Team:Lethbridge/Hardware
Our hardware consists of a photobioreactor and a fluorometer. Our current prototype consists of a mason jar with LED lights in the lid wired to a breadboard and arduino. The photobioreactor would allow our microalgae to absorb the correct wavelengths of light to optimize growth and therefore insulin production.
Our fluorometer was built in order to aid the standardization of our system. As our insulin is expressed with a red fluorescent protein, we hope to use this as a reporter for our expression in microalgae. As such, if we are to propose a DIY photobioreactor for growing microalgae, it is fitting that we would also create a DIY fluorometer. As well, in the future we hope to implement our fluorometer in the Opentrons OT2 robot for use in our system. This will help future work done by our team in respect to detecting protein expression.
How to build the photobioreactor
Start with a 5V and ground wire and an arduino
Then put the 5V wire in the positive section of the breadboard and the ground wire in the negative section.
Place the red and blue LED's in the lid
Connect the positive leads to wires and then do the same with the negative.
Wire the lights and resistors in a series.
Connect the red and the blue lights to the modulated power source in the arduino.
Finished Product
Our final results showed that the lights were able to turn on, providing a light source for any microalgae that would be placed in the mason jar. However, due to time constraints we were unable to compare the growth of the microalgae when compared to light under natural light conditions. We hope to explore this more in the future.
How to make a fluorometer
| PLA 3D Printing Plastic for Filter Fluorometer (~35g) | Amazon.com |
| 9V Battery (x2) | Amazon.com |
| Disposable Fluorometer Cuvette or Test Tube | Amazon.com |
| Etekcity MU600 Digital Multimeter | Amazon.com |
| Alligator Leads, 10 Pack | Amazon.com |
| Cadmium Sulfide Photocell/Photoresistor, # 2761657 | Amazon.com |
| LED, High Emission, 465 nm (Blue), #LED465E | Amazon.com |
| Colourless filter | Amazon.com |
| Resistor, 280Ωor 470Ω , ¼ Watt, #69078 | Amazon.com |
| Resistor, 10 k, ¼ Watt, #691104 | Amazon.com |
Start with a 5V and ground wire and an arduino.
Then put the 5V wire in the positive section of the breadboard and the ground wire in the negative section.
Attach one side of the Resistor 10k part to the positive end and also to the shorter end of the photocell (sensor). (Red wire)
Then attach on the other side of the Resistor 10k part to the negative end and also to the longer end of the photocell (sensor). (Orange wire)
Attach the shorter side of the LED to the negative end of the breadboard. And the ground wire in the positive end. (Brown wire)
Then attach the longer side of the LED to the Resistor 280Ω and also to the positive end of the breadboard. And the ground wire in the negative end.(Orange wire)
Final form of the Fluorometer
unfortunately, during the move to the lab for testing, the fluorometer became nonfunctional. We were unable to fix it in time for wiki freeze but stay tuned for our Boston presentation! We are hopeful to have it functional and fully tested!