Team:Nevada

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Revision as of 16:55, 4 September 2012

Even though white rice is a major source of calories for over half the world’s population, it is a poor source of vitamins. While rice can be fortified using vitamin powders, such approaches have had limited success because many vitamins are leeched away during the washing process prior to cooking. To address this problem, we have engineered proteins that will adhere nutrients to rice grains and prevent losses. These proteins contain a starch-binding domain that is fused to specific nutrient-binding domains. Because rice is composed mainly of starch, the starch-binding domain prevents nutrient leeching during washing. Upon cooking, the nutrient-binding domain denatures and releases the nutrients into the cooked rice. Supplementing rice with these fusion proteins will provide a novel, non-GMO approach to fortifying rice with vitamins. Our team has created fusion proteins with a starch-binding domain connected to a Vitamin b12-binding domain, a thiamine-binding domain, a lysine-rich protein, and a red fluorescent protein.

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+Even though white rice is a major source of calories for over half the world’s population, it is a poor source of vitamins. While rice can be fortified using vitamin powders, such approaches have had limited success because many vitamins are leeched away during the washing process prior to cooking. To address this problem, we have engineered proteins that will adhere nutrients to rice grains and prevent losses. These proteins contain a starch-binding domain that is fused to specific nutrient-binding domains. Because rice is composed mainly of starch, the starch-binding domain prevents nutrient leeching during washing. Upon cooking, the nutrient-binding domain denatures and releases the nutrients into the cooked rice. Supplementing rice with these fusion proteins will provide a novel, non-GMO approach to fortifying rice with vitamins. Our team has created fusion proteins with a starch-binding domain connected to a Vitamin b12-binding domain, a thiamine-binding domain, a lysine-rich protein, and a red fluorescent protein.
-        Even though rice is a staple crop for half of the world's population, it lacks many of the essential nutrients necessary for healthy living. Additionally, vitamins and minerals cannot be added directly to rice, because they are lost or destroyed in the  processing of the grains. Three specific nutrients that have been observed to be lacking in many people's diets to the detriment of their health are vitamin B12, thiamine, and the amino acid lysine.
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-	In order to address these problems, we aim to engineer protein supplements for rice. As white rice grains are almost exclusively made up of starch, these supplements will connect a starch-binding protein to combinations of a vitamin B12-binding protein, a thiamine-binding protein, and a lysine-rich protein. The use of the starch-binding protein will ensure that the nutrients we have chosen to add will adhere to the rice and remain bound even through its preparation. Ultimately, the goal is to transform these protein genes into rice plants, which can be distributed to and cultivated by the specific populations who need them. Successful expression of our team's supplements and successful adherence of the target nutrients to rice with the addition of the supplements will demonstrate that eventually, transgenic rice plants customized to bind a variety of nutrients are achievable.
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