For the 2011 St Andrews iGEM Team project, we are creating an intracellular Escherichia coli “kill switch” that functions differently from any found in nature. This “kill switch” is a tool, one which we believe will have application within many areas of biology.

Our kill switch is designed by inserting an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) gene into E. coli. The AMP in question is protegrin-1, an 18 amino acid residue first identified in porcine leukocytes. Protegrin-1 has high microbicidal activity against E. coli (gram-negative), N. gonorrheae (gram-positive), and HIV-1 (lipid-coated virus), amongst several other bacterial and virion species. It is an evolutionarily conserved peptide found within the innate immune system of