Difference between revisions of "Team:SJTU-BioX-Shanghai/Description"

STAR is a new technology that can be used for implementing RNA logic in bacterial cells. STAR system consists of two short RNA segments, namely Target and Antisense respectively. The hairpin structure in Target acts like terminator or attenuator in the gene circuit, which is often inserted in the upstream of the open reading frame to block the expression. Antisense is a short RNA which is strictly complementary strand of part of Target. As soon as the strong combination between Target and Antisense occurs, the hairpin structure in Target will be altered, which further activates the expression of downstream proteins.

STAR is an effective RNA logic technology. It acts like a bridge to connect sensors such environment-sensitive promoters, with reporters such as fluorescent proteins. Considering its strong logical feature, we determine to use STAR to construct a multi-factor bio-detector. There is a series of STARs which have been rationally designed and well characterized. Based on previous work, we choose one existing STAR(denoted as STAR1) which possesses the highest activation efficiency as one of our regulators, and design a new one(denoted as STAR3) by modifying an old one(denoted as STAR2). Finally, we integrate STAR1, STAR3, sensors and reporters to create the multi-factor bio-detector.

In order to find a reporter for our project, we found chromoprotein. Chromoprotein was a kind of protein which contains the structure of pigment so it can show different color under light. We choose this reporter for two reasons, easy to detect and can be mixed into a third color. Chromoprotein can be seen by naked eyes make it much more convenient than fluoresce proteins which needs specific excitation light. Also, with the same feature as pigment, mixing different chromoprotein can form a new color under the color mixing theory.

Chromoprotein has been wildly used these years, but we haven't found an effective & convenient way to detect the concentration it. So, we develop a new way to detect the concentration by taking pictures and analyze the color. This system is called small Chromoprotein Analyze Toolbox, also called smallCAT, can also detect the mixed color by generating a color chart or colorimetric card. A box is used for controlling environment influence and the analyze program can be install as an APP or run in MATLAB.