Team:Uppsala-Sweden

The aim of our project is to regulate gene expression by three different wavelengths and further on build a bacterial system that will act like a bacterial photocopier. With this project we will participate in the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM).

The experimental part of this project is to further develop the light induced regulation of gene expression, aka coliroids. We start out by employing the principles explained by Tabor, Levskaya and Voigt's research on multichromatic light sensing. The first step is make DNA constructs for at least three light-sensing systems, each with different activation wavelengths and different outputs. Then we test each light-sensing system individually in a bacteria platform. Once this is done, we plan to express the three light-sensing systems in the same platform, at the same time and test their abilities when put together. The laboratory methods include for instance BioBrick cloning, site-directed mutagenesis, Lambda Red recombineering, etc.

The ultimate goal is making a "multichromatic coliroid system" capable of independent regulation of three sets of genes by light regulation. The proof of concept will be demonstrated by growing a colorful picture on an agar plate.

Besides this, we will also put a lot of efforts into other parts of the project including characterization of parts, marketing, human practice biosecurity, bio-ethics and website.