IGEM:IMPERIAL/2008/New/Project

In designing our Biofabricator Subtilis, we followed the engineering approach for synthetic biology.

We started with a set of basic specifications our project must meet in order to fulfill our aim of designing a genetically-engineering biofabricator. Since there are three main parts to our project, our specifications can be broadly classified into three categories - light sensing, motility control and biomaterial synthesis.

• The photoreceptor must have a short response time, preferably under one minute.
• The light sensing pathway must be able to be coupled to an inducible promoter, to allow control of our downstream systems (motility control and biomaterial production).
• The photoreceptor must be compatible with the chassis.
• The pathway must not give rise to negative secondary effects such as interference with native pathways.

• Quick and effective control of bacteria motility - we should be able to stop bacteria locomotion efficiently.
• The mechanism for motility control should be reversible - bacteria should be able to regain locomotion after a certain recovery period, but this is not essential.

• Bacteria should be able to secrete large amounts of a self-assembling biomaterial into the growth medium.
• Biomaterial must be small enough to facilitate its secretion by the chassis.
• Biomaterial should be compatible with tissue engineering or regenerative medicine.