Biology

As every iGEM project is about synthetic biology, we have our own contribution to make on that count. This year we have worked to thoroughly characterize the photosensitizing protein KillerRed a recently discovered tool with many potential uses. Our attempt to use it as a population regulator is just one among others like precise cell killing on a Petri dish or Chromophore-Assisted Light Inactivation (CALI) of specific proteins inside cells.

All who are interested in cutting-edge techniques of Synthetic Biology come and listen! In this section, you will discover the mighty protein known only as KillerRed, the keystone of our project. Afterward, you shall see the way we obtained the Biobricks pLac-RBS-KillerRed and pLac-RBS-mCherry and how these items allowed us to set experimental protocols. Finally, we will uncover the so-desired KillerRed characterization results that will allow you to play with the population. But that is not all.

Hold your breath and have a glimpse on Voigt's system. Its main purpose is to trigger different actions when different wavelengths illuminate the bacteria: Red light sensor induces KillerRed expression, while green light induces KillerRed degradation. When teamed up with KillerRed this genetic network brings a new light on bacterial population control!