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Glasgow's 2014 iGEM project involves the creation of a new and hopefully very useful tool for synthetic biologists. With the aid of a genetic switch we will create a system that, in the presence of a given stimulus, will switch between one gene and another – a change that will persist in subsequent generations unless reversed. The switch is thus an integral part of the project. It is a site specific recombinase switch (φC31 integrase) isolated from the Streptomyces phage φC31. It flips a section of DNA, and a promoter, in order to turn off the expression of one gene section in favour of another.

What are we controlling? Something we saw a lot of potential uses for were Gas Vesicles – gas filled structures used by cyano/halo bacteria to regulate their density and float up to more desirable conditions. These will be the genes being turned ON. The genes we will be switching off are crucial flagella genes, such as motA and fliC. In this way, we will switch the behaviour of the bacteria from a random run and tumble mode to a simple upwards floatation. It is then hoped that the bacteria and anything they produce/pick up can be easily removed from the surface of the medium.

Though the project will have a focus on the switch/vesicle system as a tool for others to customise, we have foreseen a number of viable applications. Two examples are:

• Desalination – the stimulus for the switch would be salt concentration. We envision this system as being a lot less energy intensive than existing desalination processes.
• Increasing efficiency of biofactory systems: with a sufficient concentration of product (biofuel etc) being the trigger for the gas vesicles, only “finished” cells would be removed, increasing efficiency.

The general public's reaction to our research and its potential uses will be gauged through a series of events and other interactions, including Glasgow Science Center Stalls and school talks. We will also consult other synthetic biology institutions and ask their opinions of the switch/vesicle system as a useful tool for the field.