Talk:CH391L/S14/Mindy's First assignment

Overall format and structure: The necessary components are addressed, but a revision that includes extensive rewording of the article could have a large impact on its overall quality. Some sentences are awkwardly worded in a way that creates a very choppy experience for the reader. However, despite the fact that the article is short, it covers the topic well and stays accessible to the audience throughout its entirety.

Introduction and background material: The introduction is sufficient and does a reasonably good job explaining what quorum sensing is; however, the wording could use some improvement. The first sentence is slightly misleading, indicating that quorum sensing somehow enables a bacterium to determine the density of its neighbors, as opposed to the true definition which can be gleaned from the rest of the introduction. Overall the intro could benefit from a revision that would result in greater brevity and clarity.

Methods and main body/concepts: Both sections of the main body are short but very effective in explaining the systems. The language used is technical but understandable- it seems to be accessible to a general audience. A way to improve could involve the use of additional examples of bacterial strains that participate in quorum sensing, or additional explanations of the effects of reaching the density needed to initiate transcriptional changes.

Relation to iGEM and future directions: While there is no iGEM section, the article addresses three separate applications of this bacterial adaptation to synthetic biology, providing a nice sampling of the different ways this is important in the field. To improve this section, further discussion of the methodology of these techniques could be included.

Figures, figure legends, and citations: Both sets of figures are very easy to comprehend and offer additional insight to the article. They are well designed and clear and contribute positively to the article. The only thing that could improve them is a figure legend for each, indicating briefly what the figure is displaying in case some readers become confused. The citations are done very well, with explanations under each to remind the reader what each refers to.