Team:BostonU/Description
Our project aims to integrate multiple digital signals (signals that are either present or absent, no in between) to dictate the analog expression level of a certain gene. Different combinations of these digital signals will produce different intensities of gene expression. This is similar to many gene activation pathways found in nature, and yet there is no standardized, easy-to-use system to replicate these pathways. Being able to dynamically change the level of gene expression based on combinations of multiple environmental signals would be invaluable to creating responsive, dynamic genetic devices. Therefore, our goal this summer is to create a system that can integrate multiple digital signals, and change the level of gene expression based on what combination of signals it is registering. This system would work with any gene of interest, allowing it to be used in diverse applications including immune therapy, recreating natural genetic signaling pathways, and research of toxic genes.
In order to make genes activate in response to certain signals, our system first needed a method to activate genes in general. We chose CRISPR/dCAS9-VPR as an activator. We chose dCAS9 due to its ease of use and its ability to target specific DNA sequences. dCAS9-VPR targets specific sequences by binding to specialized RNA. Part of this RNA (gRNA) contains 20 base pairs that will act as a guide, guiding the dCAS9 to the complimentary 20 base pairs found upstream of a gene one wishes target. This can be seen in the info-graphic below
