Page 6 - Drew Endy News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

In the summer of 2009, a team of Cambridge University undergraduates built seven strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli, one in each color of the rainbow. Red and orange carotenoid pigments were produced by inserting genes from plant pathogen Pantoea ananatis; a cluster of genes from Chromobacterium violaceum were likewise modified to yield green and purple. The students’ technicolor creations, dubbed “E. chromi” in reference to the organisms’ scientific name, won the Cambridge team the grand prize at that year’s International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition, in which high-school and college students engineer biology. The students’ goals were not merely chromatic. Instead, they were building parts for biological machines. They engineered the genes into standardized forms called BioBricks: pieces of DNA that, like genetic Legos, are designed to be mixed and matched at will. Several thousand of these BioBricks, fulfilling various functions, are

United statesNew yorkNew york universityUnited kingdomEnvironmental protection agencyDistrict of columbiaSan franciscoSophia roosthAlexandra daisy ginsbergJ benjamin hurlbutDrew endyKristala pratherJamesj collinsMeredith pattersonSheila jasanoffViktor rydberg christmas