Witsies aim for gold with bio-tweet bacteria
- By Wits University
A team of five Witsies will be the only contenders from South Africa at the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) next month, where the team aims to win gold for their ‘Bio-Tweet’ synthetic biology ‘machine’.
Synthetic biology focuses on the creation of biological ‘machines’, designed according to engineering principles but made out of biological components such as DNA and proteins. The iGEM competition requires that these machines have a new and useful function.
“We have tried to emulate the concept of a social communication network, such as Facebook or Twitter, but in bacteria,” explains team member, Ezio Fok (BSc (Microbiology, Biotechnology & Human Physiology 2011). “We have designed bacteria to carry messages within a network, passing the information on to other bacteria, who can then respond by performing a task or signalling to the user what type of information has been received.”
This type of technology, which the team has dubbed “Bio-tweet”, will eventually allow for the creation of a complex network of information exchange over space and time between bacteria, similar to a computer network. There are myriad potential uses for such a network in medicine, environmental remediation, and industry.
The multidisciplinary team comprises students from the health sciences, science and engineering faculties, in association with the synthetic biology research division of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Wits-CSIR team members include Ezio Fok, Gloria Hlongwane (BSc (Microbiology, Biotechnology & Chemistry) 2011), Natasia Kruger (BSc (Microbiology & Biotechnology) 2011), Bradley Marques (BEngSci (BME) 2010) and Sasha Reznichenko.
The team leaves for Amsterdam on 29 September 2011 for the European semi-finals. If selected, they compete in the global finals at MIT in Boston, USA, in December.
Wits’ involvement in iGEM began last year, when the University and the CSIR sent the first team from Africa to participate. The Wits-CSIR team won bronze in the finals at MIT.
Source: Wits Communications