A variety of synthetic biological gates, including AND, OR, and NOR, have been engineered and characterized across a wide range of host organisms. One of the key aspirations of the synthetic biology community is to develop well-characterized parts and controllable gene circuit behaviors(Singh, 2014). Bio-logic gates play a critical role in achieving this goal. While the field is still evolving, and major breakthroughs are yet to come, the potential benefits are anticipated to be substantial.

Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs) are chips that can be manually reconfigured after manufacturing, enabling them to perform a variety of logic functions. Inspired by PLDs, we have designed a programmable synthetic biology framework, LANTERN, which allows users to customize logic gates tailored to specific scenarios.

LANTERN introduces the concept of "programmable pathways," addressing the need to construct and customize various logical relationships in the lab with potential applications in industrial manufacturing. Drawing inspiration from PLDs in electrical engineering, this also represents the ideology we want to convey to the iGEM community — harnessing engineering principles to uncover the mysteries of biology.

Why the name LANTERN?

The digits "0" and "1" are fundamental to logic gates, and we noticed that their shapes can perfectly form the pattern of a traditional Chinese lantern. This inspired us to name our system LANTERN, symbolizing both its foundation in logic and its connection to cultural heritage.