IGEM:Harvard/2006/Brainstorming with William
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What are the synonyms for containers?
Use these terms for web searches investigating potential applications of molecular containers
- Capsules
- Containers
- Encapsulation
- Vaults
- Viruses
- Vehicles
- Vesicles
- Liposomes
- Vessels
- Boxes
- Compartments
What are the enabling features? (Can be optional features)
These are general capabilities for which there may or may not exist demand outside the field
- Rigid or defined structure
- Getting things in and out
- Non-porous → doesn't leak in or out
- Allows one to maintain different microenvironments (inside versus outside)
- Allows multiplexed microenvironments
- Selective permeability
- Ability to fuse or separate
- Caging and release
- Controlled release
- Specific targeting of container to destination
- Robotics
What are potential applications for containers?
These are applications for which one suspects there may be demand in the outside community
- Drug and gene delivery
- Issues
- Slow down the clearance time in plasma and intracellularly
- Size of pores
- Getting into cell
- Issues
- Directed evolution (compartmentalized selections)
- Chemical synthesis
- Increase effective concentration of reactants
- Using multiplexing for combinatorial synthesis
- Protein folding (chaperone)
- Capture and stabilization of multiprotein complexes
- Marker scavenging
- Cell sorting (gattaca technology)
What are demand-meeting applications for containers?
Can move items from the "potential applications" list down to this list when you can find specific examples (i.e. names of molecules involved) where a demand exists for this application; for many people, this is the only list that matters
How exactly to implement container and lid?
Biotin/streptavinin docking?
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