Inducible promoters to sense small molecules in surrounding environment
We defined a new device --- Small Molecule Sensor. By packaging inducible promoters and their activators/repressors, these devices can detect the existence of inducers such as arabinose and IPTG.
Some of the sensors are very well characterized. Figure on the right is the salicylate sensor, we use it as one example of the sensors.(Learn more about the salicylate sensor)
Different promoters are used to drive the expression of T7ptag and SupD tRNA to make an AND Gate. It really needs a great amount of work in order to find one qualified AND Gate out of tens of AND Gates. The figure on the right is the best AND Gate we achieved in the summer. This part is also well characterized. Click here to see.