MindControlBacteria

Mind Controlled Transgene Expression in E. coli

Overview

The goal of this project is to mind-control the expression of a recombinant gene in E. coli using a commercial EEG headset. It takes inspiration from the mind-controlled paramecia (@Genspace) and a recent paper on the mind-controlled transgene expression in mammalian cells (Nature comms.)

Types of control

"Neurofeedback" and "direct control" //expand on the definitions in the Nature comms. paper//

IPTG inducible system

Overview

This approach consists in the control of an open syringe pump using a commercial EEG headset, based on a simple arduino hack that you can find at this website http://frontiernerds.com/brain-hack The open syringe pump is directly controlled by the arduino, and will only add IPTG to the media when a threshold of concentration/meditation is achieved. The IPTG is added (during log phase growth of the E. coli ) to the media: the bacteria will produce GFP and fluoresce depending on your mind state.

Work so far

Wetlab

- Transformed BBa_K731520 (IPTG inducible GTP, composed of the lacI repressor, lac operator and GFP coding sequence)
- Set up O/N culture IPTG+/-

Hardware

Hacked Mindflex headset with Arduino to sniff the data.

Future directions

- Get a better Headset (with this one very low noise/signal ration)
- Complete the genetic circuit for optogenetical mind-control of trangene expression