Team:Glasgow/Interlab
Interlab Study
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Overview
Our team were keen to use this opportunity to improve education of synthetic biology and raise public awareness of the facts. It was this mind set that led us to develop our ‘Friend in the Dark’, Furri-lux. Furri-lux is a stuffed toy designed to look like a “friendly monster” – he’s the good monster that scares away the bad monsters under the bed!
However, the real magic happens on the inside…
Material
Our bioluminescent bacteria will live in a broth suspension, which will be housed in a vessel made from poly(methyl methacrylate). PMMA was chosen as it would be sturdy enough so that if it were accidentally dropped or struck, it would prevent the release of the bacteria, and it’s transparent enough to allow the UV-A rays to reach them, and their bioluminescence to shine out.
* The model was designed using a CAD program called Solidworks, then 3D printed using VeroGrey material. More information on VeroGrey can be found at: http://www.buildparts.com/materials/verogrey. *
Full instructions would be provided with the toy, for adults as well as in the form of bedtime stories for the children, to help them learn how to look after their pet and learn about the science in a way they would understand.
Waste Removal
Operation
The main section of the container will protrude from Furri-lux’s chest/stomach. Below this is a tap that can be turned to allow the used broth to drop out of the toy, then into the toilet to be flushed away. It was important that the floor of the main section was sloped to allow the broth to drop out as easily as possible.
Safety
The handle of the tap is removable so that the parents can keep it, thus preventing curious and mischievous children from opening it themselves causing a release of the bacteria. We have also simulated an antibacterial filter covering the bottom of the container
Feeding
Operation
Above the main visualisation chamber is a tube that rises up to Furri-lux’s mouth, where fresh broth can be poured in. New broth would need to be poured in every morning, and it’s assumed that there would be enough bacteria residing on the sides of the container to repopulate the broth during the day while the child is at nursery or school.
Safety
Inside this tube is a one-way valve, so that the fresh broth can easily reach the bacteria, however upon shaking, dropping or inverting, bacteria will not be released.
First Use
Operation
Furri-lux would theoretically come already sterile, with spout bottles of replacement broth (“monster food”), and a glycerol stock of replacement bacteria to be kept in the freezer. Each broth bottle would hold enough broth to half fill the main compartment, leaving room for the bacteria to be sufficiently ventilated. Upon first opening the toy, one of the broth bottles would need to be inoculated with bacteria from the glycerol stocks, and poured into the toy.
Safety
It is important that contamination does not occur during inoculation of the initial broth bottle. Wearing gloves would be recommended for this task, along with the use of sterile toothpicks.
Contamination
Future Considerations
Size
In hindsight, it was thought the toy may be slightly too large to fit comfortably on a child’s windowsill. If mass production were to be considered, a scaled down version of the toy would not affect its functionality as a pet, a light source or an educational tool, but would mean it would be more comfortable on a small ledge, as well as less material being consumed in its production and less broth being needed to fill it, bringing down costs. The larger model is, however, better for demonstrating and displaying the different components.
Alternatives
Sea monkey
“Sea Monkeys” were a very popular novelty pet during the 50s and 60s after their invention by Harold von Braunhut in 1957, and still sell well today. They are a hybrid of different brine shrimp within the Artemia species, named Artemia NYOS, which can exist as eggs in suspended animation for an extremely long time. Once poured into purified salt water they hatch “instantly”.
Pros
Sea Monkeys are large enough to see swimming around once they are fully grown, unlike our bacteria which would remain too small to be visible to the naked eye. They also only need to be feed once every few days, where our bacteria would need to be feed every day. In addition they do not pose any risk to the environment in the event of release, which is something that is theoretically true of our bacteria, however the small risk of mutation or other adverse effect will always be present.
Cons
Sea Monkeys do not require a UVA source, however they do not glow in the dark, which gives an extra element of functionality to our toy.
So yes… Sea Monkeys have a considerable degree of advantage over our product in terms of ease of use and maintenance. There is also the toss-up between whether they glow or are visible individually to the naked eye… but what if we combined them? A future iGEM team idea could be to create glow in the dark Sea Monkeys…!
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