E. lemming is the 2010 iGEM project of ETH Zurich. We intend to control movement of a single E. coli bacterium by hijacking chemotaxis and monitoring of position and direction of the bacterium by image processing algorithms, which are linked to a controller device. Find out more by watching an animation of the project overview!
By coupling chemotactic receptor proteins to a novel synthetic light-sensitive spatial localization system, their activity can be controlled reversibly. To find out more about our project on the molecular level, watch an animation here.
Tumbling / directed flagellar movement rates are monitored by image processing algorithms, which are linked to the light-pulse generator. This means that E. coli tumbling is induced or suppressed simply by pressing a light switch! Click here to found out more!
Informations regarding the biological implementation and an overview about the conducted wet laboratory experiments can be found in this section.
Molecular modeling supports analysis of biological systems since the advent of synthetic biology. Find out, how for E. lemming, this not only supported wet laboratory experiments by providing time and effort alleviating parameter selection, but also provided a test bench for the information processing part.
Implementation of a comprehensive information processing workflow for controlling E. lemming was achieved by combination of microscopy, image processing, cell detection and a controller. Find out more about how this not only created E. lemming but also created a new application for synthetic biology: Gaming!
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