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APPLIED DESIGN

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CHATTERPLANT APPLIED DESIGN

Nowadays, most fruits and vegetables come to the cities either from intensive farming or greenhouses. Current concerns of the world made several proposes to reduce the impact that human activities have on its society and the environment. This field is no exception.

On this basis ChatterPlant looks to contribute in changing into new sustainable agriculture. Going further and controlling every single aspect of plant growth. Since SynBio and other cutting-edge researches usually get stuck laboratory benches, a real application point-of-view is mandatory for an accurate development of an innovative project. However, although we got diverse SynBio tool to internally regulate plants, we faced a lack of implementation

Thus, an integrated control system was essential in order to carry our SynBio technology to current society. A hardware device and a software tool were both key features in developing our multidisciplinary project.

BACKGROUND ANALYSIS

Our muse of inspiration was closer than we thought, nature, open agriculture and a combination of similar projects built the pillars of our main idea.

BIOART AND CUTTING-EDGE TECNHOLOGIES

Nature always has inspired artists throughout Art History, but art can also aid biology via symbiosis between both fields. Different art movements have integrated biology with avant-garde art techniques, conceiving cutting-edge bioart concepts, such as molecular and scientific photography, transgenic performances or microbiology exhibitions. In order to analyze bioart background, Salomé Cuesta, a UPV fine arts teacher, guided us where art and biology meet.

STATE-OF-THE-ART AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGIES

To date, other projects have risen to try shaking up this situation with revolutionary concepts of agriculture such us:

MIT Media Lab Open Agriculture Initiative, is on an objective to create affordable, more economical, and more innovative future food systems, controlling environmental conditions.
AeroFarms, who have patented an aeroponic growing system for faster harvest cycles predictable results, superior food safety and less environmental impact.
High technology’s greenhouses, as automated and self-regulated plant growth system.

Among these proposals highlights Open agriculture, which pretends to develop a controlled-environmental agriculture engineering platforms called "food computers". This device automatically controls different parameters, optimizing the growth conditions of the plant seeking to decrease losses alike pest damages. Inside the confined space climate conditions are automated, meeting the users requirements and desires.

However, this Food Computers only controls external factors. Some of the problems related to crops are solved, but substantial ones still exist. In many instances it is unlikely to stop a pest since their hardware cannot be 100% isolated.

Valencia UPV team realized SynBio offers all the possibilities to carry plant growth control to a higher level.

CHATTERPLANT INTEGRATED SYSTEM

ChatterPlant is proposed as a SynBio-based solution to control plant growth in both genetical and environmental way. A bidirectional communication is mandatory to establish a properly system. Other technologies only provide the manage of environmental conditions, keeping away from a total control system.

In order to achieve that control, we designed ChatterBox, an specific device that regulates precisely plant growth conditions while enables a bidirectional human-plant interaction. Merging both SynBio and cutting-edge technologies in greenhouses, thorough control of plant processes is achieved.

Following bullets summarize main converging points between SynBio circuits and ChatterBox:

Optogenetic switch enables to intervene in plant development by regulating its genetic profile. Systems’ activation/deactivation is carried out by “Optogenetic” lamps, equipped with red/far-red wavelengths.
Color code sensor circuit which flags the presence of specific plant stresses contains different AND gates. In normal basis, ΦC31 recombinase is being expressed in the plant and the stress-inducible promoter is always inverted. In this case, the circuit is inactivated and there will be any change in plant. If plant is under stress, phenotypic color variation is detected with the integrated camera and an specific recognition software, so the appropriate actions could be taken accordingly.

Adding to this, ChatterBox is able to regulate temperature, humidity and illumination as well as NFT hydroponic system is used to manage irrigation, oxygenation and crop nutrition. Besides in order to connect the ChatterBox to the user, a human - machine interface was developed, this opens the communication between both agents. Having this is possible to monitorize the inner environment of the device and control it to obtain the desired conditions.

Controlling external factors and regulating plant’s features allow us increasing plant versatility and adaptative capacity. With those planty possibilities our group has the chance to study current and future practices.

SENTINEL PLANTS

Combining control over climatic conditions and Synthetic Biology, ChatterPlant strives increasing to the maximum the control of the crop through distinct color protein expression, consumers wish to find fruits and vegetables with the best organoleptic properties. In this context, our project could be applied through the innovative concept of sentinel plants. With the aim of controlling those conditions, we propose a diagonal system of sentinel plants in order to cover the maximum area possible (Figure 1). Sentinel plants will be able to warn us if any plant suffers a given stress prematurely.

Figure 1. Graphic representation of a possible sentinel plants distribution.

Pathogen infections are the major cause of diseases in greenhouse crops. Being aware of its repercussions, our team suggests that the entire number of plants located inside the ChatterBox incorporate the pathogen detection system to increase detection control. Bearing that in mind, we solved our problems using a steroid injector in order to trigger a color code genetic circuit that accelerates a response and allows applying corrective measures sooner.

The main problem with current preventive systems is that they normally deal with applying pesticides or fertilisers over crops, without even knowing if there’s a real threat to the plants. This means a major waste of resources. Besides this, residues ultimately pollute and damage the environment. Furthermore, identifying plant damage requires plenty of time. This one is critical since some vectors and deficiencies spread among the whole crop rapidly and produce significant symptoms. Have we got any way to know whether the plants are stressed or not?

Sentinel plants seem the solution: They simplify the stress diagnosis task. Changes in leaves color will make the detection easier. Sentinels would be another plant in the crop, but they react to different stimuli. Distributing them over the land will make easier to know which regions are problematic. According to the number, type and position of sentinels that show a certain color, farmers can decide which solution has to apply and how big the problem is.

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH

An interview with David Jorge, the Delegate of Students of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and student of the School of Agricultural Engineering and Environment took place. There, an idea to complete the new technologies education of Agricultural Engineering degree arose.

In order to tackle this situation, a group of ‘Spontaneous Generation’ was proposed to be created, inside a program which embraces the major part of students groups in UPV. Thus, ChatterPlant and Open Agriculture devices were considered to complement the student's education, contributing not only in agriculture itself but also in social areas.

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