"

From 2012.igem.org

EPad

Ipad is popular all over the world, but how about an Epad? Have you thought that there is a tablet whose screen is made up of E.coli and it can sense your touch to display different colors?

MscL is a kind of membrane protein of E.coli. They control the transportation of matter, but they are usually closed. When the balance between intracellular and extracellular is broken, or the cytomembrane senses some unusual mechanical force, they will open and let the pressure disappear. We hope to utilize the protein and found a network which can display fluorescence of different color according to the state of MscL. In this way, a pressure-sensing and -controlling screen made of E.coli can be built.

Reference:

1. "Release of content through mechano-sensitive gates in pressurized liposomes"

(http://www.pnas.org/content/107/46/19856.short)

2. "Mechanical force and cytoplasmic Ca2+ activate yeast TRPY1 in parallel"

(http://www.springerlink.com/content/xg2q0601j73q1r31/)