Team:St Andrews

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<h4 class="alert-heading">Lorem-ipsum-what?</h4>
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This website is under construction, but feel free to browse! It'll be completely ready by autumn.
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We're in week 8 out of 10 of the iGEM project.
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                 <p>University of St Andrews' team for 2012 <em>International Genetically Engineered Machine competition</em></p>
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                 <p>University of St Andrews team for the 2012 <em>International Genetically Engineered Machine competition</em></p>
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<p>Alternative omega-3 production and novel metal recovery methods</p>
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    <h2>Solving the resource problems of the twenty-first century</h2>
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<p class="lead">Resources are the blood streams in the veins of modern technology, industry, and research. But the sheer velocity of these currents is forcing another concept into the configuration: <b>resourcing</b> </p>
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             <div class="span2"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2012/a/ad/Crest.gif" alt="University of St Andrews coat of arms"></div>
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<h1>Metal binding protein</h1>
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<h1><a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:St_Andrews/metal-binding">Metal binding protein</a></h1>
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                <p>Precious metals are costly and the effects of mining are frequently undesirable.  Sustainability and human well-being are matters all too often considered secondary to the politics of wealth and power. 
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<p>Precious and toxic metals from car catalysts frequently find their way into the
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<p>At the same time platinum, from catalysts within our cars, literally crumbles away onto our road surfaces. Interminably accumulating in the asphalt and perpetually seeping into the envi-ronment, this metal aggregation can be considered a novel resource fount. Further, this man-made mine of heavy metals is literally outside our doorsteps!</p>
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environment. By developing metal-binding proteins, we can reverse metal aggregation on our roads. This not only reduces the environmental impact of personal transportation, but will proffer a new man-made mine of precious metals.</p>
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<p>The iGEM Team St Andrews are among the first to advance into the shaft of de novo research that is metal capture technology.  Producing platinum-binding proteins in <i>E. coli</i> will provide a framework which can be modified to produce an extracellular membrane-bound binding site. This bond type can be geared towards a number of precious metals, creating a veritable library of resourcing. Indeed, road scavenging could be the spark in the ignition:  driving twentieth century problems towards twenty-first century solutions.
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<p><a class="btn btn-large" href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:St_Andrews/metal-binding">Learn more</a></p>
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<!-- previous text: Precious metals often go unrecyled. Platinum used catalytic converters ends up in road dust. So much platinum accumulates on a 3km stretch of road in one year (60 grams) that it would sell for £2500! We envision engineered bacteria that help reclaim microscopic fragments of rare metals from these unusual sources.
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                <h1>ω−3 Fatty acids synthesis</h1>
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<h1><a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:St_Andrews/Omega-3-synthesis">ω−3 fatty acids synthesis</a></h1>
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2012/5/57/OmegaThreeLogo_100.png" align="left" />                 
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                <p>ω-3 Fatty acids are an essential component of our diet and are para-mount to maintaining human health. But as we sustain vitality in our-selves, we are ruining the planet: seafood is the main source of ω-3 fatty acids, but humanity has overfished the seas and corrupted the food chain in the process. Using the power lent by synthetic biology, we can provide a solution from the very source of ω-3 fatty acids – microalgae and cyano-bacteria that normally synthesize these molecules.</p>
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          <p>ω-3 fatty acid is a key component of the healthy human diet. The nutrient is only synthesized naturally in a handful of organisms (algae and oil-rich plants). Our team partially recreated the pathway for ω-3 production in <i>E. coli</i> using genes from the cyanobacteria <i>Synechocystis</i>, despite the difficulty of working with membrane-bound proteins. Until now, synthetic ω-3 production has only been achieved in plants.
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      <p>iGEM Team St Andrews 2012 is recreating this synthetic pathway in <i>E. coli</i>, using genes from the cyanobacteria <i>Synechocystis</i> and the trypanosomatid <i>Leishmania major</i>. Combining the DNA code for elongase and desaturase enzymes, we can convert the plain fatty acid of <i>E. coli</i> into highly valuable ω-3 fatty acids.
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                <p><a class="btn btn-large" href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:St_Andrews/Omega-3-synthesis">Learn more</a></p>
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                <h1>Scientific impact of iGEM</h1>
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<h1><a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:St_Andrews/Human-practices">Scientific impact of iGEM</a></h1>
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                 <p>We investigate the relationship between the iGEM competition and the rest of the scientific community. Is iGEM <em>really</em> having scientific impact? How often, how fairly and by whom are iGEM teams cited?</p>
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                 <p>We investigate the relationship between the iGEM competition and the rest of the scientific community. Is iGEM <em>really</em> having scientific impact? How often, how fairly and by whom are iGEM teams cited? Does the iGEM competition result in scholarly articles being published? What can guarantee continued recognition within the SynBio community?</p>
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                <p><a class="btn btn-large" href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:St_Andrews/Human-practices">Learn more</a></p>
 
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<h1><a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:St_Andrews/Modelling">The mathematics of ω-3</a></h1>
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                <h1>Modelling ω−3 depletion</h1>
 
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                 <p>We investigate the global effects of industrial omega-3 production from alternative sources using mathematical models. How quickly must this production be instated to preserve marine wildlife diversity? What happens if this is not done?</p>
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                 <p>We modelled fish population dynamics. Our result: if we continue fishing in the current manner, by 2100, only a fraction of present day biomass levels will remain.  Yet, there is hope.  Indeed, realizing Team St Andrews' alternative production of omega-3 could be the measure necessary to save our seas.  We investigated the effect that alternative production can have on future fish biomass, as well as the practicalities of preserving life in this manner.</p>
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                <p><a class="btn btn-large" href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:St_Andrews/Modelling">Learn more</a></p>
 
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                        <h2>Projects</h2> We are currently investigating two projects in the wet lab: one of which is the production of ω-3 fatty acids, and the second - making a selection of metal binding proteins.  Both projects  were inspired by the preservation of nature and the ability to re - source our resources for the future.  Mathematical and computational modelling is heavily reliant on the collection of data relating to past and present fish stocks. We combine data in new and novel ways in order to estimate the size and scale of the Omega 3 factories necessary to cope with future demand. 
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                        <h2>Human practices</h2> iGEM is known to be a large competition with hundreds of teams entering every year from all over the globe. But to what extent does their work get acknowledged? We are looking into how iGEM is cited in scientific articles, and how this affects its impact on the scientific community.
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                        <h2>Biobricks</h2> We are hoping to make biobricks capable of synthesizing ω-3 fatty acids as well as multiple biobricks capable of binding many metals with the aim of platinum group elements (PGE) and a selection of additional noble metals.
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                        <h2>Data</h2> The data that we are compiling is from varied sources of fish stocks and their nutritional content and compiling them into a single data set. This set will include biomass, biomass fished, average ω-3 fatty acid content per kilogram, natural birth rates and natural death rates.  We will also look at the types of fish being fished, and so the time taken for them to reach maturity and the proportion of the species being fished.  With this data the modeling of fish stocks over a selected period can occur and will allow us to see the approximate time where the production of ω-3 fatty acids is viable, or more likely integral.
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                     <p>The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) is the premiere undergraduate Synthetic Biology competition. Student teams are given a kit of biological parts at the beginning of the summer from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. Working at their own schools over the summer, they use these parts and new parts of their own design to build biological systems and operate them in living cells. This project design and competition format is an exceptionally motivating and effective teaching method.</p>
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                     <p>The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) is the premier undergraduate synthetic biology competition. Student teams are given a kit of biological parts at the beginning of the summer from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. Working at their own schools over the summer, they use these parts and new parts of their own design to build biological systems and operate them in living cells. This project design and competition format is an exceptionally motivating and effective teaching method.</p>
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Revision as of 01:34, 27 September 2012

St Andrews iGEM '12

StA iGEM Wiki 2012 - Home

source

University of St Andrews' team for 2012 International Genetically Engineered Machine competition

Alternative omega-3 production and novel metal recovery methods

University of St Andrews coat of arms

Metal binding protein

BBa_K925002 BBa_K925004 BBa_K925005 BBa_K925006 BBa_K925007

Precious and toxic metals from car catalysts frequently find their way into the environment. By developing metal-binding proteins, we can reverse metal aggregation on our roads. This not only reduces the environmental impact of personal transportation, but will proffer a new man-made mine of precious metals.

ω−3 fatty acids synthesis

BBa_K925000 BBa_K925001 BBa_K925003

ω-3 fatty acid is a key component of the healthy human diet. The nutrient is only synthesized naturally in a handful of organisms (algae and oil-rich plants). Our team partially recreated the pathway for ω-3 production in E. coli using genes from the cyanobacteria Synechocystis, despite the difficulty of working with membrane-bound proteins. Until now, synthetic ω-3 production has only been achieved in plants.


Scientific impact of iGEM

We investigate the relationship between the iGEM competition and the rest of the scientific community. Is iGEM really having scientific impact? How often, how fairly and by whom are iGEM teams cited? Does the iGEM competition result in scholarly articles being published? What can guarantee continued recognition within the SynBio community?


The mathematics of ω-3

We modelled fish population dynamics. Our result: if we continue fishing in the current manner, by 2100, only a fraction of present day biomass levels will remain. Yet, there is hope. Indeed, realizing Team St Andrews' alternative production of omega-3 could be the measure necessary to save our seas. We investigated the effect that alternative production can have on future fish biomass, as well as the practicalities of preserving life in this manner.

Sponsors

iGEM

The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) is the premier undergraduate synthetic biology competition. Student teams are given a kit of biological parts at the beginning of the summer from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. Working at their own schools over the summer, they use these parts and new parts of their own design to build biological systems and operate them in living cells. This project design and competition format is an exceptionally motivating and effective teaching method.

Twitter


Back to top

University of St Andrews, 2012.

Contact us: igem2012@st-andrews.ac.uk, Twitter, Facebook

This iGEM team has been funded by the MSD Scottish Life Sciences Fund. The opinions expressed by this iGEM team are those of the team members and do not necessarily represent those of Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited, nor its Affiliates.

Retrieved from "http://2012.igem.org/Team:St_Andrews"