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             <p>Bacteria and electricity have been combined before, both in iGEM and outside of it, as can be seen in microbial fuel cells. For our project we are interested in ways that we can engineer bacteria in order to sense an electrical signal, as well as ways to modulate that signal.</p>
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             <p>The foundation built by Culture Shock opens up a huge amount of potential for Bio-electrics. Applications such as self-healing circuitry and "living" electronic and cell integrated computers no longer seem as implausible and distant as they once did. As a result, we felt obligated as a team to spend a large amount of time considering the potential ethical issues associated with these ideas - the fruits of our labor being our thought experiment which considers four of these key concepts, with each having it's own level. You can <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Newcastle/HP/Thought_Experiment">play through the entire thought experiment here</a> or alternatively<a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Newcastle/Human_Practices"> read up on our entire human practices work here.</a> </p>
<p>To allow our bacteria to respond to an electrical current we are exploiting the native heat-shock response of <em>E. coli</em> to couple protein synthesis to the arrival of an electrical signal. Alongside this we are using protein expression to modulate electrical signals, for example by <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Newcastle/Parts#bio-varistor">controlling resistance</a> or mimicking the <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Newcastle/Parts#bio-capacitor">behaviour of capacitors</a>. This has allowed us to devise a <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Newcastle/Parts">range of bio-electronic parts</a> which demonstrate the potential of interfacing these technologies.</p>
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Revision as of 15:09, 15 October 2016

Newcastle iGEM 2016

Scroll down to learn more about our Culture Shock project

Our Motivation

Electronic engineering has given us the television and the mobile phone, while genetic engineering has afforded us mass-scale antimalarial drugs, biofuels and an enormous range of biosensors.

More than a decade ago, Tom Knight and colleagues envisioned using 'BioBricks' to standardise synthetic biological parts. Here at Newcastle we want to return to iGEM's humble origins and come full circle. We are currently working on replacing traditional electronic components with biological alternatives. Building a series of new compatible bacterial components, we can mix and match to create electro-biological components within a breadboard.

The circuit will allow synthetic biologists to combine bacterial and electronic components to create electro-biological circuits, offering an exciting new fusion of synthetic biology and computer science. The ultimate goal is to attain consistent outputs for given inputs.

Our Achievements

What Next?

The foundation built by Culture Shock opens up a huge amount of potential for Bio-electrics. Applications such as self-healing circuitry and "living" electronic and cell integrated computers no longer seem as implausible and distant as they once did. As a result, we felt obligated as a team to spend a large amount of time considering the potential ethical issues associated with these ideas - the fruits of our labor being our thought experiment which considers four of these key concepts, with each having it's own level. You can play through the entire thought experiment here or alternatively read up on our entire human practices work here.

Sponsors

  • Newcastle Centre for Synthetic Biology and the Bioeconomy
  • ICO2S Research Group
  • Newcastle University
  • Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology
  • Wellcome Trust
  • BBSRC
  • Society for Experimental Biology
  • PEALS
  • IDT
  • Proto-Pic
  • Sigma-Aldrich
  • Goodfellows
  • BMG Labtech