New BioBricks for iridescent biosensors and colour from the Cambridge iGEM2011 team.
The Cambridge iGEM2011 team worked with bionanophotonic systems - experimenting with the use of reflectin proteins from squid, that can assemble into photonic structures with striking iridescence.
They produced BioBrick compatible forms of reflectin, expressed and purified the proteins, and produced thin films with bright and dynamic reflectance properties (see right). The films responded in fractions of a second to physical changes, such as humidity-induced film swelling. Reflectin colours can be rapidly altered by changes in phosphorylation state in squido.
Reflectins form a new class of genetic markers and biosensors with radically improved properties and huge potential.
The team also produced improved software for Gibson Assembly, with an interface to sequence libraries (including the iGEM Registry), graphical construction tool and automated PDF output of oligo design and experimental protocol.
For more information see: http://2011.igem.org/Team:Cambridge