UCalgary iGEM team develops early detection system for bird flu

A team of University of Calgary undergraduates hopes to tackle bird flu by developing a continuous early detection system for the virus. 

Highly infectious avian influenza, more commonly known as bird flu, has impacted 167 million birds in the U.S. since 2022 and has become more effective at crossing species. 

Studies now suggest one mutation in a bird flu strain currently circulating in cows could make it more transmissible between humans, leading to the next pandemic.

To help avoid this, UCalgary’s 2025 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team is developing a way to catch the virus early by using environmental monitoring on farms.

System would warn farmers and drivers

“We are trying to create an early detection system for bird flu in the drinking water basins on farms,” says team member Santiago Pineros, a third-year cellular, molecular and microbial biology student.

Typically, bird flu is found by taking an environmental sample and sending it to the lab for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which detects biomarkers that indicate the presence of the virus.

The iGEM team aims to create a continuous monitoring system for installation in drinking water basins on farms that would send a signal to a farmer or health worker if one of those biomarkers is detected.

The team's main goal is to ensure infections don’t spread from farm to farm, so they want to also install their system on the trucks that transport animals.

“The animals on the trucks are a much smaller population to detect the potential virus from, so the infected may be able to be isolated before they reach the farm,” says team member Ved Patel, a third-year biological sciences student.

Competing research drives new direction

The team is still at an early stage in their project, developing protocols and working on the system design.

“We are also doing a lot of outreach to farmers to see what kind of detection method they prefer and what problem they want solved, because ultimately we are making this for them,” says Anna Zeng, a second-year biochemistry student.

But they also had to overcome a challenge, adjusting their research focus after they learned of a paper from China that improved on the system they had originally devised.

“None of us expected to have this big of a roadblock and challenge this early on,” says Zeng.

“We decided we had to focus on the strengths of our project, which was the continuous monitoring, instead of remaking our entire project.”

The team will take their finished project to Paris to participate in the iGEM Grand Jamboree this October.