Team:SF Bay Area DIYBio

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BioSunBlock - SunScreen Evolved!

We are very concerned about bacteria getting sunburned and skin cancer (just joking). BUT we are going to make e.coli bacteria create mycosporine.

Genetic Engineering is arguably the greatest leap forward in human understanding and manipulation of nature in the whole history of mankind, above and greater than the invention of fire and the wheel combined. This project makes use of Genetic Engineering to force a bacteria to create a compound that it would never make and then use the tools of evolution to enhance that ability.

E.coli normally live in the human gut (large intestine) and thus in total darkness. We will to inject several modified genes so that e.coli are tolerant of UV (Ultra Violet Light). One of the possible chemical compounds that can make the bacteria tolerant to uv is Mycosporine. However that is a compound and DNA is only good at making proteins, therefore we need to have the bacteria create proteins and enzymes that modify the proteins to become compounds.

After designing the process, we want to make it better, so we will employ “directed evolution” to make the process better. We think that if we stress the bacteria with UV that they will start to evolve better and more efficient mechanisms to protect themselves from UV.

So that is our project, start some bacteria making sunscreen then subject them to a lot of sunshine and they will evolve to make more and better sunscreen.