Modelling

The questions which the modelling team set out to answer were inspired by the questions the biologists were asking in the wetlab. As we scrutinized how our reporters, detector, and other biological devices could merge together in our sensor, we realized these modular protein components could be assembled in numerous combinations. We’d would have to determine their optimal configuration for integration in the prototype.

To reduce the number of wet lab experiments to build our sensor, we followed a two-pronged modelling approach to find preliminary answers to these questions. Initially, we used spatial models in Autodesk Maya, where we assembled 3D protein structures to gain an intuitive understanding of the assembly of our sensor proteins. Finally, we deployed a quantitative Mathematica prototype model to test how amounts of target DNA versus detector proteins would influence sensitivity on our lateral flow strip.