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From 2012.igem.org

Programming Cells to Talk Through Light

During the last few decades, chemically regulated genetic systems have been thoroughly developed and analyzed. Though remarkable endeavors were made towards this issue, the disadvantages of chemical regulation remain: the high cost of chemical synthesis, the diffusion limits, the insecurity and the limited choices of chemicals.

Such incommodity calls for a new generation of optogenetics expression systems. Since first demonstrated in 2002, the contributions of optogenetics have been far beyond that of neuroscience due to the fact that light is more controllable, compared with chemicals, to regulate molecular and cellular behavior. However, most optogenetics methods rely on laser, which limits their field application. This summer, Peking iGEM is endeavoring on developing a new luminescence sensor, which is expected to be sensitive to natural light and even bio-luminescence. Based on this ultrasensitive luminescence sensor, we are trying to program cells to talk through light. The light-communication between cells attempts to overcome various limitations of conventional quorum sensing and accomplishes ‘genuine’ self-organization within a population beyond chemical diffusion.