Method of making biological components for devices by forced environmental adaptation

Abstract

An improved method for the design and development of high performance biologically-derived components for use in hybrid devices. The biologically-derived component is used in hybrid constructs that may be nanostructures, given the small size of the biological parts. Force adaptation is used to bring an organism from which the biologically-derived component is developed to provide such a component meeting a desired measure of performance. In one specific embodiment, chlorosomes of Chloroflexus aurantiacus ( C. aurantiacus ) enhance performance of a silicon photovoltaic cell. C. aurantiacus , strain J-10-f1, has the A.T.C.C. designation number 29366, having been deposited in July, 1976. Its chlorosomes are harvested and positioned in light communicating relation to a photoactive semiconductor.

1 . A method of making biologically-derived components for hybrid devices having biological and nonbiological components comprising:
 (a) for the desired performance of the biologically-derived components deriving a measure of performance,   (b) producing adaptable organisms from which the biologically-derived components are to be developed,   (c) controlling a plurality of environmental factors under which the organisms are produced:
 (i) subjecting the organisms being produced to several alternate values of several controlled environmental factors, 
   (d) monitoring the measure of performance of the biologically-derived components developed from the organisms produced in step (b),   (e) repeating steps (b), (c) and (d) until a desired measure of performance of the biologically-derived components has been achieved.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measure of performance is a figure of merit. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measure of performance is a transfer function. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises providing a multiple input, multiple output environmental chamber and growing the components therein. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein step (d) comprises applying a design of experiments analysis to the environmental factors and the measure of performance. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein step (c) comprises controlling a plurality of environmental factors chosen from the group consisting of temperature, illumination, media and duration in and during which specimens of the organisms are developed from which the biologically-derived components are derived. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the organisms of step (b) are bacteria. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , further comprising gathering, as the biologically-derived components, selected parts of the bacteria active in a mode of interest. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the selected parts of the bacteria are chlorosomes. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the bacteria are  Chloroflexus aurantiacus  ( C. aurantiacus ), and the chlorosomes are RC −  chlorosomes. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises growing  Chloroflexus aurantiacus  ( C. aurantiacus ). 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising gathering the chlorosomes RC −  from the  C. aurantiacus  for use in the biologically-derived component. 
     
     
         13 . A component, comprising one or more light antenna structures biologically-derived from photosynthetic bacteria, for a hybrid device, the component made by the method of any one of  claims 1 - 12 .