iLCD (Lighting Cell Display) is a device developed by a research team from

Universidad Politecnica de Valencia The Polytechnic University of Valencia (; , ), shortened to UPV, is a Spanish university located in Valencia, with a focus on science, technology, and arts. It was founded in 1968 as the Higher Polytechnic School of Valencia and became a univers ...

, a

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

educated bioengineer, undergraduate students of the Universidad Politéctica de Valencia and

Universitat de València The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

and several members of the faculty and research staff from Universidad de València (Manuel Porcar), UPV (Pedro De Cordoba) and University of Malaga (Emilio Navarro). It is based on

yeast cell Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitu ...

s expressing

aequorin Aequorin is a calcium-activated photoprotein isolated from the hydrozoan ''Aequorea victoria''. Its bioluminescence was studied decades before the protein was isolated from the animal by Osamu Shimomura in 1962. In the animal, the protein occur ...

protein sensitive to change in intracellular

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

. Upon

electrical stimulation Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a technique that uses low-energy electrical pulses to artificially generate body movements in individuals who have been paralyzed due to injury to the central nervous system. More specifically, FES ca ...

, the transient calcium wave emerges inside the yeast cells and translates into a measurable light signal. Assembly of multiple

electrode An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or a gas). In electrochemical cells, electrodes are essential parts that can consist of a varie ...

s over lawn of yeast cells yields Thanks to electronic control and sub-second timescale it is one of the first examples of bioelectronic devices capable of bi-directional communication between a

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

and a living system. It is also one of the first examples of design of simple

synthetic biology Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary field of science that focuses on living systems and organisms. It applies engineering principles to develop new biological parts, devices, and systems or to redesign existing systems found in nat ...

circuits operating on orders of magnitude faster timescale than those based on

gene expression Gene expression is the process (including its Regulation of gene expression, regulation) by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, proteins or non-coding RNA, ...

. Fast response to a stimulus is essential in variety of applications such as

biosensing A biosensor is an analytical device, used for the detection of a chemical substance, that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector. The ''sensitive biological element'', e.g. tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell recep ...

medical technology Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the "application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of liv ...

, or as stated before -

bioelectronics Bioelectronics is a field of research in the convergence of biology and electronics. Definitions At the first C.E.C. Workshop, in Brussels in November 1991, bioelectronics was defined as 'the use of biological materials and biological archi ...

. The project has been awarded a third place in 2009 iGEM competition

References

Vilanova C, Hueso A, Palanca C, Marco G, Pitarch M, Otero E, Crespo J, Szablowski J, Rivera S, Domínguez-Escribà L, Navarro E, Montagud A, de Córdoba PF, González A, Ariño J, Moya A, Urchueguía J, Porcar, M. Aequorin-expressing yeast emits light under electric control.J Biotechnol. 2011 Mar 20;152(3):93-5.

External links

Official website
J Biotechnol. 2011 Mar 20;152(3):93-5. Epub 2011 Feb 1. Biotechnology