Narrative

The combination of chemical engineering fundamentals with synthetic biology techniques has advanced the innovation of new point-of-care diagnostic tools. This piece takes inspiration from the molecular biology-based biosensor designs currently in development at Georgia Tech. The piece depicts DNA and RNA participating in the sensing reaction, ultimately utilizing transcription and translation of reporter proteins to propagate a visual signal to the user. The colors in the artwork represent color-changing pigments that are used to communicate the test result to the user (yellow = negative, dark red = positive). Flowing from the right to left, the color is getting darker with the flow of color changing reaction. Two yellow strings in the picture represent DNA that carries the main reaction. Once the target is attached, it triggers the reaction and causes the solution to fade into dark red.