Welcome!-Who are we ?

Fudan iGEM 2011 team is consisted of 16 undergraduates and one graduate student. And this is the first year that we join in this international competition. Though all team members are from the school of life sciences, each member has his/her own unique talents and knowledge. Thus, to work more efficiently during the summer, we divide the project into several sections, namely theoretical designs, journal club, team discussion, experiments and system measurements.

Ideas

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see these three words: tree, neon lights and dinner service? Christmas! Well, exactly, and that is what our project is all about. Our synthetic biology project will modify several E.coli to perform different jobs:

E.tree

The tree includes the leaf part and the trunk part. The “leaves” will change color according to the nutrients in the “soil”: if the soil is rich in nitrates, the “leaves” are green and healthy; otherwise, the leaves will turn yellow.

Neon Lights

Each engineered E.coli can emit one light at first (such as red); after a while, the red light fades and another light is emitted. The different combination of such E.coli could therefore achieve the effect of neon lights.

Dinner service

The genetically modified bacteria involve a certain self-feedback system. When the “customer” is starving, it orders dinner from the “chef”; and the chef serves meals. While the “customer” is full, it releases a signal molecule and tells the “chef” that no more food is wanted, so the “chef” stops cooking.

Progress Notes

1.We are still in the middle of experiments, and the final results of our system will be collected soon.
2.We have already designed and distributed our questionnaires for the human practice section.
3.Team logo is finalized.
4.We are preparing the team presentation and designing team poster.