Team:HZAU-China/Project/mrcell

Mixed-Reality CellBidirectional coupling between real and virtual bio-oscillators

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  • E-oscillators
  • Regulation to oscillator
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MR. Cell

MR. Cell, a half-real and half-virtual life form, is composed of two parts, the real part in E. coli and the virtual part in computer. These two parts interact with each other through the interface hardware and will become coupled into a unified whole, a mixed-reality state.

Real part
A genetic oscillator, representing the life activity, was constructed in E.coli as the real part. Besides, a light control system associated with the oscillator was adopted to connect the real part to computer. We can regulate the oscillator by using the light intensity controlled by computer.

Virtual part
Mixed-reality states occur only when a virtual and a real system are sufficiently similar. Therefore, according to the mechanism of the genetic oscillator, we simulated an e-oscillator in a computer as the virtual counterpart. In addition, the state of e-oscillator could be modulated through the parameter adjustment.

Interface device
The two-way interface device is composed of Light Receiving part and Light Controlling part. For the former part, cells were cultivated on a microfluidic chip and observed by fluorescence microscope; for the latter part, light (LED beads) can be controlled by a computer through a Single-Chip Microcomputer.

The synchronous interreality system—MR.Cell

At the beginning, the two bio-oscillators, genetic oscillator and e-oscillator, work independently in a dual-reality state. When connected by the interface devices, the two parts begin to interact with each other. The state of the genetic oscillator in E. coli cultured on a microfluidic chip would be observed through a fluorescence microscope and transmitted into the computer. The computer would analyze and process the received fluorescent data and adjust the state of the e-oscillator through parameter modifications. In the meanwhile, based on its own state, the e-oscillator in the computer could also regulate the state of the genetic oscillator through LED light intensity. The LED is controlled by a single-chip microcomputer that is linked to the simulating computer. Following the information processing cycle, the real and virtual parts interact with each other and become coupled eventually.

Besides, considering the complexity and difficulty of the system, we took three stages to achieve our final goal, MR. Cell. At the first stage, we simulated two e-oscillators, which are of similar characteristics but have different initial states. They were successfully coupled. Next stage, an LED lamp was used to replace the genetic oscillator in E. coli to interact and couple with the e-oscillator in the computer simulation. They were successfully coupled. The final stage, our ultimate goal, is to complete the MR. Cell, the two parts of which could synchronize and couple strongly.

© 2015 Huazhong Agricultural University iGEM Team. All rights reserved.

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