A remote control for E. coli will enable a whole variety of application relevant for bioprocess engineering. Therefore one can imagine neglecting centrifugation for cell separation - simply use a magnet. Also, it should be possible to use high frequent oscillating magnetic fields for cell lysis or even use rotating magnetic fields for self-stirring cultures in bioreactors solving scale up limiting issues like tip speed. Nature is the world’s most skilled engineer and has naturally occurring magnetotactic bacteria such as Magnetospirrilium magneticum. Under certain conditions, these organisms form magnetosomes, which are chains of magnetite nanoparticles. These function as an intracellular compass for the cell and even allow them to orientate along earth’s weak magnetic field.
As previous iGEM teams have shown, synthesizing fully functional magnetosomes in E. coli is highly difficult as more than 60 highly regulated genes are involved[4]. The Berlin iGEM team came up with an alternative strategy that does not rely on the formation of magnetosomes.