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From 2012.igem.org

Mycobacteria Vaccae

Towards a culture of happiness. Speculating about a future in which our happiness producing bacterial friends.

[quote] "Mycobacterium vaccae is a natural soil bacterium which people likely ingest or breath in when they spend time in nature," says Dorothy Matthews of The Sage Colleges in Troy, New York, who conducted the research with her colleague Susan Jenks.

Previous research studies on M. vaccae showed that heat-killed bacteria injected into mice stimulated growth of some neurons in the brain that resulted in increased levels of serotonin and decreased anxiety.

"Since serotonin plays a role in learning we wondered if live M. vaccae could improve learning in mice," says Matthews. [/quote]

M. Vaccae is a naturally occurring organism that exists in soil.

Our idea consists on isolating it, making it grow in controlled conditions and design objects for the consumption of it's effects and think of a future in which this culture of happiness in coexistence with this organism is common place.

• What does this future look like? (objects to consume)
• Cultural impact? (Vaccae cuisine, foodstuffs that include bacterial joy)
• Where does one go to consume? (city planning)
• Parfumes/cosmetics for happiness?
• Pets / Toys that exude the happiness odor?

How to proceed from here

• Get soil (from different locations and make a map)
• Find the happiest sample of soil
• Contact mycobiologist on how to isolate these organism

Pros

• Lots of ideas came out of this already.
• The development of a utopia is an interesting artistic project.
• Naturally occurring, no need to synthesize it.

Cons

• Not a synthetic process, so how to fit it in iGEM.