UC San Diego Researchers Synchronize Blinking Genetic Clocks?

Researchers at UC San Diego who last year genetically engineered bacteria to keep track of time by turning on and off fluorescent proteins within their cells have taken another step toward the construction of a programmable genetic sensor. The scientists recently synchronized these bacterial 'genetic clocks' to blink in unison and engineered the bacterial genes to alter their blinking rates when environmental conditions change. Their latest achievement is a crucial step in creating genetic sensors that might one day provide humans with advance information about temperature, poisons and other potential hazards in the environment by monitoring changes in the bacterium's blinking rates. A video showing the UCSD team's blinking genetic clocks can be seen here . 'Programming living cells is one defining goal of the new field of synthetic biology,' said Jeff Hasty, associate professor of biology and bioengineering at UCSD who headed the research team with Lev Tsimring, associate director of UCSD's BioCircuits Institute. Tal Danino (foreground), Octavio Mondragon (left to right), Lev Tsimring and Jeff Hasty synchronized the genetic clocks in bacteria. (Credit: UCSD) ?Dr. Hasty and colleagues have used powerful genetic tools, backed by decades of detailed knowledge of bacterial processes, to create a system that delivers on the promise of synthetic biology - to engineer living organisms to meet pressing societal needs,? said James Anderson, who oversees computational biology grants at the NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences.