Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Nov 24;438(7067):441-2.
doi: 10.1038/nature04405.

Synthetic biology: engineering Escherichia coli to see light

Anselm Levskaya  1 , Aaron A Chevalier, Jeffrey J Tabor, Zachary Booth Simpson, Laura A Lavery, Matthew Levy, Eric A Davidson, Alexander Scouras, Andrew D Ellington, Edward M Marcotte, Christopher A Voigt
Affiliations

Synthetic biology: engineering Escherichia coli to see light

Anselm Levskaya et al. Nature. .

Abstract

We have designed a bacterial system that is switched between different states by red light. The system consists of a synthetic sensor kinase that allows a lawn of bacteria to function as a biological film, such that the projection of a pattern of light on to the bacteria produces a high-definition (about 100 megapixels per square inch), two-dimensional chemical image. This spatial control of bacterial gene expression could be used to 'print' complex biological materials, for example, and to investigate signalling pathways through precise spatial and temporal control of their phosphorylation steps.

PubMed Disclaimer

MeSH terms