The BacteriO'Clock

Have you ever dreamt of a new way of thinking everyday life objects ? Be sure, this will come true, under the form of our BacteriO'Clock ! A simple test tube which contains our modified bacteria will give you the time, directly from living organisms. The hours of the day are color-coded and oscillations ensure the repeated periodic behaviour.

To achieve this incredible project, we relied on a well characterized genetic structure that allows a specific sequence of fluorescent proteins expression to occur in a First In - First Out order. This FIFO behaviour enables us to define a rich color encoding of day time. An additional negative feedback loop generates clock oscillations!

Based on in-depth studies and experimentally measured parameters we develope models that show that this system is not likely to oscillate, and indicate ways to improve the initial design. In particular, this can be achieved by HSL production that enforces a necessary delay and provides an elegant cell synchronization mechanism :

In a nutshell, the new trendy item which will make every biologist in your lab jealous will soon be available. Despise a long-cloning period all biobricks and other constructions are now available. Furthermore, we initiated an extensive characterization plan of these parts. If you manage to wait for the updates, you might even get the version which automatically react to daylight saving time ;)