A common issue perceived in underfunded labs across the globe is access to technology for biological analysis. The means often utilized for these analyses consists of exorbitant prices and requires transportation of samples to off-site locations to due equipment’s location. This lack of readily access has proven to be a hindrance, even to a number of iGEM Teams. In order to effectively address this issue, we designed a prototype to serve as an alternative for a plate reader and analyze bacterial samples for a low cost.

This prototype, coined the “Chrom-Q”, is miniature light chamber that standardized the emission of light on bacterial pellets placed into wells engraved into the base of the dome, with measurements being taken through a phone’s camera at the top of the phone. Additionally, an app has been created to analyze the degradation of color as a progression, and measure the change in intensity and color as a value for the amount of protein degradation that has occurred. The platform is designed to analyze biological data in reference to the HSL (Hue, Saturation, and Luminance/Intensity) model derived from RGB. Through a data curve obtained from various concentrations of cells, we have translated the expression of a certain color’s intensity as a reference point for percent degradation. In order to ensure consistency in the quantity of cells present at the time of measurement, we incorporated a microwell design into the base where cellular pellets can be placed.

The above photos are of another model shown at the 2017 RESA Conference and the Atlanta Science Festival. Primarily serving a purpose of grabbing public attention, it is programmed via a small computer chip to change the luminosity of the lights from a high state to a low state depending on a change in the circuitry.
This represents precision metabolic engineering in cells with the luminosity being the ‘output’ of the cells. This model’s purpose was to represent how precision metabolic engineering allows cells to rapidly switch between different metabolic states (ie. differences in luminosity).