Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, primarily due to the lack of effective tools for early detection. A major sign of pancreatic cancer is an excessive amount of telomerase, an enzyme that lengthens a cell’s telomeres, enabling the cancer to replicate uncontrollably. To create an easy and accessible detection method, we are designing a synthetic biology system, here called ‘Telotargeter,’ that can sense telomerase activity. This experiment will demonstrate that synthetic telomeres grow longer when telomerase is present, and the amount of growth is proportional to the concentration of telomerase present.

We believe this system can show how telomerase activity is linked to pancreatic cancer and may help develop effective ways to detect it early. Since we can’t use mammalian cells or their lysed contents in our lab, we will test the Telotargeter system using purified telomerase enzymes instead. We will use synthetic DNA strands with exposed 3’ ends that are similar to real telomeres. These DNA strands will be mixed with different amounts of telomerase and free nucleotides to see how the system works. We will check if the DNA strands are getting longer using gel electrophoresis. By using synthetic biology and simple lab tools, our project hopes to create a low-cost and easy way to detect high telomerase activity, which could help catch pancreatic cancer earlier.