Team:Goettingen
From 2012.igem.org
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- | + | __TOC__ | |
- | + | == Welcome to iGEM Göttingen == | |
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In November 2011, most of us heard about iGEM competition for the first time. | In November 2011, most of us heard about iGEM competition for the first time. | ||
- | Erik, inspired by his former | + | Erik, inspired by his former colleagues' enthusiastic reports, was looking for like-minded people at his new university that |
were willing to organize a whole project in the field of Synthetic Biology. He described the idea of the contest to anybody willing to listen. It did not take | were willing to organize a whole project in the field of Synthetic Biology. He described the idea of the contest to anybody willing to listen. It did not take | ||
long to find five other interested students. Thus, the so called organization task force of the first iGEM team of the University of Göttingen was formed. | long to find five other interested students. Thus, the so called organization task force of the first iGEM team of the University of Göttingen was formed. | ||
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- | Luckily, the iGEM competition was already well known among the University´s professors and the team found | + | Luckily, the iGEM competition was already well known among the University´s professors and the team found their first supporters: Prof. Heinz |
Neumann, head of a work group specializing in Synthetic Biology, and Prof. Jörg Stülke from the department of General and Applied Microbiology. | Neumann, head of a work group specializing in Synthetic Biology, and Prof. Jörg Stülke from the department of General and Applied Microbiology. | ||
The next task was to find a project that was interesting as well as realizable. After a lot of back and forth due to extensive discussions, Prof. | The next task was to find a project that was interesting as well as realizable. After a lot of back and forth due to extensive discussions, Prof. | ||
Neumann presented the perfect project: "Homing Coli"! | Neumann presented the perfect project: "Homing Coli"! | ||
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After many drawbacks, like finding a suitable laboratory to realize the project, the search for additional team members began. The new | After many drawbacks, like finding a suitable laboratory to realize the project, the search for additional team members began. The new | ||
- | fellows were quickly found, which was the story starting point of the first iGEM team of the University of Göttingen… Below you can see our timeline. | + | fellows were quickly found, which was the story starting point of the first iGEM team of the University of Göttingen… Below you can see our timeline. |
- | + | [[File:Timeline.png|600px|thumb|center|The timeline of the iGEM Team Göttingen 2012. For a high resultion click on the picture.]] | |
- | The timeline of the iGEM | + | |
- | + | If you are interested in the [[Team:Goettingen/iGEM|iGEM competition]], the BioBrick concept, and – most importantly – [[Team:Goettingen/Project|our project]], take a look around. Here, you will find everything | |
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- | If you are interested in the | + | |
you need to know about "Homing Coli" and you will have the opportunity to gather knowledge about chemotaxis in general! | you need to know about "Homing Coli" and you will have the opportunity to gather knowledge about chemotaxis in general! | ||
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- | + | Visit our [[Team:Goettingen/Team|team site]] to learn more about us and our supporters and advisors! | |
+ | And, last but not least, do not forget to check out our mascot [[Team:Goettingen/Human_Practice/Flash_coli|Flash Coli]]! He always has some interesting stories to tell and needs YOUR help to fight the horrible phages! | ||
- | + | Feel free to browse this page! | |
+ | |||
+ | == Homing Coli - a short introduction == | ||
<i>Escherichia coli</i> is a commonly used bacterial model organism. It has lots of beneficial | <i>Escherichia coli</i> is a commonly used bacterial model organism. It has lots of beneficial | ||
traits, e.g. a short generation time and it can be easily manipulated. Most <i>E. coli</i> | traits, e.g. a short generation time and it can be easily manipulated. Most <i>E. coli</i> | ||
strains that are used in laboratories do not exhibit high motility. The crucial element for | strains that are used in laboratories do not exhibit high motility. The crucial element for | ||
motility is the flagellum, which is rotated by a molecular motor within the cell wall. | motility is the flagellum, which is rotated by a molecular motor within the cell wall. | ||
- | Consequently, these are reduced in cultivated <i>E. coli</i> strains. | + | Consequently, these are reduced in cultivated <i>E. coli</i> strains. |
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- | Our goal is to create an <i>E. coli</i> strain with increased swimming motility on special | + | Our goal is to create an <i>E. coli</i> strain with increased swimming motility on special agar plates. Therefore, we will overexpress regulators and parts of the <i>E. coli</i> flagellum in cultivated strains in order to enhance bacterial swimming ability. The fastest <i>E. coli</i> strains will be selected and further improved. At the same time we will then be able to create an effective motility-selection method. |
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Now, you are probably wondering what the advantage of a fast <i> E. coli</i> might be. The | Now, you are probably wondering what the advantage of a fast <i> E. coli</i> might be. The | ||
beneficial fast phenotype can be combined with the ability of this bacterium to sense | beneficial fast phenotype can be combined with the ability of this bacterium to sense | ||
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or along gradients of such substances. We will use PCR-based site directed mutagenesis on the <i> E. coli</i> Tar receptor. The combination of speed and chemotaxis allows | or along gradients of such substances. We will use PCR-based site directed mutagenesis on the <i> E. coli</i> Tar receptor. The combination of speed and chemotaxis allows | ||
us to identify <i>E. coli</i> strains, which can sense interesting compounds. Thereby, an | us to identify <i>E. coli</i> strains, which can sense interesting compounds. Thereby, an | ||
- | easy method for the detection of pollutants, toxins or even tumors could be provided. | + | easy method for the detection of pollutants, toxins or even tumors could be provided. |
- | < | + | For detailled information see our <html><a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Project">project page</a></html> |
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- | < | + | [[File:Homingcoli.jpg|600px|thumb|center|<html><a href="http://jb.asm.org/content/186/22/7529.full">Clive S. Barker <i> et al. </i> (2004). Increased Motility of <i> Escherichia coli </i> by Insertion Sequence Element Integration into the Regulatory Region of the flhD Operon. Journal of Bacteriology, Vol. 186: 7529-7537.</a></html>]] |
- | + | == Synthetic Biology == | |
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Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary scientific area that has recently developed. | Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary scientific area that has recently developed. | ||
It links various fields of science like biology, chemistry, physics, molecular genetics, | It links various fields of science like biology, chemistry, physics, molecular genetics, | ||
- | informatics and engineering. | + | informatics and engineering. |
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Due to this combination the relation of biological design and function can be investigated | Due to this combination the relation of biological design and function can be investigated | ||
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modular design that facilitates their handling. The subsequent introduction of the synthetic | modular design that facilitates their handling. The subsequent introduction of the synthetic | ||
constructs to living cells can either cause the replacement of original cellular components | constructs to living cells can either cause the replacement of original cellular components | ||
- | or result in additional elements that act cooperatively or more or less autonomously (see fig. 1). | + | or result in additional elements that act cooperatively or more or less autonomously (see fig. 1). |
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- | + | [[File:SynbioGoe.jpg|600px|thumb|center|After Nandagopaland and Elowitz (2011). A continuum of synthetic biology. Wild-type cells (<b>A</b>) | |
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can be subject to two basic types of synthetic manipulation. (<b>B</b>) Autonomous synthetic circuits, consisting of | can be subject to two basic types of synthetic manipulation. (<b>B</b>) Autonomous synthetic circuits, consisting of | ||
ectopic components, may be introduced into the cell. Such circuits process inputs and implement functions (red arrows) | ectopic components, may be introduced into the cell. Such circuits process inputs and implement functions (red arrows) | ||
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endogenous circuitry to act as sensors and to implent additional functionality. Ultimate goals of this program are to be | endogenous circuitry to act as sensors and to implent additional functionality. Ultimate goals of this program are to be | ||
able to design and construct (<b>E</b>) synthetic circuits that can functionality replace endogenous circuits or (<b>F</b>) | able to design and construct (<b>E</b>) synthetic circuits that can functionality replace endogenous circuits or (<b>F</b>) | ||
- | fully autonomous circuits that operate independently of the cellular mileu. | + | fully autonomous circuits that operate independently of the cellular mileu. <html><a href="http://www.its.caltech.edu/~haylab/research/SBReview2011.pdf">Nagarajan Nandagopal and Michael B. Elowitz. (2011). Synthetic Biology: Integrated Gene Circuits. SCIENCE, Vol. 333: 1244-1248.</a></html>]] |
- | <a href="http://www.its.caltech.edu/~haylab/research/SBReview2011.pdf">Nagarajan Nandagopal and Michael B. Elowitz. (2011). Synthetic Biology: Integrated | + | |
- | Gene Circuits. SCIENCE, Vol. 333: 1244-1248.</a> </ | + | Another very important and necessary feature of biological parts is orthogonality, which means in this context that independent devices can be combined unrestrictedly. |
- | + | This principle derives from the area of engineering and aims to alter subsystems, without impeding others. | |
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This way cells can be modified as requested, resulting in a predictable behaviour. | This way cells can be modified as requested, resulting in a predictable behaviour. | ||
Among others, this technique can be beneficial for the effective production of | Among others, this technique can be beneficial for the effective production of | ||
certain substances, like biofuels or antibiotics. | certain substances, like biofuels or antibiotics. | ||
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<table bordercolor="black" border="1 px" width="600 px"><tr><td> | <table bordercolor="black" border="1 px" width="600 px"><tr><td> | ||
<b>Important pages</b>:<br> | <b>Important pages</b>:<br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Modeling">Modeling</a>; | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Modeling">Modeling</a>; | ||
<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Notebook">Notebook</a>; | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Notebook">Notebook</a>; | ||
- | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/ | + | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Safety">Safety</a>; |
<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Attributions">Attributions</a> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Attributions">Attributions</a> | ||
</td></tr> | </td></tr> | ||
</table> | </table> | ||
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<h2><hr><span><b>Flash Coli</b></span></h2> | <h2><hr><span><b>Flash Coli</b></span></h2> | ||
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pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" height="180" width="240"> | pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" height="180" width="240"> | ||
<font face="Verdana" size="-1">To explore our project with Flash Coli click | <font face="Verdana" size="-1">To explore our project with Flash Coli click | ||
- | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Human_Practice/Flash_coli">here</a>. | + | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Human_Practice/Flash_coli">here</a>.<br> |
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- | < | + | <h2><hr><span><b>News</b></span></h2> |
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+ | <font align="left"> | ||
+ | <!-- News 22 end--><br><hr> | ||
+ | <p align="left"><i>27 September 2012,</i> <b>4 h to go!!!</b> <br> | ||
+ | </p> | ||
+ | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#22">To the news</a> | ||
+ | <br> | ||
+ | <!-- News 22 end--><br> | ||
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+ | <p align="left"><i>26 September 2012,</i> <b>Results are online!</b> <br> | ||
+ | </p> | ||
+ | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#21">To the news</a> | ||
+ | <br> | ||
+ | <!-- News 21 end--><br><hr> | ||
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+ | <!-- News 20 --> | ||
+ | <p align="left"><i>25 September 2012,</i> <b>BioBricks are on their way!</b> <br> | ||
+ | </a> | ||
</p> | </p> | ||
- | <!-- News | + | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#20">To the news</a> |
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- | <!-- News | + | <!-- News 20 end--><br><hr> |
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+ | <!-- News 19.5 --> | ||
+ | <p align="left"><i>22 September 2012,</i> <b>First youtube videos are online!</b> <br> | ||
+ | </p> | ||
+ | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#19.5">To the news</a> | ||
+ | <br> | ||
+ | <!-- News 19.5 end--><br><hr> | ||
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- | < | + | <p align="left"><i>13 September 2012,</i> <b>13 days to go!</b> <br> |
+ | </p> | ||
+ | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#19">To the news</a> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
- | <!-- News | + | <!-- News 19 end--><br><hr> |
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<p align="left"><i>07 September 2012,</i> <b>We organized the "Legoland for Scientists" symposium at the University of Göttingen. | <p align="left"><i>07 September 2012,</i> <b>We organized the "Legoland for Scientists" symposium at the University of Göttingen. | ||
You can read everything about it <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Human_Practice/Panel_Discussion">here.</a></b> | You can read everything about it <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Human_Practice/Panel_Discussion">here.</a></b> | ||
</p> | </p> | ||
- | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#17">To the news</a><br> | + | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#18">To the news</a> |
+ | <br> | ||
+ | <!-- News 18 end--><br><hr> | ||
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+ | <p align="left"><i>06 September 2012,</i> <b>Only one day left until the information evening "Legoland for scientists"...</b> <br></a> | ||
+ | </p> | ||
+ | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#17">To the news</a> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Human_Practice/Flash_coli">here.</a></b> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/Human_Practice/Flash_coli">here.</a></b> | ||
</p> | </p> | ||
- | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News# | + | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#16">To the news</a><br> |
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#14">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#14">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#13">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#13">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#12.75">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#12.75">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#12.5">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#12.5">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#12">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#12">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#11.5">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#11.5">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#11">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#11">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#10.5">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#10.5">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#10">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#10">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#9.5">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#9.5">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#9">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#9">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#8.5">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#8.5">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#8">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#8">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#7">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#7">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#6">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#6">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#5">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#5">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#4">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#4">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#3">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#3">To the news</a><br> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#2">To the news</a><br> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#2">To the news</a><br> | ||
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</p> | </p> | ||
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<a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#1">To the news</a><br><br><hr> | <a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:Goettingen/News#1">To the news</a><br><br><hr> | ||
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Latest revision as of 01:02, 27 September 2012
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Welcome to iGEM GöttingenIn November 2011, most of us heard about iGEM competition for the first time. Erik, inspired by his former colleagues' enthusiastic reports, was looking for like-minded people at his new university that were willing to organize a whole project in the field of Synthetic Biology. He described the idea of the contest to anybody willing to listen. It did not take long to find five other interested students. Thus, the so called organization task force of the first iGEM team of the University of Göttingen was formed. Luckily, the iGEM competition was already well known among the University´s professors and the team found their first supporters: Prof. Heinz Neumann, head of a work group specializing in Synthetic Biology, and Prof. Jörg Stülke from the department of General and Applied Microbiology. The next task was to find a project that was interesting as well as realizable. After a lot of back and forth due to extensive discussions, Prof. Neumann presented the perfect project: "Homing Coli"! After many drawbacks, like finding a suitable laboratory to realize the project, the search for additional team members began. The new fellows were quickly found, which was the story starting point of the first iGEM team of the University of Göttingen… Below you can see our timeline. If you are interested in the iGEM competition, the BioBrick concept, and – most importantly – our project, take a look around. Here, you will find everything you need to know about "Homing Coli" and you will have the opportunity to gather knowledge about chemotaxis in general! Visit our team site to learn more about us and our supporters and advisors! And, last but not least, do not forget to check out our mascot Flash Coli! He always has some interesting stories to tell and needs YOUR help to fight the horrible phages! Feel free to browse this page! Homing Coli - a short introductionEscherichia coli is a commonly used bacterial model organism. It has lots of beneficial traits, e.g. a short generation time and it can be easily manipulated. Most E. coli strains that are used in laboratories do not exhibit high motility. The crucial element for motility is the flagellum, which is rotated by a molecular motor within the cell wall. Consequently, these are reduced in cultivated E. coli strains. Our goal is to create an E. coli strain with increased swimming motility on special agar plates. Therefore, we will overexpress regulators and parts of the E. coli flagellum in cultivated strains in order to enhance bacterial swimming ability. The fastest E. coli strains will be selected and further improved. At the same time we will then be able to create an effective motility-selection method. Now, you are probably wondering what the advantage of a fast E. coli might be. The beneficial fast phenotype can be combined with the ability of this bacterium to sense specific compounds in their environments. Chemoreceptors enable it to move towards or along gradients of such substances. We will use PCR-based site directed mutagenesis on the E. coli Tar receptor. The combination of speed and chemotaxis allows us to identify E. coli strains, which can sense interesting compounds. Thereby, an easy method for the detection of pollutants, toxins or even tumors could be provided. For detailled information see our project page Synthetic BiologySynthetic biology is an interdisciplinary scientific area that has recently developed. It links various fields of science like biology, chemistry, physics, molecular genetics, informatics and engineering. Due to this combination the relation of biological design and function can be investigated from an entirely new perspective. The previous approach was limited to the examination of a structure and its function and the attempt to explain how they correlate. Recently, the reverse strategy is applied. Biological parts are specifically designed and constructed according to a desired function. These parts are characterized by a standardized modular design that facilitates their handling. The subsequent introduction of the synthetic constructs to living cells can either cause the replacement of original cellular components or result in additional elements that act cooperatively or more or less autonomously (see fig. 1). Another very important and necessary feature of biological parts is orthogonality, which means in this context that independent devices can be combined unrestrictedly. This principle derives from the area of engineering and aims to alter subsystems, without impeding others. This way cells can be modified as requested, resulting in a predictable behaviour. Among others, this technique can be beneficial for the effective production of certain substances, like biofuels or antibiotics.
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