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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Sep 16.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Cell. 2011 Sep 16;43(6):915–926. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2011.08.023

Figure 2.

Figure 2

RNA-based controllers have been integrated into engineered biological systems for applications spanning biosynthesis, bioremediation, to health and medicine. A metabolite-responsive ribozyme-based device linked to a fluorescent reporter output was demonstrated in yeast as a noninvasive sensor of metabolite concentration (top panel). A pollutant-responsive RBS-based device linked to a motility gene output was demonstrated in bacteria to program the cells to move along a gradient of the pollutant (middle panel). A disease marker-responsive alternative splicing-based device linked to a suicide gene output was demonstrated in human cells to target cell death to cells exhibiting increased signaling through disease pathways (bottom panel). These examples highlight the power of RNA controllers that enable researchers to access, transmit, and act on information within biological systems.