MAX (Metal Alert Xystem), the hardware component of our project, is an Arduino-based bacterial-human interface device designed to enable your bacteria to ‘talk’ to you via text message, MAX is equipping bacteria (such as cells expressing your new devices) with a digital mode of communication, allowing it to relay real time data and opening up a myriad of possibilities for the future of bacterial human interfacing. MAX can currently detect any color + intensity within the visible spectrum with sufficient accuracy and is programmed to send out instant text alerts to report any change in either. Modularity being key, the device can also be equipped to detect a variety of other kinds of reporter signals at intervals and scale of your choice. MAX currently comes in a neat, ingenious and easy-to-use size for a culture in a 50ml falcon tube, but can be tailored for an array of tubes hundreds of tubes very easily. The following graphs show how accurately MAX can measure color and relay the information digitally in real time to the owner. We also used it to define the difference in color between RFP and RFP2 devices for our modelling theory!
MAX lies at the very intersection of engineering, IT, and biology and brings them all together to enable our engineered biological systems to do something no bacteria has ever done before – text an accurate data report to a human.
To watch the video and learn more about MAX, including a detailed protocol on how to build your own, visit the hardware section of our Wiki.
