Preliminary Project Description

Organisms engineered by synthetic biologists have the potential to deliver new solutions to a wide range of problems. However, they must be implemented in responsible and controlled ways.

For example, last year the Kingsborough team focused on engineering E. coli to deteriorate nitrogenous waste in sewage more effectively. However, we found that E. coli can survive in local waterways, which is the ultimate destination for wastewater after treatment. To develop this idea we are focused this year on improving and characterizing a control element, commonly referred to as a "Kill Switch." With this kill switch, we will be able to combat the escape of modified E. coli from the treatment plant.

We will focus on the development of a light-inducible kill switch; since the bacteria will not be exposed to significant amounts of light within the sewage treatment plant. Other teams have proposed and modeled such switches, but few have successfully built, implemented, and characterized such devices. We will be building upon our past design, as well as improving and completing a previously proposed light-inducible kill switch.

What should this page contain?

• A clear and concise description of your project.
• A detailed explanation of why your team chose to work on this particular project.
• References and sources to document your research.
• Use illustrations and other visual resources to explain your project.

Advice on writing your Project Description

We encourage you to put up a lot of information and content on your wiki, but we also encourage you to include summaries as much as possible. If you think of the sections in your project description as the sections in a publication, you should try to be consist, accurate and unambiguous in your achievements.

Judges like to read your wiki and know exactly what you have achieved. This is how you should think about these sections; from the point of view of the judge evaluating you at the end of the year.