Team:Stanford-Brown/HellCell/Introduction

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== '''Hell Cell''' ==
== '''Hell Cell''' ==
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Many uses for synthetic biology require survival and function in extreme conditions. Bioreactors and biomining often involve considerable heat and pressure. Other examples include medical use in the digestive system, requiring acid tolerance. Most of all, the potential of bioengineering in space depends critically on the ability to resist the harsh conditions outside of Earth’s atmosphere. For example, applications for Martian colonization must take cold, radiation, and desiccation into account. To these ends, we plan to further unlock the potential of synthetic biology by creating a suite of biobricks to provide resistance to extreme temperatures, pH, radiation, and desiccation. In particular, we will likely characterize the functionality and efficacy of these genes in ''E. coli'', simply due to its ubiquity in biology.
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What is the scope of life on Earth and what are its limits? Is it possible for earthly life to survive the harsh conditions of space and other planets? Frigid cold, blasting radiation, dehydrating desiccation, and harsh pH changes are just a few of the extremes that such life would have to face. Does such a resilient life form exist?
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Explore the other pages to see exactly which conditions we are investigating, and which organisms we are isolating genes from! Stay tuned for more detailed pathway illustrations and updates!
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These are the questions that the synthetic astrobiologists of the Hell Cell squad investigated. Taking inspiration from the myriad extremophilic wonders of this Earth, we attempted to find out what is essential to their endurance and which genes can be mapped to these qualities. Armed with this information, we have attempted to create genes that can be used in synergy to custom-engineer extremophilic ''Escherichia coli''. This attempt was meant to be the first steps in standardizing BioBricks for such astrobiological purposes, and the aim was to produce a robust “toolbox” of resistance-conferring genes.

Revision as of 01:13, 1 October 2012


Hell Cell

What is the scope of life on Earth and what are its limits? Is it possible for earthly life to survive the harsh conditions of space and other planets? Frigid cold, blasting radiation, dehydrating desiccation, and harsh pH changes are just a few of the extremes that such life would have to face. Does such a resilient life form exist?

These are the questions that the synthetic astrobiologists of the Hell Cell squad investigated. Taking inspiration from the myriad extremophilic wonders of this Earth, we attempted to find out what is essential to their endurance and which genes can be mapped to these qualities. Armed with this information, we have attempted to create genes that can be used in synergy to custom-engineer extremophilic Escherichia coli. This attempt was meant to be the first steps in standardizing BioBricks for such astrobiological purposes, and the aim was to produce a robust “toolbox” of resistance-conferring genes.

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