Hmm... just saw this clause in the rules: 

"Non-microbial props within the piece are also not allowed."

So I say Fuck'em - let's do it anyway, and do such an awesome job that they get so embarrassed that they have to make a special prize just for us! :-D

Patrik

On Tue, Sep 24, 2019 at 10:40 AM Patrik D'haeseleer <patrikd@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a potentially prize winning idea, but I need your help...

As you might know, I've been teaching Agar Art workshops at CCL - painting with colored bacteria! Next session is this coming Monday. The American Society for Microbiology is holding a yearly Agar Art Contest that we can submit some of our best work to.

My idea is to embed a little LED circuit *in the agar* in a Petri plate, light up a UV LED, and then trace the circuit on top of the agar in fluorescent E. coli! 

Here's the part I need your help with... we'll need to experiment a bit with different circuit implementations to figure out what works best. I can easily solder a little "throwie" circuit myself, but I don't think I'll have time to go through half a dozen designs to see what works best (or at all). So ideally I'd love to partner up with somebody why can crank out a couple circuit versions while I focus on the wetlab side. You'll get full share of the credit and any prize money of course.

A couple complications:
  • I would love to be able to autoclave the circuit before embedding it in agar, to eliminate any possible contamination. This involves heating to 121C/250F for 20 minutes under steam. Not sure which materials will stand up to that (batteries? plastic LED?)
  • The normal E. coli growth medium is quite conductive. We should be able to use a medium without salt, but it will likely still have some conductivity. We could try coat the entire circuit in clear epoxy to insulate it though.
  • The circuit will still need to give off enough light after been embedded in agar for several days. Coin cell throwies do last a couple days, but UV LEDs are a bit more power hungry, so perhaps we could try a AAA?
  • Having the UV LED on continuously may not be healthy for the bacteria growing on top, so we may need to include a Reed switch or some other mechanism to turn the LED on remotely.
  • More complicated circuits = extra awesomesauce! Can we build a circuit that measures the pH in the agar under an acid producing bacteria? Create a grid of electrodes that affects the growth of bacteria growing on top of it?
  • Ideally, the whole circuit would fit inside a 10cm Petri dish - let's call it 9.5cm diameter, and no more than about 1cm in height. If necessary, we do have access to larger and deeper Petri dishes though.
Patrik