Interfacing gene circuits with microelectronics through engineered population dynamics
The ability to detect the growth of a bacterial colony by monitoring changes in impedance (a measure of resistance) across time reflects the impressive scientific progress connecting bacterial behavior with electrodes via synthetic biology. In a new report, M. Omar Din and a research team at the BioCircuits Institute, department of bioengineering and molecular biology at the University of California, San Diego, U.S., interfaced synthetic biology with microelectronics using engineered population dynamics. They regulated the accumulation of charged metabolites and electrically detected the bacterial response to heavy metals using a population control circuit. During the experiments, the scientists used a synchronized genetic oscillator and obtained an oscillatory impedance profile with engineered bacteria. They miniaturized the array of electrodes to form bacterial integrated circuits and demonstrated their applicability as an interface with genetic circuits. The new approach is now published in Science Advances and will pave the way for advances in...