Team:Paris Bettencourt
MEDUSA
Bringing control to the 3rd Dimension
We believe that biology is something that should be shared. That’s why we went to talk to the DIY biohacking community to connect to citizen scientists and anyone who just loved biology. With their help, we decided to make a microbial 3D printer, an accessible multifunctional and synthetic biology tool.
Biomaterials
Three different biomaterials with differing/distinct properties were developed on: Calcium Carbonate, Polysilicate and Ph3B. Each material has unique properties and differing applications, allowing for a broad spectrum of fields that the 3D printer belongs to.
Light control
Optogenetics allows fully reversible control of gene expression in both time and space. Both photosensory transmembrane proteins as well as photoswitchable protein caging were developed to expand the existing library of optogenetic tools.
RNA Agglomerations
RNA is a light cost nucleotide material in the cell, which has potential to act as a scaffold and transporter. We aim to recreate RNA agglomerations as formed in mammalian cells with triple repeat disorders, which show liquid phase separation, forming a organelle-like vesicle, where local concentrations of enzymes can be created.
