Photo-Sensitive Protein As Genetic Switch

In earlier posts on synthetic biology I mentioned the use of molecular sensors and switches to regulate the behavior of genetically engineered organisms. A team of graduate students at Voigt Lab at the University of California in San Francisco has demonstrated this with E.Coli engineered to include photosynthesizing blue-green algae genes. The bio-engineering involved is not necessarily state-of-the art, and this is a sign that the maturity of the technology and techniques demonstrated are advancing rapidly. The students produced the innovative bacterial images and a bacterial camera as part of MIT's intercollegiate Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition.

In the demonstration, the bacteria are arranged in an array and selectively exposed to a red-light image. The "bio-sensor" effectively delivers 100 mega-pixel resolution per square inch.

The researchers used the living film to create an image of the "‘flying spaghetti monster", a satirical critique of intelligent design (Image: Chris Voight)

The important part of the demonstration is not the fact that the researchers made a "biological camera". The importance of the result is the fact that such a switch need not activate a pigment. A wide variety of genes could be switched on and off, resulting in a great many possible responses (and these in turn could trigger other proteins and other effects). The implications are very significant for possible applications to nano-manufacturing, medicine, and other areas.

The work is described in the latest issue of Nature (vol 438, p 441), which is totally devoted to synthetic biology.

News from the Logic Free Zone

Can someone please explain to me?

NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin has said that terminating the shuttle program would be just as expensive as keeping it going. The shuttle routinely consumes more than 30 percent of NASA's budget.
- from the Washington Post 11/24/05 Bush's Space Plan in Danger

I thought I understood a bit of math, and budgeting, but this is beyond me.

Homemade Flamethrower

Homemade Flamethrower

Somebody just had to do this, and now they have, and you can too. Please, if you are in California, do this by the beach OK? I don't want a wildfire in the mountains near my home, worse, burning down my home, because you read something in my blog. (Worse yet, burning down anybody's home - an entire neighborhood - a city - arghh!)

Knowledge is power. Use it carefully, please.