Science

Cyborg yeast is out to get you

You will be terminated

Cyborg yeast is out to get you

Scientists have succeeded in creating an artificial feedback loop between a computer and yeast. Algorithmic programs on the computer controlled flashes of light to start and stop gene expression, thus regulating how much protein was produced. This innovative technique could possibly be used in industry to control production of biofuel by microbes.

The computer, with its algorithmic wizardry, analyses the fluorescence.

The beauty of this technique lies in its simplicity, in contrast to the incredibly complicated biochemical pathways it couldpotentially control.

Phytochrome, a molecule that detects light, has active and inactive forms in red and deep red light respectively. Upon becoming active, it can set off gene expression cascades to produce a desired protein.

The level of gene expression can then be measured through the amount of fluorescence a reporter molecule emits in the presence of the desired protein.

The computer, with its algorithmic wizardry, analyses the fluorescence. Once a threshold level of protein expression has been reached, deep red light is fired back to the yeast, the phytochromes are turned into their biologically inactive forms and the circuit is turned off.

It is an important process already utilised by biochemical pathways in cells

Feedback control allows for precise regulation of these artificial circuits; it is an important process already utilised by biochemical pathways in cells, famously in the krebs cycle and in engineering. However, in silico feedback control is the first time science has managed to transcend the communication barrier between computer and cell.

The implications of synthetic circuitry are wide; in silico feedback could be used to create biosensors to regulate the level of by-products generated from manipulated metabolic pathways. It could be utilised within biofuel and small molecule drug production to allow for tight control of yield production.

Whilst it is an exciting step forward, itis just a small part of the technical breakthroughs that will be needed to generate complex synthetic biological circuits.

DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2018

Read more

How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

News

How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

Last month, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) ruled that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010), the definition of a woman is based on biological sex.  The case brought before the court, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, asked if transgender women should be included

By Oscar Mitcham and Isabella Duchovny
College opens Imperial Global India in Bengaluru

News

College opens Imperial Global India in Bengaluru

Imperial College London has launched its fourth global hub in Bengaluru. The hub will host research programmes with Indian partners, focusing on some of “the world’s most pressing challenges in areas such as climate change and sustainability, food and water security, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).” Launched at the Science

By Mohammad Majlisi