IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Ideas/Feasibility/PastIGEM

iGEM (2006) project ideas :

1. oscillator

2. Fluorescent biological photo paper Bio Photo Paper

3. Bio Computer based on Hin/Hix recombinase system (to solve Burnt Pancake problem) link

4. Self Assembling Photographs (using Chemotaxis) link

5. Bacterial Sensing Network Link

6. New Signalling Pathway : Chemotactic Receptors Up an Apartate gradient link

7. Cell to Cell Communication via Conjugation (passing plasmids from one cell to another) link

• Berkely has done this for the past two years now

8. 'Water Colour' EColi (E.Coli expresses flourescent proteins in response to input signals) link

9. Light Directed Systems: link

• light Controlled Chemotaxis
• Edge Detector
• Photofabrication

10. Tri-Metal Biosensor (Vanadium, Iron and Nickel) link

11. 'Quorumtaxis' system : link

• Integrates the quorum-sensing and chemotaxis systems.
• Bacteria engineered with this quorumtaxis system will be able to move towards high concentrations of quorum pheromone

12. unconventional computing as a means of building novel computing paradigms link

13. Hydrogen Sensor link

14. Microscopic Relay Race link

15. Iron Biosensor link

16. link

• Bacterial Dynamo
• Cancer StickyBot
• X-Verter/Predator-Prey System
• Human Encryption
• Protein Cleaving Switch

17. Stem Cell Research link

• PROGRAMMED DIFFERENTIATION OF MOUSE EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS USING ARTIFICIAL SIGNALING PATHWAYS

18. Bacterial Version of Game Freeze Tag link

19. BioClock , DNA Box , Cell Surface Targeting link

20. Bacterial Night Light link

21. Bacteria that smell pleasant link

22. link

• Repressilator coupled with quorum sensing system
• Luciferase GFP part
• yellow fluorescent protein part

23. Bacterial Thermometer link

24. Edinburgh

• Developing a bacterial bio-sensor that responds to a range of arsenic concentrations and produces a change in pH that can be calibrated in relation with this concentration - maybe lead as suggested - application...

[1]

25. Valencia

Combination of Sensor & Actuator

Detection of some stimulus: concentration of some chemical/light intensity - Sensor Grading its "intensity" - pH output based upon colour grading - Actuator

(Similar to the "smoke detector" idea)

[2]

26. ETH Zurich

Implementation from the engineer's point of view
Half Adder

• Building logic circuitry : an AND and an XOR Gate

AND Gate: presence of chemical induces the production of an inactive protein, which is activated by a second protein (produced when light is present): the first protein is then activating GFP production
XOR Gate: a light sensible promoter a chemical sensible promoter we would need to give a kind of first signal to the system (to don't have light reactions before a certain moment, otherwise we have to work in a dark room...), an activation signal after the bacterias have grown on the plate

"their" Pro's & Con's

Pro's:

meaningful from an engineering point of view
valuable parts addition to synthetic biology
stepwise proceeding applicable (→ intermediate and partial results!)
experiments visually attractive
probably simple enough

Con's:

cheap copy of “bio-film” project (iGEM 2004)
sensational experiments, have little in common with half adder
maybe that a big vision is lacking
general/practical benefit? (counter-argument: is this required?)
too simple?

[3]

Freiburg

• Making a DNA strand fold into a pre-determined form
• Biomaterial/Biofilm concept

[4]

27. Tokyo Alliance

• Tic-Tac-Toe playing bacteria - logic processing

[5]