U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.- The U.S. Air Force Academy team’s Lyme disease research helped them win a gold medal at the international Genetic Engineering Machine Grand Jamboree Nov. 2-5.

The gold medal is the team’s second in Paris in the last four years. They also won a silver in 2022.

iGEM is the largest synthetic biology community and the premiere synthetic biology competition for high school and university students. Teams combine molecular biology techniques with engineering concepts to create novel biological systems.

Teams identify a real-world problem as defined in the criteria. They use biology, engineering and computational models to design and study a solution using bioengineering and synthetic biology. Cadets represent five different academic disciplines.

The iGEM team is available to all cadets, regardless of their major.

“Whatever you’re interested in, you can put your skills to use.” said Cadet 1st Class Marion Posner, a biology major. “You can figure out a project that can solve a real-world problem using synthetic biology.”

Attracting, inhibiting and detecting Lyme-carrying bacteria

The team’s interdisciplinary iGEM project, Lyme-AID, is a genetically engineered system that uses a three-step biosensor to attract, inhibit and detect bacteria that cause Lyme disease.

Currently tests to detect Lyme disease can take 48 hours for results. Likewise, symptoms may not appear for three to 30 days. This delay in detecting disease-carrying bacteria delays treatment and prevention of possible life-long symptoms.

The team advanced research on the design of a cost-effective, efficient and easy-to-use detection system for early-state Lyme disease. Lyme-AID, a stick-on patch, is the team’s solution, Posner said.

Lt. Col. Kristi McElmurry, Department of Biology, in the center, and Lt. Col. Hershel LackeyU.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Marion Posner, on the left, Lt. Col. Kristi McElmurry, Department of Biology, in the center, and Lt. Col. Hershel Lackey, Department of Chemistry, work to determine the proper level of salinity for a solution. (Photo courtesy of Cadet 1st Class Nathan LaBarre)

Lyme disease cadet research

The cadet research included interviews with people afflicted by the disease. They talked to the first female U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilot, retired Col. Nicole Malachowski, Class of 1996. The Academy graduate is also a national speaker and advocate on several issues, including awareness of Lyme disease impacts. Malachowski was medically retired in 2017 due to a late-state neurological tick-borne illness.

“The Lyme disease community believes science will bridge the gap between current medical guidelines and actual patient experience,” Malachowski said. “It is no surprise to me that the innovative cadets and faculty on this iGEM team are the ones breaking barriers in this space. Their scientific advancements will add to the body of work on improved testing, which will indeed save lives and ensure an increase in positive patient outcomes.”

Wide range of expertise leads to action

The team’s varying academic disciplines, from biology to chemistry to computer science majors, helped them meet the iGEM judges’ criteria for winning one of the competition’s gold medals.

Cadet 1st Class Elizabeth Cassidy worked directly with Air Force Research Laboratory experts in aptamers to determine how the team could implement it in the Academy laboratory to detect disease-carrying bacteria in proteins, toxins and live cells.

To raise awareness of tick- borne disease, Cadet 1st Class Amanda Schaefbauer led the team’s production of the children’s book “Tick Bite Triage.”

At the jamboree, Cadet 3rd Class Raj Raghulan created and coded a team website and worked with international students to compete and win the first-ever international iGEM Hackathon.

Connection to combatting Lyme’s disease

Cadet 1st Class Emma Redmond inspired the team to make Lyme disease their research focus. The New York native was already familiar with the disease because of its impact in her home region. She also recalled one of her middle school teachers who died from Lyme disease complications.

“We were looking into which medical afflictions were proving to be an ongoing health concern, but possibly did not have the medical research or advancement to match such needs,” Redmond said. “While conducting this research, I found that Lyme disease can ruin lives. But current diagnosis and respective treatment methods are lacking in their ability to catch the infection early enough to prevent lifelong symptoms. Our further conversations with patients confirmed the need for a better system for earlier diagnosis. As the pieces began to fall into place, it was clear that research in this field not only had the capability to impact medicine but impact lives.”