2005 intercollegiate Genetically Engineered Machine competition

Posted on December 4, 2005  Comments (2)

Davidson College: Kristen DeCelle 2006 and Andrew Drysdale 2007

2005 Intercollegiate Genetically Engineered Machine Competition. Thirteen schools participated in the 2005 Intercollegiate Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM 2005): Berkeley, Caltech, Cambridge, Davidson, ETH Zurich, Harvard, MIT, Oklahoma, Penn State, Princeton, Toronto, UCSF, and UT Austin. Learn about and sign up for the 2006 competition.

Photo of Davidson College students: Kristen DeCelle ’06 and Andrew Drysdale ’07. Davidson Students “Ace” Presentation at MIT Synthetic Biology Competition.

The Davidson team-“The Synth-Aces,” a word play on enzymes called synthases-presented their design of a genetically-engineered, E. coli-based “digital decoder.” The device detects which combination of three common chemicals (with eight combinations possible) is present, and then displays a human-readable number that glows in the dark. The number is produced by genetically customized bacteria that grow in a familiar pattern of a digital numeric display. The resulting readouts of “0” through “7” correspond to the specific chemical combination detected in solution. One real world application of a decoder device might be to monitor water for contaminants or toxins.

2 Responses to “2005 intercollegiate Genetically Engineered Machine competition”

  1. Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » Blog Archive » Adventures in Synthetic Biology
    December 4th, 2005 @ 12:15 pm

    […] 2005 Intercollegiate Genetically Engineered Machine Competition […]

  2. Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog » Blog Archive » Genetically Engineered Machines Competition
    July 14th, 2006 @ 1:00 pm

    […] Previous post on 2005 intercollegiate Genetically Engineered Machine competition – looking at Davidson College students, where I graduated – John. While Dad graduated from Princeton […]

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