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From 2011.igem.org

Dual light controlled arabinose biosensor

Integrating the work of many other previous iGEM teams (Tokyo NoKoGen 2010, Chiba 2009, 2010, British Columbia 2009, Cambridge 2010, UNAM-Genomics México 2010, ITESM Monterrey 2010), the aim of this project is to develop a way of giving a cell the command to perform a function at user’s will, improving current lock-and-key designs. A novel mechanism based on an E.coli chassis, was designed with two main objectives: to sense arabinose reporting its concentration and to use light receptors to trigger the expression of the required pathways. The first receptor enables E.coli to activate (express), the arabinose sensing mechanism; whereas the second receptor activates a quick deactivation(degradation), of the sensing mechanism depriving the cell of that capability.