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Team:Weimar-Heidelberg Arts/Project/Bacteria Game
From 2010.igem.org
"...to be inserted here."
Lorenz Adlung, Andreas Beyer, Matthias Breuer, Professor Ursula Damm
Product Description
In our game, we are not only creators of the lands and territories, but we are also creators of species that live there. In our game, synthetically optimized organisms meet their natural ancestors. Players may observe throughout several generations how this encounter develops. The appropriate selection of barriers, bridges and fortifications makes it possible to individually influence the events. On the basis of their respective colours, one can recognize which bacteria live longest and which bacteria strains move fastest. All the time, it is up to the players if they prefer to build pretty landscapes or raise lissom bacteria which compete against each other in special arenas.
Setting
A culture dish is the habitat and arena for the bacteria, consisting of coloured nutritious agar on the one hand, and transparent liquid agar on the other hand. In the liquid agar (the “oceans”), the bacteria move quickly; in the viscous food (the “continents”) they act more statically. Spatially confined from these areas, there are “fortresses” with gates and bridges. By means of a pipette and samples from various bacteria strains, this miniature world may come alive.
Some of the bacteria are wild (wild type E. coli), others rather not - in fact, they are even very disciplined and (mostly) do what they are programmed to do.
The synthetically cultivated bacteria are initially kept in fortresses (forts), separated from the surrounding landscape. Within these fortresses, these bacteria are - behind safety glass and fences - optimized as a predator-and-prey system - potent and highly efficient agents. Everything unimportant is kept away from them, their world only consists of hunting and eating to survive. The predator starves to death if there is no prey. Around the fortress extend varied landscapes which are inhabited by “indigenous” wild bacteria. Some of those can be discriminated by their pigment colors.
Normally, the Wild and the Civilized live on separate continents. We – the creators of this world - may now open the gates of the fortress / the borders of the continents.
What will happen when both meet?
Will the hunters have advantages compared with their peaceful conspecifics? What will happen when prey meets peaceful bacteria. Who will consolidate their future? How colorful will this future be?
By transferring the bacteria to new culture dishes with new fortresses and territories again and again, the further development of the bacteria may be modified and diversified.
Technical Description
Included is everything you need to start instantly:
- Petri dishes
- Bacteria starter set (bacteria culture, agar, toothpicks)
- 2 Game scenarios
- Different Game objects (barriers, forts)
Use the agar to build different landscapes and as a nutrient for your creatures. Inoculate your team on the agar and watch the game begin. Use the included game objects to evolve your team.
The concept of the game is based on the ability of some harmless wild-type bacteria to swim in soft media. Swimming enables the microbes to consume further nutrients if those in their vicinity are already consumed. All bacteria try to get away from the starting point as fast as possible to access fresh media. This mechanism can be employed for a game set-up. Selection and culturing of best swimmers leads to propagation of ideal swimming characteristics, which is why training may help gain a competitive edge. These bacteria can easily be stored in the fridge along with the supplied materials without any risk. The showdown competition is run by synthetic bacteria. Predators and prey communicate and regulate each other's density. Via molecular signals, the predator cells kill the prey while living prey rescues predators. The diverse and colorful crowd surrounding the spectacle was genetically engineered to carry different pigments, which was appreciated at the iGEM competition in 2009.
