Our project in a nutshell

Summary of our Project

The goal of the 2014 EPFL iGEM team is to show that biologically engineered organisms can detect and process signals efficiently. We present a novel idea: combining protein complementation techniques with biosensors to achieve fast spatiotemporal analysis of bacterial response to stimuli.

Our proof-of-concept is the BioPad: a biological touchpad for controlling electronic devices that is composed of touch-responsive bacteria in a microfluidic chip. We achieved this by engineering E coli’s Cpx pathway – a two-component regulatory system that is responsive to periplasmic stress.

Why a BioPad?

The biological concepts behind the BioPad project have applications in basic and applied science. The BioPad is also an interesting concept that could encourage public awareness of and engagement in synthetic biology. The combination of novel biological concepts and community awareness makes the BioPad an ideal project for iGEM.

The BioPad's Applications

The BioPad system demonstrates that protein complementation techniques are suitable for biosensor applications – especially for two-component regulatory systems. The introduction of the split IFP1.4 into the registry will allow future iGEM research teams to take advantage of the reversibility and precision of this protein. Moreover, our work on the Cpx pathway will allow future iGEM teams to make novel uses of other members of the OmpR/PhoB subfamily, as well as other two-component regulatory systems.

The BioPad could potentially be used to deliver a cheap, efficient and accurate antibiotic screening system that allows researchers to easily quantify the effects of antibiotics on periplasm in gram-negative bacteria. The BioPad project could also provide a new approach to studying genes by allowing researchers to the examine the relationship between genes and their corresponding activating signals.