Tucker Langseth

Research Project

My project focus is on helping a current graduate student develop Rhodobacter sphaeroides (R. sphaeroides) as an alternative bacterial platform for functional expression of medically relevant membrane proteins. R.sphaeroides is a photosynthetic bacteria with 15 times larger membrane surface area than E.coli provided by inducible intracellular membranes (ICM) holding photosynthetic apparatus. I plan to look further into finding a more efficient means of growing R. sphaeroides by building a ripple film photobioreactor. Creating a new continuous design will decrease the affects of little operation control on biomass growth from the current batch design.