About This Project

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Our electric circuit will have bar graph LEDs to represent the activity of the different genes and we’ll have control knobs to change how strong a gene can influence another gene. Through this type of experimental building and learning, students will be able to interact with aspects of biology and genetics in a new way, all through first interacting with a circuit and then controlling the behavior of the system. We hope to make the circuits modular -- one module per gene -- so that a student can simulate different gene systems by connecting the modules in different ways.

What is the significance of this project?

There is significant opportunity to use this project to teach students about electronics, analog computers and genetics, a most unusual mix of topics. We can provide a video, booklet, and circuit boards for others to build similar systems.

What are the goals of the project?

We already have a design for the circuit. The task is to build a prototype. Once we have it working we will get printed circuits made so that the students can build the final version. The entire systems will be partially enclosed in a plexiglass case with access to the control knobs and simulation LED indicators. Some years ago we successfully built something similar that was related to protein modeling. This time we would like to extend the problem to gene regulatory networks.