The Problem...
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There are some people who suffer from iron
deficiency and there are many more people who don’t even know that they are suffering from
iron deficiency. Iron deficiency can lead to many health problems, one being a
type of anemia where your RBC cannot get enough oxygen to different body
parts. This can lead to symptoms like
fainting spells and severe iron deficiency can lead to cell death. This can all
be prevented by taking iron pills that are prescribe by your doctor; however,
that requires memory which is a very limited resource. To aid iron deficient
patients, we built a DNA sequence that codes of an indicator protein. The gene
is initially off and must be induced by a lack of iron. Then the repressor is
removed to allow the protein, which turns pink, to synthesize. The protein will
be located in the bacteria, which will be injected into the patient’s blood
stream. Therefore, when patients needs iron, their blood vessels will turn pink.
This will help remind the person to take their iron pills so that the colour
can go away.
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