Bacterial flagellar motor as a multimodal biosensing chip

寻找博士广告的项目描述（最多400字）。这将是向未来的学生宣传的文本：细菌已经在我们星球的每一个角落适应了生命，其中包括开发出一种非凡的传感能力组合。合成生物学的一个引人注目的领域认识到细菌的传感潜力，并依靠我们不断增长的合成能力和将所需的遗传信息插入活细胞中，旨在利用当前并提供一系列新的生物传感模式。传感器行业看到了这种基于全细胞的生物传感器的巨大前景，并对各种各样的不同目标感兴趣：从毒素、病原体和爆炸物到与人类健康有关的标记物。虽然已经报道了一系列不同的基于细菌全细胞的生物传感器，但我们还没有开发出合适的生物电接口，这是限制生物传感器在一系列不同外部环境中可靠和可行应用的关键障碍。具体而言，现有细菌全细胞生物传感器最常见的输出信号是光。然而，目前的传感器工业严重依赖于硅基微电子技术，并且对具有生电输出的生物传感器感兴趣，所述生电输出将使得能够有效地并入现有的制造能力。为了克服这个关键的限制，在这个项目中，我们希望开发一种新的生物混合电子器件架构，可用于环境和生理传感。生物混合结构将允许在单个细胞水平上进行传感，但同时在数千个细胞上进行传感。具有电输出的基于单细胞的生物传感器（生物芯片）的设计是基于细菌鞭毛马达（BFM）的旋转。马达是一种独特的旋转分子机器，几十年来一直吸引着科学家。马达的进化功能是通过旋转附着在其上的鞭毛来推进细菌。像电动马达一样，BFM有一个转子和一个定子，由几个蛋白质环组成，从细胞质中突出穿过整个细胞包膜。通常，马达的旋转方向由趋化网络控制，但在这个项目中，我们将获得旋转方向的控制权，并以一种允许我们使用合成生物学工具的BFM旋转方向变化频率的方式修改细胞。这将使我们能够设计出能够感知环境中分子的细胞，并根据环境中的浓度来改变马达旋转方向变化的频率。接下来，我们将使用集成芯片和细菌细胞大小的小电极以电学方式检测电机旋转。总之，我们将设计一种电学生物芯片，使我们能够超越目前可实现的全细胞生物传感极限。

Project Description for Find-A-PhD Advert (max 400 words). This will be the text that is advertised to prospective students:Bacteria have adopted for life in every corner of our planet by, among other, developing a remarkable portfolio of sensing capabilities. A compelling area of Synthetic Biology recognized the sensing potential of bacteria and, relying on our increasing capacity to synthesize and insert desired genetic information into the living cells, aims to exploit the current and provide a new range of biological sensing modalities.The sensor industry sees great promise in such whole-cell based biosensors, with interest in a diverse and large set of different targets: from toxins, pathogens and explosives to human-health related markers. While a range of different bacterial whole-cell based biosensors have been reported, we have yet to develop a suitable bioelectrical interface, which is a key barrier that limits the reliable and feasible application of biosensors in a range of different external environments. Specifically, the most common output signal of existing bacterial whole-cell biosensors is light. Yet, the current sensor industry relies heavily on silicon-based microelectronics and is interest in biosensors with electrogenic outputs that would enable efficient incorporation into the existing manufacturing capabilities. To overcome this key limitation, in this project we wish to develop a novel biohybrid electronic device architecture that can be used for environmental and physiological sensing. The biohybrid architecture will allow sensing on the single-cell level, yet on thousands of cells at the same time. The design of the single-cell based biosensor with electrical output (a biochip) is based on the rotation of the bacterial flagellar motor (BFM). The motor is a unique rotary molecular machine that has captivated scientists for several decades. The evolutionary function of the motor is to enable propulsion of the bacterium by rotating the flagellum attached to it. Like an electric motor, the BFM has a rotor and a stator, made of several protein rings, that protrude from the cytoplasm through the entire cell envelope. Ordinarily, the rotational direction of the motor is controlled by the chemotactic network, but in this project, we will gain control of the rotational direction and modify the cells in a way that will allow us to use the frequency of the BFM's rotational direction changes with synthetic biology tools. This will allow us to design cells that sense molecule in the environment and in response to the concentration in the environment, change the frequency of the rotational direction changes of the motor. Next, we will detect the motor rotation electrically, using an integrated chip and small electrodes that are the size of the bacterial cells.In conclusion, we will design an electrical biochip that will enable us to push the limits of whole cell biosensing beyond currently achievable.