Introduction

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Project Overview

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Plasmid Plug&Play

    Introduction

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Associative Memory
     Network

    Introduction

    Background

    Experiments

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    Results

Extras

    SynbioBrasil

    USP and Unesp

    Attributions

    Sponsors

    Acknowledgements

    Photos

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology is an emerging field that aims to modify organisms for performing new tasks by either building new biological parts, devices and systems or by re-designing an already existing system. The goal is to manipulate living organism for useful purpose like sustainable production of fuels and pharmaceuticals, as well as, for helping on environmental problems.

The difference to classical molecular biology is the use of engineering concepts, as complexity abstraction and standardization of parts, for designing molecular circuits. This approach allows to produce more reliable systems build from bottom to top (from genetic circuits to complex metabolic pathways), allowing to create more complex systems that the already known in classical molecular biology. This field requires easy access to standardized biological parts and devices, well-known cells where DNA programs can be assembled and powered, as well as, computational tools to analyze the developed systems.

About iGEM

The iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) is the largest synthetic biology competition in the world, which occurs every year at MIT. It came out as a one-month during course at MIT in 2003, in which students had to come up with new biological systems. In the following year it turned into a summer competition with 5 teams. After 2004 the competition grew internationally and up to now 193 teams are subscribed for the 2012 iGEM competition (1).

To the inscribed teams is given a kit of biological parts, also called BioBricks, the teams can create genetic machines by putting BioBricks together and operate it on living cells. Information about BioBricks is found in the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, which is operated by iGEM organization and opened to the whole scientific community (1).

iGEM has shown a new collaborative approach on developing synthetic biology, it has developed an open community where anyone can have access to information and has also involved students around the synthetic biology field.

[1] https://igem.org/About (Accessed in 12/07/2012)

iGEM Brazilian Team

Our team is composed of 14 members from different backgrounds, including undergraduate (11) and postgraduate (3) students from two major universities of Brazil - USP (Universidade de São Paulo) and UNESP (Universidade Estadual Paulista "Julio de Mesquita"). It is supported by 4 instructors and 4 advisors.

We think that being in a laboratory, designing and developing a project in the biology synthetic field turns out to be an open-minded experience due to the contact with others areas besides Biology, such as Physics and Math. It enables students to break boundaries between areas and gather new concepts of different domains in science.