Team:Tokyo Tech/Description
Project Description
1.The Prisoner’s Dilemma
The aim of this project is to recreate the game of the prisoner's dilemma, using E. coli. The reason we started this project is that we were astounded by the idea of such a simple organism like E. coli, being able to demonstrate such a sophisticated game theory like the prisoner’s dilemma. Although computational simulations of the prisoner's dilemma game have already been done repeatedly, by using E. coli as the ‘prisoners,’ we will be able to provide new aspects to this game. First of all, we will be able to blend the essence of population dynamics among the bacterial consortia, into the game. We will also be able to demonstrate the dilemma surrounding the issues of synthetic biology, through the “Policy and Practice” part of our project.
2.Cherry Blossoms
We will genetically engineer two types of E. coli (the “Leader Coli”, and the “Flower Petal Coli”) to demonstrate the process from when the cherry blossoms bloom till when they fall. The “Leader Coli” will react and move towards the attractant that we will artificially drop on the plate. After they move, they will secrete AHL. When the temperature rises, pink fluorescent protein coding genes in the “Flower Petal Coli” will be expressed. This is meant to be the blooming process. The “Flower Petal Coli” will receive AHL and move towards the “Leader Coli.” This is meant to be the falling process. By making fluorescent protein synthesis and cell-cell communication visible, we aim to arouse people’s interest in synthetic biology. We also want to promote Japanese cherry blossoms to the world.