated by the water treatment processing system. 

The initial step is to test the prmA promoter, which is known to be activated in the presence of PFAS (Young, 2021) using a reporter GFP gene to confirm PFAS sensitivity. Then, the next step would be placing PFAS-degrading enzymes DeHa 1 and DeHa 2 under the control of the prmA promoter to confirm we can eliminate PFAS in water (Harris, 2022). After PFAS is eliminated, our next step would be to determine if the bacteria can be destroyed by activating a self-destruct gene under an arabinose promoter, to ensure they cannot escape water processing facilities (Meisner, 2016). If our system successfully degrades and destroys the PFAS and bacteria, we can then integrate it into the water processing system.