Promoters are upstream sequences that regulate transcription. Promoters are usually short sequences and act as binding sites for a variety of different RNA polymerases. Promoters have different binding affinities based on their sequence and can be characterized in a matter of different ways. Our project looks to measure some of these properties using fluorescence measurements. In our case, we are characterizing promoters that bind to RNA polymerase from the T7 phage. The T7 RNA polymerase binds to its promoter very tightly and produces a high amount of expression. The lac operator is a short sequence that binds to the LacI repressor, which prevents transcription. The LacI protein responds to lactose in the cell. Lactose analogs have been made which are not consumed by E. coli and "turn on" the gene of interest. Our promoters have different affinities to the T7 RNA polymerase and the LacI repressor and therefore have different measurable properties.

And thanks to..

The iGEM team would like to thank the following people for their understanding and help during the competition:
Prof. Marcel Bruchez, Prof. Carrie Doonan, Prof. Emily Drill, Prof. Veronica Hinman, Prof. Jon Jarvik, Prof. Philip LeDuc, Prof. Nathan Urban
Dr. Eric Grotzinger, Dr. Sebastian Stoian, Dr. Christopher Szent-Gyorgyi, Dr. Kalin Vasilev, Dr. Carol Woolford
Charlotte Bartosh , Stephanie Blotner, Ronni Rossman , Saumya Saurabh, Sombeet Sahu