Workshops

Our goal is to make biotechnology accessible to everyone, which is why we offer open workshops for all individuals who are interested. We invite you to stay updated and find out about our upcoming workshops. Join us as we explore the fascinating world of biotechnology together!

Bacterial

Photography

Participate in our workshop to gain hands-on lab experience in synthetic biology. You'll have the opportunity to genetically modify bacteria, enabling them to respond to various light wavelengths. As a result, you'll be able to "print" your very own picture. Immerse yourself in the world of synthetic biology and create stunning visuals during this engaging workshop.

Coming again in the future!

Stay tuned!

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Overview of the Workshop:

Join us for a one-day workshop during which you will learn basic molecular biology and genetic modification techniques. The resulting experiment will enable you to print out your favorite photo using E. coli bacteria!

During this workshop you will:

  • learn safety principles in the lab

  • practice pipetting techniques

  • learn the theory behind bacterial transformation and optogenetics

  • genetically modify E. coli bacteria

  1. Pipetting Introduction.

Pipetting is a crucial technique for use in biology labs. In this workshop, we will use pipettes to handle volumes precisely. If you have no background in pipetting: do not worry - you will be introduced to this essential lab technique.

2. Transfer DNA plasmid into the E. coli bacteria to make the photography system

To make the photography system, we will transform e.Coli with the following optogenetic circuit:

3. Incubate & grow the engineered bacteria with a projector

Bacteria will be placed in the custom incubator, with an embedded projector that projects an image of choice on the bacterial colony. Our engineered bacteria will respond to the different wavelengths of light using the aforementioned optogenetic circuit. As a result, the bacteria will produce pigments of different colors, creating an image on the plate.

4. Final image produced by the bacteria

The bacteria will produce the final image you designed. Some examples from the source publication are shown below:

Source Publication for the Workshop:

Fernandez-Rodriguez, Jesus, et al. "Engineering RGB color vision into Escherichia coli." Nature chemical biology 13.7 (2017): 706-708. https://www.nature.com/articles/nchembio.2390