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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Researchers at Columbia University and City College are developing a PFAS detector built from engineered yeast, AI-designed receptor proteins and CMOS chips. It is a research-stage concept, not a product you can buy. A report from Columbia University Irving Medical Center, published via Phys.org on October 5, 2026, describes the plan but gives no detection limit, accuracy figure or field-trial result. This article explains how the system is meant to work, why the team wants it, and how it differs from other PFAS sensors in development.
What the team is building
The project is led by Virginia Cornish, professor of chemistry and systems biology at Columbia, with collaborators at City College. The proposed “biohybrid” combines three things: engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast), AI-designed proteins, and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated-circuit sensor chips. The team is working toward yeast that report on PFOA and PFOS, two of the best-known PFAS.
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Cornish put the idea this way: “With genetic engineering and synthetic biology, we can design the same type of chemical-detecting receptors and implant them into yeast.”
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsHow the detection chain works
- A designed receptor goes into the yeast. A protein built to bind the target chemical is inserted into the cells.
- The receptor is tied to a fluorescent protein. When the target binds, the yeast glow green.
- Brightness tracks concentration. Signal intensity is meant to indicate how much of the chemical is present.
- A CMOS chip reads the light. It converts the fluorescence to a concentration readout.
The AI element is on the design side. The team aims to cut receptor design-build-test cycles from years to weeks, using an AI tool developed in Mohammed AlQuraishi’s lab. Ken Shepard, describing the approach, called these “biohybrid systems, systems in which engineered biological systems are combined with semiconductor sensors and actuators to create a system with a function beyond what is possible with a solid-state or biological system alone.”
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- TESTS FOR: 18 PFAS compounds including PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid), Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid, Perfluoroheptanoic acid, Perfluorononanoic acid, Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid, Perfluoroundecanoic acid, Perfluorododecanoic acid, Perfluorodecanoic acid, Perfluorohexanoic acid, NEtFOSAA, NMeFOSAA, Perfluorotetradecanoic acid, Perfluorotridecanoic acid, GenX, 11-Chloroeicosafluoro-3-oxaundecane-1-sulfonic acid, 9-Chlorohexadecafluoro-3-oxanonane-1-sulfonic acid, and 4,8-Dioxa-3H-perfluorononanoic acid
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The planned handheld format
The report describes a disposable stick holding freeze-dried engineered yeast embedded in a pH-paper-like material. A user would dip it into a water sample. A CMOS chip would read the glow and relay a concentration value wirelessly to a small reader. All of this is a design goal. The report does not say a working prototype has been field tested or that a product is on sale.
Why is a new PFAS detector needed?
The report says municipal water suppliers face costly PFAS testing and slow laboratory turnaround; some commercial-lab results can take weeks. Treatment operators also want faster information to confirm removal systems are working and to decide when components need replacing. Alex Rosenthal, professor of civil engineering at City College, said: “There are approximately 150,000 public water systems in the United States, and PFAS monitoring is becoming a huge cost for them.” That is his statement in the report; treat it as the researcher’s figure rather than an independently checked count.
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Rosenthal also says the team has talked with several dozen water-industry professionals and found unanimous excitement. That is his account of informal conversations, not a representative survey. The report also cites Columbia University Irving Medical Center for the claim that more than 90% of Americans have PFAS in their bodies; that figure is the institution’s, as reported.
What is not known yet
The report supplies none of the following for this system:
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- a detection limit or working concentration range
- sensitivity, specificity, accuracy or false-positive rate
- a calibration method
- independent validation or a field trial
- a price or release date
This matters because PFAS are regulated and discussed at very low concentrations, parts per trillion. Whether a yeast-based stick can reach useful levels in real tap or wastewater, with its varied chemistry, is exactly what is not yet shown. Numbers from other labs’ sensors should not be read across to this one.
How other PFAS sensors compare
Several groups are pursuing rapid PFAS sensing by different routes. They are at different stages and use different metrics, so this is a map of approaches, not a ranking.
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| Approach | Method and target | Stage and published evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia / City College | Engineered yeast with AI-designed receptor, fluorescence, CMOS readout; aimed at PFOA and PFOS | Proposed workflow; no performance metrics reported (Columbia report, Oct 5, 2026) |
| MIT lateral-flow sensor | Polyaniline electrical-resistance response to acidic PFAS, including PFBA and PFOA | MIT News (March 11, 2024) reported detection of PFBA down to 200 parts per trillion and PFOA to 400 parts per trillion in the current version; MIT said these limits were not low enough for the EPA guideline levels it discussed in 2024 |
| La Trobe University portable biosensor | PFOA-focused, simple yes/no screen | Published in ACS Sensors; release of January 8, 2026 hopes for eventual handheld integration; not described as available |
| Harvard Wyss PFASense | Protein-based receptor with a synthetic biology reporter, being integrated with an electrochemical platform | Wyss reports validation of a sensor responsive to PFAS analogs and ongoing development toward a possible portable device |
| NIST living measurement systems | Microorganisms, transcriptomic analysis and RNA strand-displacement circuits sensing PFAS-induced signatures | Ongoing research project (page updated May 15, 2026); links to a 2025 transcriptomic paper |
The Columbia concept is closest to Wyss in using a biological receptor, but the two differ in readout: fluorescence read by CMOS chips versus an electrochemical platform. MIT’s is a purely chemical-electrical sensor, and La Trobe’s offers a screen rather than a measurement. MIT’s Timothy Swager summed up the motivation: “There’s a real need for these sensing technologies. We’re stuck with these chemicals for a long time, so we need to be able to detect them and get rid of them.”
Advisory levels versus legal limits
When articles about PFAS sensors cite “EPA guidelines”, the numbers are often health advisories. The EPA states that health advisories provide technical and public-health information and “are not to be construed as legally enforceable federal standards.” Enforceable limits are Maximum Contaminant Levels. EPA’s Drinking Water Health Advisories page was updated March 30, 2026, and MIT’s 2024 comparison used the advisory levels then current. Since rules can change, check EPA’s current PFAS regulation page before treating any number as a legal limit.
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What you can do today
The yeast sensor cannot be bought, so it offers a household user nothing yet. MIT notes that commercially available filters can reduce PFAS in household drinking water if PFAS are detected. That supports the category only. If you consider a filter, check its documentation for the specific PFAS compounds it claims to reduce, the test method and conditions, and any applicable certification. For measured results today, the route described in the Columbia report is a commercial PFAS testing laboratory, though results can take weeks.
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