Team:HKUST-Rice/TXTL

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Cell-Free Paper-Based TXTL System

DIY Gel imaging system

What is cell free system?

Cell-free system is a platform for in vitro expression of genes. Cell-free system usually comprise of mixture of molecular machinery which will allow transcription and translation of genes to proteins. Compare with whole cell system, a cell-free system is not an organism, thus it is more versatile and can be applied to different media.

Advantages of cell free system chassis

TX-TL cell free system is a safer choice when applying a transgenic devices. Our project mainly due with agriculture business, any contamination of crop could lead to mass food poisoning. Therefore we always put biosafety as our top priority.

We realize that applying any living genetically modified organism into the field, either with or without built-in biosecurity measure, could potentially lead to uncontrolled spreading of the GMO. Life will finds a way. In view of this, we have to choose a chassis without self-replicating ability thus we choose the non-living cell-free system as chassis.

Besides being a safer choice, cell free system allows a more versatile design. Cell-free system get rid of the needs of growth medium that is used to maintain a living organism. This features make cell-free system easy to use and easy to carry.

TXTL system in our project.

In our design, we plan to add the genetically engineered devices, the plasmid containing our biosensors, on a cell-free system on paper as a medium. Soil water sample will be added to this paper-based cell-free system. The paper-based biosensor will then show the result through color changes of paper. In such a devices, it is easy to use and the result is clearly visible to the user.

Result of this system

Coming real soon!!