Team:Groningen/Project

From 2012.igem.org

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Every year, one third of global food production -1.3 billion tons of food- is thrown away, partially due to the “best before” dating system. <font color=#FF6700><b>iGEM Groningen 2012</b></font> seeks to provide an alternative method of assessing edibility: the <font color=#FF6700><b>Food Warden</b></font>. It uses an <font color=#FF6700><b>engineered strain </b></font> of <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> to detect and report volatiles in spoiling meat. The introduced <font color=#FF6700><b>genetic construct</b></font> uses a promoter to trigger a pigment coding gene. This promoter, <font color=#FF6700><b>identified by microarray analysis</b></font>, is significantly up-regulated in the presence of <font color=#FF6700><b>volatiles from spoiling meat</b></font>. The activity of the <font color=#FF6700><b>promoter</b></font> regulates the expression of the <font color=#FF6700><b>pigment reporter</b></font> and will be visible to the naked eye. For safe usage of the system, spores of our engineered strain are placed into one half of a semi-permeable <font color=#FF6700><b>capsule</b></font>, the second containing a calibrated amount of nutrients. Breaking the barrier between the two compartments allows <font color=#FF6700><b>germination and growth</b></font>, thereby activating the <font color=#FF6700><b>spoiling meat sensor</b></font>.<br><br>  
Every year, one third of global food production -1.3 billion tons of food- is thrown away, partially due to the “best before” dating system. <font color=#FF6700><b>iGEM Groningen 2012</b></font> seeks to provide an alternative method of assessing edibility: the <font color=#FF6700><b>Food Warden</b></font>. It uses an <font color=#FF6700><b>engineered strain </b></font> of <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> to detect and report volatiles in spoiling meat. The introduced <font color=#FF6700><b>genetic construct</b></font> uses a promoter to trigger a pigment coding gene. This promoter, <font color=#FF6700><b>identified by microarray analysis</b></font>, is significantly up-regulated in the presence of <font color=#FF6700><b>volatiles from spoiling meat</b></font>. The activity of the <font color=#FF6700><b>promoter</b></font> regulates the expression of the <font color=#FF6700><b>pigment reporter</b></font> and will be visible to the naked eye. For safe usage of the system, spores of our engineered strain are placed into one half of a semi-permeable <font color=#FF6700><b>capsule</b></font>, the second containing a calibrated amount of nutrients. Breaking the barrier between the two compartments allows <font color=#FF6700><b>germination and growth</b></font>, thereby activating the <font color=#FF6700><b>spoiling meat sensor</b></font>.<br><br>  

Revision as of 14:00, 24 September 2012






Abstract









Every year, one third of global food production -1.3 billion tons of food- is thrown away, partially due to the “best before” dating system. iGEM Groningen 2012 seeks to provide an alternative method of assessing edibility: the Food Warden. It uses an engineered strain of Bacillus subtilis to detect and report volatiles in spoiling meat. The introduced genetic construct uses a promoter to trigger a pigment coding gene. This promoter, identified by microarray analysis, is significantly up-regulated in the presence of volatiles from spoiling meat. The activity of the promoter regulates the expression of the pigment reporter and will be visible to the naked eye. For safe usage of the system, spores of our engineered strain are placed into one half of a semi-permeable capsule, the second containing a calibrated amount of nutrients. Breaking the barrier between the two compartments allows germination and growth, thereby activating the spoiling meat sensor.


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