Project

Almost all complex living organisms have methods of intra species communication. Whether it's humans talking, dogs barking, birds singing, or bees emitting chemical messengers, many organisms have evolved unique means to tell each other very basic but very important information. However, despite the extensive research on bacterial communication, scientists have yet to determine a way for bacteria to communicate with the researcher in real time. That’s where our project comes in. Over the past 4 months, our iGEM team worked to develop a system to regulate and control the tumbling of bacterial flagella, and a program to read changes in these behaviors in response to controlled environments, such as pH and salt concentration. By translating the changing rotational behavior into audible frequencies, we provide the basis for E. musici: an E. coli keyboard that gives bacteria the first ever ability to talk to us, the scientists.

Background

Results

Computational Analysis

Improvement of Existing BioBricks

Future Applications and Directions