PAPM EAGER: Introducing Gulliver - an autonomous device to grow and study microorganisms in situ.

该提案的主要目标是创建一个新的技术平台，以发现和研究我们星球上及其他地方的微生物生命。这个平台叫做格列佛。它将允许前所未有地进入地球上最大的生物和化学新奇资源库;微生物物种，迄今为止，这些物种一直未能利用其潜力。这将为改变微生物生物学知识，彻底改变生物活性化合物的发现，甚至探测地球以外的生命提供可能性。 完全开发，格列佛将是一个发现设备如此简单，它将不需要特殊的技能来研究新物种的属性，开辟了一条道路，作为一个教育和研究工具，在高中和本科实验室。它的发展将为本科生，研究生和研究生在生物学，材料科学和纳米技术的横截面培训创造机会。在这个项目中，研究人员将建立一个格列佛的原型，这代表了最终设备开发的第一阶段。 在这个阶段，格列佛将是一个具有膜壁的腔室，具有纳米尺寸（？喂？）毛孔标准聚碳酸酯膜非常适合此目的，并且可现货供应。一个“入口”孔将是不同的，直径接近细菌的大小（0.6-1.5微米）。该孔将使用离子枪技术进行定制铣削，备选技术为计划B。一旦格列佛被部署到一个环境中，入口孔将允许单个微生物细胞进入腔室的内部空间，阻止入口。 饲养孔将允许扩散，将自然产生的营养物质和生长因子带入，使细胞能够繁殖，定居在腔室中并在其中形成纯菌落。通过这种方式，格列佛将能够培养和分离未知营养需求的物种，这是生物圈中的大多数微生物。第一阶段项目将测试格列佛从环境中自主“采样”单细胞的概念，使其能够作为纯培养物生长。在未来的第二阶段和第三阶段，研究人员将为格列佛配备各种纳米传感器，这些传感器将监测和测量微生物生长的各个方面，从而首次对自然界中生长的单个微生物种群进行代谢研究。 请注意，Gulliver在微生物分离/生长的任何阶段都不需要任何人类参与。该设备可以预先制作并部署到基本上任何栖息地，无论是深海，动物肠道还是外星人。

The main goal of this proposal is to create a new technology platform to discover and study microbial life on our planet and beyond. The platform is called Gulliver. It will allow unprecedented access to the largest reservoir of biological and chemical novelty on the planet; microbial species that have so far evaded attempts to utilize their potential. This will open up a possibility to transform the knowledge of microbial biology, revolutionize discovery of bioactive compounds and even detect life outside of our planet. Fully developed, Gulliver will be a discovery device so simple it will require no special skills to study properties of new species, opening a way to serve as an educational and research tool in high schools and undergraduate labs. Its development will create opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and post graduate training at a cross-section of biology, material science and nanotechnology. In this project the investigators will build a prototype of Gulliver, which represents Stage 1 of the development of the ultimate device. At this stage, Gulliver will be a chamber with membranous walls, with nanometer-sized (?feeding?) pores. Standard polycarbonate membranes are excellent for the purpose and are available off-the-shelf. One "entry" pore will be different, with a diameter close to the size of a bacterium (0.6-1.5 µm). This pore will be custom milled using ion gun technology, with alternative technologies available as Plan B. Once Gulliver is deployed to an environment, the entry pore will allow a single microbial cell to enter the inner space of the chamber, blocking the entry. Feeding pores will allow diffusion to bring in the naturally occurring nutrients and growth factors, enabling that cell to multiply, colonize the chamber and form a pure colony inside it. In this way, Gulliver will be able to grow and isolate species with unknown nutrient requirements, which is the majority of microbes in the biosphere. This Stage 1 project will test the concept of Gulliver autonomously "sampling" single cells from the environment, enabling their growth as pure cultures. In future Stages 2 and 3, the investigators will equip Gulliver with various nanosensors that will monitor and measure aspects of microbial growth, enabling for the first time metabolic studies of individual microbial populations as they grow in nature. Note that Gulliver does not require any human participation at any stage of microbial isolation/growth. The device can be pre-made and deployment into an essentially any habitat, be it deep ocean, animal gut, or extraterrestrial bodies.