Utilizing synthetic biology to engineer bacteria that fabricate their own environmental life-support prosthesis
Abstract
Proposal for ONR FOA 15-0006 Utilizing synthetic biology to engineer bacteria that fabricate their own environmental life-support prosthesis Warren C. Ruder Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Abstract: We propose to engineer bacteria with a heritable and evolvable capacity to fabricate a materials-based interface for the purpose of communicating with a life-support prosthesis (i.e., a mobile bioreactor). Our complete system will initially serve as a research platform for the rapid development of information exchange between engineered living cells and non-living materials systems. Ultimately, it will provide a proof-of-concept that living cells can be engineered to be responsible for the construction of their own life-support systems. An important goal of synthetic biology is the creation of robust synthetic systems capable of surviving outside the laboratory. A significant thrust in the field is the development of robust species and strains with phenotypes that could enable environmental deployment for biosensing and bioprocessing in the field. Borrowing inspiration from our own species, we note that humans are perhaps the most environmentally adaptable species, yet despite our rather fragile bodies, our innate information processing and adaptive circuitry has allowed us to build prosthetic life-support systems. These systems enable our species to access strategically important extreme environments, including polar regions and the deep sea (e.g., sailors use the life-support systems aboard submarines). We will mimic our own construction of life-support systems by engineering laboratory strains with the synthetic circuitry necessary to command and control their own environmental life-support systems. Furthermore, we propose to train these cells to fabricate a part of this prosthesis: a materials-based communication interface. We will demonstrate that cells can be engineered to be increasingly responsible for the construction of their own life-support systems. Broadly, we will show that instead of typical approaches that borrow synthetic gene parts and corresponding phenotypes from other species, we can engineer microbes to create external machinery in order to adapt to new tasks in new environments. Additionally, our proposed cell-fabricated interface will be a new mechano-magnetic communication channel. Furthermore, unlike other efforts to merge robotics and synthetic biology, we will engineer bacteria to be the primary command-and-control information processors and users of mobile robotic prostheses. This approach stands in contrast to those that focus on designing cells to be deployable sensor suites that add abilities to existing robotic systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512502
Entities
People
- Warren C Ruder
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- Virginia Tech