Project Summary

Our team was interested in advancing bacterial computing by harnessing the parallel processing capabilities of E. coli to tackle the SAT problem from a biological perspective. The SAT problem was the first mathematical problem proven to be among a class of computationally challenging problems called NP-complete. Problems of this class exceed modern computer limitations because as the problems grow in size, the time it takes computers to solve these problems increases exponentially. The SAT problem groups true-false variables into logical clauses linked together to form decision problems. The task is to assign true or false to each variable in such a way that the problem is satisfied and reports true.

We constructed logical clauses of a SAT problem by designing a DNA sequence that includes combinations of 5-base pair codons that represent different variables. These logical clauses are located directly upstream of a reporter gene so that the original sequence is out of frame. In order to express the reporter, we need suppressor tRNAs to fix the frameshift created by these 5-base pair codons. We engineered these suppressor 5-base pair anticodon tRNAs to represent the corresponding inputs for our variables. If a tRNA suppresses a mutation and a problem is satisfied, then the reporter gene will be expressed.

Our project extends the understanding of synthetic biology through educational surveys and models. Our team collaborated with psychology students to receive public opinion of synthetic biology based on provided summaries of the field. Through paper and online surveys, these students collected and analyzed responses to see how individual knowledge of the field affects support of its inclusion in high school curriculums. The descriptions of the field that were provided corresponded with the prior knowledge reported by the participants. We also designed and constructed physical models of our 5 nucleotide anticodon tRNAs to understand and communicate their functions.

Medal Criteria

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