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Team:Exeter/Project
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Overall project
Our project abstract: Our aim is to design a system for the bespoke synthesis of polysaccharides in Escherichia coli (E. coli). Our objectives are two-fold, 1. to engineer E. coli to synthesise novel polysaccharide(s) designed by us, and 2. to construct an engineered plasmid which will allow the differential expression of enzymes, producing the polysaccharides chosen depending on the stimulus of particular promoters; this grants a controlled external selection mechanism to the polysaccharide production of the cell. Furthermore we are developing software tools to facilitate the selection of polysaccharide synthesising enzymes and are proposing a new, rapid design-model-analysis workflow for polysaccharide characteristisation and exploitation.
The ultimate goal of this engineering process is to demonstrate the production of desired polysaccharides and to provide a mechanism by which polysaccharides can be produced 'to order'. The applications for this are enormous, for example, vaccines could be produced at speed and material scientists and engineers would be able to choose a synthetic polysaccharide fulfilling desired properties.
Why did we choose the project?
Novel Polysaccharide Synthesis will revolutionise the way we can design intelligent materials. Nature goes to a lot of trouble to synthesise specific sugars to regulate cellular properties (e.g. osmotic pressures). We are synthetically bridging the gap between natures fine design of polysaccharide based materials to what we can humanly achieve. We are proposing a mechanism by which we may fine tune adjustments to polysaccharide structures to influence the macro properties of a certain sugar.
Is being able to synthesise such precise polysaccharides important? Indeed! To name just a few of the novel applications; by changing chain length of polymers we can design special viscous liquids for non-drip paint, we could tune a specific cartilaginous polysaccharide for lubricants, rapid/safe vaccines could be produced from a database of designer sugars.
By forming a method of synthesising sugar chains in this manner, there is a possible myriad of presently inconceivable applications due to the wealth of new sugars, previously unseen in nature, which we would offer. Thus allowing for the basis of a completely unique designers toolkit.
We will create a database of well characterised glycosyltransferases. We envisage the design of a synthetic E. coli containing this information which, providing a system relating glycosyltransferases to certain output sugars, would be a factory of designer sugars. A final aim would be to link such a system to output specific ‘material properties’ for the E. coli to produce.
Our system is at the forefront of emerging technologies and it has potential to work efficiently because we are playing by the same rules as nature. The design, biological, engineering and medicinal uses are limitless which is why our project is exciting for such a range of people.
Project Details
Part 2
The Experiments
Part 3
== Results ==
