Method and system of detecting dioxin-like compounds

A method of detecting a dioxin-like compound in a test sample comprising:

• providing a whole cell lysate derived from a cell transfected to express one or more fusion proteins fused to a reporter peptide, one of which comprises an aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), and wherein the whole cell lysate comprises the fusion protein in a dissociated complex;
• contacting the test sample with the whole cell lysate for a period of time sufficient for the fusion protein in a dissociated complex to degrade upon the presence of the dioxin-like compound;
• and
• detecting a detectable signal generated by the reporter peptide as indicative of an amount of the fusion protein and comparing to a reference signal generated with a known concentration of a dioxin-like compound, thereby determining the presence or amount of the dioxin-like compound in the test sample.