Team:Newcastle

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JUDGING FORM

Our wiki is currently under construction, please bear with us while we make it functional

We aim to produce a toolbox that can be used to construct biosensors. This toolbox will contain devices which can be used to construct biosensors. As the toolbox will contain various devices, as well as chassis, several properties and functionalities for biosensors are possible. To assist with design and development the toolbox will contain in silico tools.

We also aim to establish a biosensor development technique which allows easy and rapid development and testing of biosensor variants. Each device in our toolbox can be expressed in a separate cell and co-cultured with other cells expressing different devices to produce a functional biosensor. For example, three cell strains expressing an inducible promoter (detector device), a signal amplification device (processing device), and a fluorescent protein (reporter device) can be co-cultured together to make a biosensor. Devices in each cell will communicate through the use of 'connectors', which take the form of quorum sensing molecules.

To investigate the reasons behind the lack of commercial success of synthetic biology based biosensors, we are considering whether deficiency in communication between the developers and the users is a contributing factor. By completing a linguistic analysis of literature surrounding biosensors, their use, and their regulation, we aim to dissect the dialogue between science and the wider public. Throughout the project, we are maintaining contact with stakeholders such as local allotment owners, biosensor developers, and policy makers. Their feedback influences the creation of our biosensor toolbox. By completing activities with local school pupils and teachers, we aim to increase engagement and understanding of synthetic biology, and assess the extent to which synthetic biology features on the curriculum. We are also attending a science fair to promote synthetic biology.