Team:Amsterdam

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Very recently, there’s been a small shift in the world of synthetic biology. Rather than focus on single organisms - the modus operandi of the biotech industry - researchers are starting to recognize that synthetic ecosystems, consortia of multiple bacterial species, can be used for higher yields, robustness and more diverse purposes. Our goal is to tap into this potential by creating a self-sustaining bio-factory of cyanobacteria - little fellows that need only CO₂ and light - and product-producing E. coli, the general workhorse of the synthetic biology world.

In short: the cyanobacteria will create sugars from CO₂ and sunlight, which it will release and feed to E. coli as a result of our applied synthetic genetic circuits. E. coli will then be engineered to use these sugars to create a product. In our proof-of-concept bio-factory, this product will be fuel. This platform, however, can be expanded to produce any product E. coli can fabricate - medicine, plastics, commodity chemicals - as long as it is fueled by the cyanobacteria that only needs light and CO₂.