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Team:St Andrews
From 2012.igem.org
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This website is under construction, but feel free to browse! It'll be completely ready by autumn.We're in week 8 out of 10 of the iGEM project.
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University of St Andrews team for the 2012 International Genetically Engineered Machine competition
Solving the resource problems of the twenty-first century
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: resourcing
Metal binding protein
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.
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!
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 E. coli 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.
ω−3 Fatty acids synthesis
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.
iGEM Team St Andrews 2012 is recreating this synthetic pathway in E. coli, using genes from the cyanobacteria Synechocystis and the trypanosomatid Leishmania major. Combining the DNA code for elongase and desaturase enzymes, we can convert the plain fatty acid of E. coli into highly valuable ω-3 fatty acids.
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?
Modelling ω−3 depletion
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?
Projects
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.Human practices
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.Biobricks
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.Data
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.Sponsors
iGEM
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.
