BYU iGEM/Papers: Difference between revisions
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==Our Goals== | ==Our Goals== | ||
"Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States when men and women | |||
"Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States when men and women are considered separately, and the second leading cause when both sexes are combined." | |||
-American Cancer Society | -American Cancer Society | ||
Revision as of 14:17, 14 January 2011
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Who We Are
In keeping with BYU's tradition of excellence, our team will represent the university at the iGEM competition in Boston later this year. This will be the first year that a team from BYU will be competing and we plan to demonstrate what Cougars are capable of. Our team is composed of nine undergraduate students with future ambitions in bioengineering, medicine, dentistry, software engineering, and research. Our nine members not only represent nine states: Ohio, Virginia, Utah, Arizona, California, New York, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico, but also speak six languages: Portuguese, Cape Verdean Creole, Spanish, Thai, Italian, Japanese, and…English!
Our Goals
"Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States when men and women are considered separately, and the second leading cause when both sexes are combined." -American Cancer Society
This statistic is staggering. Being able to detect potentially malignant poylps early in the disease's progression is helping reduce these numbers. But what if we could detect colon cancer even before a polyp develops? Our goal is to develop a robust and accurate early warning platform, capable of detecting colon cancer when it is still in its early cellular stages. We will engineer E. Coli, a bacteria already present in the intestinal tract of each person, to detect the unique byproducts of colon cancer and report its presence to the diseased individual.
How You Can Help
Our ability to compete depends on having access to sufficient funds and high quality laboratory materials. Below is a list of supplies that are essential to our success.
Fundamental Supplies 1000 1.5mL microcentrifuge tubes 2 PCR optimization kits and enough buffer & reagents for 500 reactions 1000 15mL conical vials 1000 50mL conical vials 5000 p200 pipette tips 5000 p1000 pipette tips 500 p10 pipette tips 250 5mL disposable pipettes 250 10mL disposable pipettes 250 25mL disposable pipettes 1kg bacterial growth media 1kg yeast growth media 2g ampicillin 2g tetracycline 2g kanamyocin $1500 for plasmid vectors Plasmid isolation kits - enough to do 1000 reactions
By donating funds or providing any of the supplies below, you will contribute to the success of BYU, its team members, and the survival and quality of life of those afflicted with colon cancer everywhere.
