1 00:00:08,266 --> 00:00:09,516 >> Sally: Hey Dude, look who's here. 2 00:00:09,516 --> 00:00:11,806 It's my friend Izzy the iGEMer. 3 00:00:11,886 --> 00:00:12,606 She just stopped by for a visit. 4 00:00:13,606 --> 00:00:13,976 >> Dude: Whoa! 5 00:00:13,976 --> 00:00:15,996 I've never met a real iGEMer before! 6 00:00:16,206 --> 00:00:17,886 >> Izzy: Hey Dude, great to meet you. 7 00:00:18,226 --> 00:00:21,086 >> Sally: I need to split some cells in the tissue culture room, 8 00:00:21,396 --> 00:00:23,066 but I thought that you and Izzy could chat. 9 00:00:23,186 --> 00:00:26,016 Maybe she could tell you a bit about her project? 10 00:00:26,016 --> 00:00:27,266 >> Dude: Awesome! 11 00:00:27,686 --> 00:00:28,626 >> Dude: So what was your iGEM project? 12 00:00:30,076 --> 00:00:33,206 >> Izzy: Well we tried to engineer a bacterial arsenic detector. 13 00:00:33,486 --> 00:00:34,036 >> Dude: A what? 14 00:00:34,366 --> 00:00:38,156 >> Izzy: A bacterial cell that could tell us when arsenic is present in water. 15 00:00:38,436 --> 00:00:42,486 >> Izzy: See arsenic contamination in drinking water is a big problem 16 00:00:42,486 --> 00:00:44,876 for people living in Bangladesh and West Bengal. 17 00:00:45,176 --> 00:00:48,746 And since there's no easy way to know if arsenic is in the water, 18 00:00:49,106 --> 00:00:52,706 people there have been drinking contaminated water and getting sick . 19 00:00:53,006 --> 00:00:56,116 So we wanted to engineer a biological system 20 00:00:56,116 --> 00:00:59,016 that people can use to test their water for arsenic. 21 00:00:59,016 --> 00:01:00,976 >> Dude: I had no idea this was such a problem! 22 00:01:01,006 --> 00:01:02,525 What a great project to work on. 23 00:01:02,525 --> 00:01:03,536 How does your system work? 24 00:01:03,686 --> 00:01:03,636 >> Izzy: Well our goal or the system specification as engineers call it was 25 00:01:08,636 --> 00:01:13,896 to have people mix a little of their drinking water, with a culture of bacteria and know 26 00:01:13,896 --> 00:01:17,045 that there's arsenic contamination if the liquid changes color. 27 00:01:17,146 --> 00:01:18,036 >> Dude: Awesome!. 28 00:01:18,146 --> 00:01:20,386 But how did you get a bacteria to do that? 29 00:01:20,386 --> 00:01:23,286 I'm still trying to figure how to make my bacterial balloon work! 30 00:01:23,286 --> 00:01:26,556 >> Izzy: Well like all engineers, we used abstraction to help us. 31 00:01:26,776 --> 00:01:27,556 Let's take a look. 32 00:01:27,956 --> 00:01:31,696 >> Izzy: We knew we needed to build a system that could take as input arsenic 33 00:01:31,696 --> 00:01:33,706 and produce as output a change in the color. 34 00:01:33,926 --> 00:01:37,176 >> Izzy: So first, we compiled our system into devices. 35 00:01:37,336 --> 00:01:41,646 We needed one device that could detect arsenic and produce a signal. 36 00:01:41,856 --> 00:01:50,056 We called this our arsenic sensor and gave it a part number, BBA J33201. 37 00:01:50,056 --> 00:01:54,966 And we needed a second device that could produce a color when it got the signal 38 00:01:54,966 --> 00:01:58,146 from our arsenic sensor that there's arsenic around. 39 00:01:58,515 --> 00:02:03,506 We called this color reporter BBA J33202. 40 00:02:03,506 --> 00:02:04,636 >> Dude: I don't get it. 41 00:02:04,636 --> 00:02:06,266 Why are you using two devices? 42 00:02:06,376 --> 00:02:09,606 Wouldn't it be way easier to make just one: arsenic in and color out? 43 00:02:09,606 --> 00:02:12,446 >> Izzy: Well you could do it that way. 44 00:02:12,946 --> 00:02:15,496 But then the only thing that the device could be used for is to report 45 00:02:15,496 --> 00:02:17,266 on arsenic contamination with color. 46 00:02:17,416 --> 00:02:21,266 By splitting the system into two devices, a sensor and a reporter, 47 00:02:21,516 --> 00:02:25,276 we hope future iGEM teams can use one or the other for new projects. 48 00:02:25,426 --> 00:02:25,966 >> Dude: How? 49 00:02:26,256 --> 00:02:31,136 >> Sally: Well a team could connect the arsenic sensor device to a different reporter device 50 00:02:31,246 --> 00:02:33,836 that say, produces light instead of color. 51 00:02:33,836 --> 00:02:37,856 Or a team could build a new system that detects say, mercury contamination, 52 00:02:37,856 --> 00:02:40,726 and then produces a color as a response. 53 00:02:40,876 --> 00:02:42,766 >> Izzy: Yep, we designed our system 54 00:02:42,766 --> 00:02:46,126 so that people can more easily reuse and build on our work! 55 00:02:46,746 --> 00:02:47,946 >> Dude: Oh I get it! 56 00:02:48,196 --> 00:02:51,896 Maybe I could connect your arsenic sensor device to my balloon-making device! 57 00:02:52,406 --> 00:02:53,266 >> Izzy: Exactly! 58 00:02:53,886 --> 00:02:55,216 >> Dude: But shouldn't I know a little more 59 00:02:55,216 --> 00:02:59,506 about how the arsenic sensor works before I just hook it up to by balloon making device? 60 00:02:59,836 --> 00:03:04,576 Sally got kinda upset last time I didn't' stop the balloons from growing and growing... 61 00:03:05,066 --> 00:03:08,896 >> Izzy: That's why we entered both devices into the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. 62 00:03:10,176 --> 00:03:13,296 We also documented our project online at the iGEM wiki to make it easier 63 00:03:13,296 --> 00:03:14,516 for others to build upon our work. 64 00:03:14,516 --> 00:03:17,566 >> Sally: The goal is that eventually, for each device in the Registry, 65 00:03:17,596 --> 00:03:21,376 there will be a datasheet available that summarizes all the relevant information 66 00:03:21,376 --> 00:03:24,016 about that device so that you know how to use it 67 00:03:24,016 --> 00:03:26,956 in a higher level system like the arsenic detector. 68 00:03:27,106 --> 00:03:31,186 >> Dude: You mean just like this old datasheet I found for this a 7404 hex inverter chip? 69 00:03:31,596 --> 00:03:31,946 >> Sally: Yep. 70 00:03:32,055 --> 00:03:35,356 But I'm afraid there's still a lot of work to do before all the parts 71 00:03:35,356 --> 00:03:37,886 and devices in the Registry have datasheets. 72 00:03:38,055 --> 00:03:38,596 >> Dude: Great! 73 00:03:38,896 --> 00:03:40,316 Lots of work to do. 74 00:03:40,736 --> 00:03:41,716 Let's get started!