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Team:Montreal/Project
From 2008.igem.org
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Experimental
To create our functional bacteria, we intend to transform the MC4100 E. coli cells used by Elowitz with two plasmids; one containing the reporter plasmid described in his paper and the other containing a modified version of last year’s I14001 bio-brick, the J40001 bio-brick and the repressilator. These latter three components will all be ligated together onto a single plasmid that should provide us with a cell line that can be experimented with using protein analogs and inhibitors of the gene components. Once accomplished, we intend to observe and experiment with our cells with fluorescence microscopy and spectrophotometry. Using three individual filters, we can microscopically observe the oscillations of individual components by the three fluorescent proteins (ECFP, GFP and RFP) embedded in the system.
Future Applications
Pacemaking Technology
Once of the better known sinusoidal oscillators in the human body are the cells of the sinoatrial node of the heart that establish a regular rhythm of action potentials that propagate throughout the atria and ventricles to generate beats. While current artificial pacemakers focus primarily on re-establishing this rhythm by generating electrical potentials, a biological alternative could prove more effective and less invasive than its mechanical counterpart with further research.
Continuous Cultures in Industrial Bio-Reactors
A common problem in bio-reactors used by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies results from difficulties in growing cells in continuous cultures due to various complications in recycling nutrients and draining metabolites. An effectively oscillating system could reduce the reliance on current fed-batch systems by allowing more effective cycles of cell growth and protein expression.
Biological Drug Delivery
With biological alternatives now being increasingly explored as mechanisms of delivering therapeutics, a functionally oscillating system could prove invaluable to tailoring drug regimes to specific systems. Innumerable biological processes function in rhythmic on/off switches and being able to control the release of certain cellular components to such a schedule may permit more effective treatment.
