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Future applications

The device we aim to develop can have a wide range of applications, due to its inherent modularity. A particular application which we will consider during our iGEM project is the use of the system within the gastrointestinal tract. It is known that disturbances within the immune system in the intestines are associated with many different pathologies, such as Crohn’s disease and intestinal cancer. Moreover, aptamers for the signaling molecules of the immune system, cytokines, have been examined within the scientific community. In the future, we hope the system could thus be used to detect immunological disturbances within the intestines and serve as a means of diagnosing certain pathologies. The application in the gastrointestinal tract isn't limited to human disease only; Q fever, a local problem could benefit from earlier detection with our system as well. Furthermore, the system can be used to create a microfluidic device, with which multiple biomarkers can be tested at once. When used on the field, the system could release pesticides only when it senses particular fungi.

Future prospects

If the system is proven to be stable, a TEV-protease can be used to release transcription factors in the presence of specific protein. TEV-proteases cleave a specific amino acid sequence, which we use to connect a transcription factor to a second OmpX . When the transcription factor is cleaved, it can start a signaling cascade. The advantage of TEV-protease is that one has a wide range of uses, since it can activate genes. This adaptability, however, comes at a cost; the process reacts a bit slower than the split luciferase approach.