Team:SoundBio/Demonstrate
Demonstration
Our team worked on finding the optimal conditions for bacterial cellulose production through hardware. We tested agitated vs. non-agitated conditions, different types of media and carbon source, seed culture to media ratios, and culture duration, to see which conditions produced the most bacterial cellulose. Using this data, we designed and built a bioreactor that would efficiently grow bacterial cellulose as well as spatially control the presence of bacterial cellulose-modifying proteins. We went through several iterations of our design, as the requirements were based on the genetic circuit design which evolved over the course of the season. Our final design featured sparging elements to oxygenate the culture, as well as a sprinkler system to introduce E. coli to an ongoing culture of K. rhaeticus. The bioreactor also has ports for pH and dissolved oxygen probes so that we can monitor the culture conditions and alter them if necessary using one of the media input ports.
Learn more about our hardware here