Team:TU-Eindhoven/Notebook/Before

• Introduction
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• Project
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  • Initial model
  • Yeast model
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• Notebook
  • Before week 1
  • Week 1
  • Week 2
  • Week 3
  • Week 4
  • Week 5
  • Week 6
  • Week 7
  • Week 8
  • Week 9
  • Week 10
  • Week 11
  • Week 12
  • After week 12
  • Lab protocols
• Partners
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  • Team collaborations
  • Attributions and Contributions
  • Our sponsors

Selection of the project

In order to make a chance to reach the iGEM competition finals, we have to choose an impressing project! To be inventive, it is important to know what is renewing within the field of synthetic biology and within the iGEM competition. Therefore, we regarded all projects of previous years and discussed the most remarkable projects during several group meetings. Furthermore, all new and interesting articles of the ‘Science’ and ‘Nature’ journals have been read.

To stimulate the creativity within the group, we held a brainstorm session. We came up with a great variety of topics, from bacterial anti-aging cream to oil detecting bacteria and from bio batteries to anti-hangover medicines. Of all these subjects, the most interesting and most significant topics were chosen to be elaborated. After extensive research and decision making, we presented our four remaining topics to our supervisors:

• Bacterial CSI
• Facebook
• Tumortargeting
• TV Screen

Together we considered the possibilities and limitations of the knowledge and technical and biological requirements of the Eindhoven University of Technology. Because of many uncertainties, ethical problems and the lack of guarantees for results, we ended up with our final topic: building a television screen using genetically engineered yeast cells!

Let’s start!

So finally we decided on our project… Yet it’s time to start our biggest challenge in science! Before the first week of the summer, the project of the iGEM team of Valencia in 2009 was our basic guideline. We did not only read their wiki, but also considered their outlook, tips and bibliography.

We discovered their use of a model of sympathetic ganglion `B' type cells of a bullfrog as described in Methods in Neuronal Modeling: From Synapses to Networks ^[1]. The large amount of Spanish comments in their MATLAB model made it even more difficult for us to understand the link between yeast cells and these neural cells, so therefore we decided to remake this model. We were able to do so, performed a complete parameter sensitivity analysis, tried to adapt this model to the characteristics of yeast cells and finally had to decide that this model simply does not fit the calcium homeostasis in yeast cells … :’-( Let’s create a new model…

Exploring the lab

Unfortunately most of our lab team members never worked in a biochemical lab before. We were used to the basics of wetwork, but performing a PCR was completely new to us. We just started to work with the yeast cells provided and made a lot of mistakes, but during the weeks we created more and more feeling with the wetwork and the possibilities of our field of interest, the yeast cells! We made a first design of the device in collaboration with the Equipment and Prototype Centre at the Technical University of Eindhoven.

References

• [1] iGEM Valencia 2009, Light Emitting Cell