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From 2012.igem.org

Brainstorming

• Mood lighting:
• Bacterial PCB:
• Inversion based devices:
• Speakoli:
• Piezoelectric mechanosensor:
• DNA localized protease signalling:
• Fire retardant biofilm:
• Tunable biosensor:
• Recombination based devices:
• Soil enrichment: One of the key issues facing the world in the 21st century is an increasingly strained water supply. From aquifer depletion in many wet areas, to encroaching desertification in drier areas, the accessibility of fresh water for drinking and food production will become a considerable point of strain for many countries in the coming years.

The idea behind this potential project was to introduce bacteria that produce bacterial cellulose into the soil of dry areas. Cellulose is a humectant, a substance which absorbs water from its surroundings and which releases it slowly upon drying of the surrounding environment. Hygroscopic polymers are already used in the growth of crops in dry soils, allowing crop growth in many areas where growth was originally unfeasible. Use of synthetic biology to create a more intelligent and environmentally friendly system could have a large impact in the world of low water agriculture.

It has the potential to be highly modular in design. In particular, the following ideas could be implemented:

• Chemotaxis towards roots.

• 'Intellegent' production of cellulose upon prediction of drought conditions.

• Creation of an appropriate cellulose network within the soil.

• Appropriate termination of biosynthesis upon rainfall.

• Possible design of symbiotic relationship between plant and bacteria - provision of raw materials for bacterial cellulose by plant.

Bacterial cellulose network may also help block soil erosion, along with the increased water content of the soil.

Decided that project too closely resembles a combination of the Imperial 2011 project and the Osaka 2010 project.