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Creating a bio-hybrid signal transduction pathway: opening a new channel of communication between cells and machines

The bio-machine interface has inherent difficulties associated with developing electronics to measure the few measurable signals eminating from biological tissues. In this work re-engineering the biology to fit the electronics is investigated (rather than fitting the electronics to the biology). Using synthetic biology we have been successful in creating mammallian cells that can respond to light signals by creating a machine readable signal. It is hoped that this new approach will spawn a new generation of biohybrid machines. The work was carried out as part of a joint EPSRC/NSF funded project on “Cyberplasm” (EP/H019081/1).