We are ColoEcho, a team of STEM students who strive to leverage the power of synthetic biology for a better healthcare landscape. Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer worldwide. Despite the prevalence rate of colorectal cancer consistently rising in young adults (20-39 yrs) in recent years, colorectal cancer screening test is provided for adults aged 60-74 by the NHS in the United Kingdom. Importantly, colorectal cancer is highly treatable and often curable when diagnosed in the localised stage, with a survival rate of over 91% (NIH, 2023). However, this number drastically falls to 10% as the disease progresses to stage IV. Moreover, early-stage colorectal cancer is usually asymptomatic and requires regular monitoring for a timely diagnosis. Thus, to tackle this issue, ColoEcho aims to design a novel diagnostic tool to detect early colorectal cancer. We develop an accurate, cost-effective, and patient-friendly procedure by engineering bacterial gas vesicles and utilising ultrasound molecular imaging.
