IGEM:MIT/2006/Blurb: Difference between revisions
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This summer, MIT's iGEM 2006 team is developing bacteria that smell pleasant. We have inserted several genes into bacterial genomes to make the cells produce a wintergreen and/or a banana scent. Scents can act as natural biological tags and have many extended applications. By attaching the scent tag to a case-sensitive promoter, we can engineer a cellular system to report on environmental conditions. Also, since ''E. coli'' naturally produce a fecal smelling compound, we feel that engineering our system will be useful to scientists worldwide as it will make lab work with ''E. coli'' bacteria a little less painful. Other bacteria are responsible for producing human odor problems in the mouth, armpits, and feet. By implementing our system in these foul smelling bacteria, we could potentially develop bacterial deoderant. In addition, we could implement our system in yeast, thereby producing new flavors and scents in bread and beer. Perfuming bacterial biofilters are yet another feasible industrial application of our project. | This summer, MIT's iGEM 2006 team is developing bacteria that smell pleasant. We have inserted several genes into bacterial genomes to make the cells produce a wintergreen and/or a banana scent. Scents can act as natural biological tags and have many extended applications. By attaching the scent tag to a case-sensitive promoter, we can engineer a cellular system to report on environmental conditions. Also, since ''E. coli'' naturally produce a fecal smelling compound, we feel that engineering our system will be useful to scientists worldwide as it will make lab work with ''E. coli'' bacteria a little less painful. Other bacteria are responsible for producing human odor problems in the mouth, armpits, and feet. By implementing our system in these foul smelling bacteria, we could potentially develop bacterial deoderant. In addition, we could implement our system in yeast, thereby producing new flavors and scents in bread and beer. Perfuming bacterial biofilters are yet another feasible industrial application of our project. | ||
==Poster topics== | |||
=Eau d’e coli= | |||
Why | |||
*engineered bacterial scents because they are tangible and practical. We had a vision and we were confident that we could make it a reality in just one summer! | |||
*We could focus on creativity and control. Nobody has ever attempted to create a modular autonomous scent system as the backbone for future application. | |||
*coolness factor! our bacteria smell delicious! | |||
What | |||
*We have successfully reached our goal of developing bacteria that smell pleasant. We began by first isolating genes from s. cerivisae (baker’s yeast), petunia hybrida (a plant species), and pseudomonas fluorescens (a harmless soil bacterium). We then built our system by inserting these genes into the E. coli genome. The result? our E. coli cells produce a wintergreen scent while in the exponential growth phase (first 7 hours of growth), followed by a banana scent when they reach the stationary growth phase. Our most complex system features completely autonomous scent production with an inverter device controlling the on/off switch between the mint and the banana scent reporters. | |||
Applications | |||
E. coli bacteria naturally produce a fecal smelling compound called indole. Our system features, in addition to mint and banana scent output, the added bonus of a cell chassis incapable of producing indole. We feel that our engineered cells may prove useful to scientists worldwide, as they make lab work with E. coli bacteria a little less painful! | |||
Portability and implementation: Bacteria are responsible for producing human odor problems in the mouth, armpits, and feet. By implementing our system in these foul smelling bacteria, we could potentially develop perfuming bacterial deoderant and/or chewing gum. In addition, we could implement our system in yeast, thereby producing new flavors and scents in bread and beer. Perfuming bacterial biofilters are yet another feasible industrial application of our project. | |||
Revision as of 12:40, 21 October 2006
This summer, MIT's iGEM 2006 team is developing bacteria that smell pleasant. We have inserted several genes into bacterial genomes to make the cells produce a wintergreen and/or a banana scent. Scents can act as natural biological tags and have many extended applications. By attaching the scent tag to a case-sensitive promoter, we can engineer a cellular system to report on environmental conditions. Also, since E. coli naturally produce a fecal smelling compound, we feel that engineering our system will be useful to scientists worldwide as it will make lab work with E. coli bacteria a little less painful. Other bacteria are responsible for producing human odor problems in the mouth, armpits, and feet. By implementing our system in these foul smelling bacteria, we could potentially develop bacterial deoderant. In addition, we could implement our system in yeast, thereby producing new flavors and scents in bread and beer. Perfuming bacterial biofilters are yet another feasible industrial application of our project.
Poster topics
Eau d’e coli
Why
- engineered bacterial scents because they are tangible and practical. We had a vision and we were confident that we could make it a reality in just one summer!
- We could focus on creativity and control. Nobody has ever attempted to create a modular autonomous scent system as the backbone for future application.
- coolness factor! our bacteria smell delicious!
What
- We have successfully reached our goal of developing bacteria that smell pleasant. We began by first isolating genes from s. cerivisae (baker’s yeast), petunia hybrida (a plant species), and pseudomonas fluorescens (a harmless soil bacterium). We then built our system by inserting these genes into the E. coli genome. The result? our E. coli cells produce a wintergreen scent while in the exponential growth phase (first 7 hours of growth), followed by a banana scent when they reach the stationary growth phase. Our most complex system features completely autonomous scent production with an inverter device controlling the on/off switch between the mint and the banana scent reporters.
Applications
E. coli bacteria naturally produce a fecal smelling compound called indole. Our system features, in addition to mint and banana scent output, the added bonus of a cell chassis incapable of producing indole. We feel that our engineered cells may prove useful to scientists worldwide, as they make lab work with E. coli bacteria a little less painful!
Portability and implementation: Bacteria are responsible for producing human odor problems in the mouth, armpits, and feet. By implementing our system in these foul smelling bacteria, we could potentially develop perfuming bacterial deoderant and/or chewing gum. In addition, we could implement our system in yeast, thereby producing new flavors and scents in bread and beer. Perfuming bacterial biofilters are yet another feasible industrial application of our project.
