Team:EPF-Lausanne

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Project Abstract

Recent discoveries of photoreceptors in many organisms gave us insights into a possible interest of using light responsive genetic tools in synthetic biology. The final goal of our project is to induce a change in gene expression, more specifically to turn a gene on or off, in a living organism, in response to a light stimulus.

We will use light sensitive DNA binding proteins, or light sensitive proteins that activate DNA binding proteins to transduce a light input into a chosen output, for example reporter genes like GFP, RFP. The genetic circuits allowing us to measure the activity and responsiveness of light sensitive proteins are already designed, whereas the parts and biobricks required to engineer these circuits are still in formation.

If we demonstrate that the light-induced-gene switch tool works in vivo, it would show that easier and faster tools could be used in several fields of biology. It would induce more localized, more precise (time resolution) and drastically faster genetic changes than the current used tools, which will then allow research to evolve even better.

LOV means light, oxygen, and voltage, whereas TAP means tryptophan-activated protein.