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From 2012hs.igem.org

ABSTRACT

In the United States alone, carbon monoxide is responsible for over 2,100 deaths every year, with our only current defense being the warning sounds of carbon monoxide alarms. Carbon monoxide (CO) cannot be seen or smelled, so our project idea was to develop a biological alternative to the typical carbon monoxide detector to produce a warning smell, rather than a sound. Our circuit consists of the CO transcriptional activator CooA. In the presence of a CO inducer and an isoamyl alcohol precursor, the characteristic smell of bananas will be produced. Our team has developed a proof of concept circuit using the banana odor generating device as a reporter and the Tetracycline repressor as a constitutive generator to activate the transcription of ATF1 in an indole-free chassis. This circuit will replace CO gas with doxycycline as an inducer and isoamyl alcohol as a precursor to generate the banana smell.