IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Icgems_project-matrix.jpg|center]]
===VesoCops - Imperial College iGEM 2007 Team===
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===Summary===
[[image:IC07_biofilm.png|thumb|right|330px|Infector Detector]]
'''Engineering biology 'in-veso' - Imperial College iGEM 2007 team'''<br>
The Imperial College iGEM 2007 team consists of ten 2nd year undergraduates from Bioengineering and Bioscience. This year, we are engineering '''VesoCops''', biological systems that report the presence of nasty bacteria. Under the Cell-Free Intelligence (CFI), we have two divisions:
* First, a surveillance team called '''Cell By Date''' that determines when food is spoilt more accurately than printed sell by dates. It exploits the thermal dependence of the rate of expression of a simple reporter system.
* The second division consists of an undercover team - '''Infector Detector''', which detects biofilms that are antibiotic-resistant and a major source of infection in hospitals. This system makes use of Lux quorum sensing to eavesdrop on the communication between biofilm-forming bacteria.
 


The Imperial College iGEM 2007 team consists of ten undergraduate students, as well as a number of graduate students and faculty supervisors.The aim of our project is to '''characterise new chassis with the hope of unlocking new potential in simple constructs'''. To date, work on synthetic biology has been done using the chassis of bacterial cells. However the use of living, replicating engineered bacteria has severe limitations : in terms of the range of applications possible due to health risk bacteria pose, in terms of the fidelity of systems due to mutations and in terms of the quality of our system response due to poor signal to noise ratio.  We Plan to compare and characterise the traditional E. coli chassis with several alternatives : in-vitro chassis composed of E. coli cytoplasmic extracts and 'in-veso' chassis  (E. coli cytoplasmic extracts encapsulated in phospholipid vesicles) in the hope that they will be less limiting.  To illustrate the benefits of these new non-living cell-free chassis we have two exciting applications in mind.  Firstly '''Cell By Date''', a device that determines when food is spoilt more accurately than estimates used to construct printed sell by dates. It acts as a thermal exposure device exploiting the thermal dependence of the rate of expression of a simple reporter system. Our Second application is '''Infector Detector''', a system that detects biofilms on catheters and produces a fluorescent output. Biofilms are a critical problem in hospitals as they cause infections and are resistant to antibiotics. Our Infector Detector makes use of the Lux quorum sensing system to detect AHL secreted by the bacteria constituting a biofilm. This is analogous to eavesdropping on the communication between biofilm-forming bacteria. '''Through our two applications : Cell By Date and Infector Detector we hope to show that using non-living Cell-Free Chassis we can take a step forward in terms of integrating synthetic biology with our everyday lives in a meaningful, safe way.''' Our project strategy is based on the engineering cycle, of which we have completed specification and design of the systems. We are starting on modelling and implementation and we aim to test our final constructs in the different chassis for our two fantastic applications.
[[image:IC07_cellbydate.png|thumb|left|340px|Cell By Date]]
Our contribution to the synthetic biology community will be the investigation of a '''Cell-Free Chassis''', the common platform on which '''Cell By Date''' and '''Infector Detector''' will be built. The cell-free approach is particularly useful for VesoCops to operate in the medical and food industries. We believe that the characterization of this cell-free chassis will unlock fresh potential in simple constructs. Our project strategy is based on the '''Engineering Cycle''', of which we have completed specifications and design of the systems. We are starting on modelling and implementation, and we aim to test our final constructs in the new chassis. We hope that by the end of the summer, the VesoCops will be ready to start their investigations.


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==Project Outlook==
<center>
{| style="background:#F5FAFF; border: 1px solid #aabadd; cellpadding:3px; color:Black; font-size:1.2em;"
|- style="background:#aabadd; color:Black"
| style="background:#6699cc" | '''Chassis Characterization /<br>Applications'''
|| [[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/chassis|'''Introduction''']] || '''''In vivo''''' || '''''In vitro''''' || [[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/In-Veso|'''''In veso''''']] || '''Basis for Comparison'''
|- style="background:#d5e9d7"
| style="background:#a4d4b0" | [[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Biofilm Detector|'''Biofilm Detector''']]
||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|- style="background:#FFDAB9"
| style="background:#FFA07A" | [[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/Cell By Date|'''Cell By Date''']]
||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|- style="background:#d4cae2"
| style="background:#aa99c5" | [[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/Hrp System|'''Hrp System''']]
||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|}
</center>
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===Common Resources===
==Projects==
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/Cell By Date|Cell By Date]]===
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Biofilm Detector|Infector Detector]]===


====[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/DNA Constructs|DNA Constructs]]====
==Chassis characterisation==
DNA constructs for all our projects.
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/In-Veso|In-Veso Gene Expression]]===


====[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/General Protocols | General Protocols]]====
==Resources==
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Experimental Design| Experimental Design]]===
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/DNA Constructs|DNA Constructs]]===
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Notebook/General Protocols | General Protocols]]===
Protocols being used by all projects. Examples:
Protocols being used by all projects. Examples:
* Plasmid preparation
* Plasmid preparation
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* Restriction digest
* Restriction digest
* Ligation
* Ligation
 
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/Lab Notebook|Lab Notebook]]===
====[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/Reporters | Reporters]]====
A notebook of the daily activities in the lab
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/Reporters | Reporters]]===
Any reporters that might be used for the projects
Any reporters that might be used for the projects
==[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/Lab Notebook|Lab Notebook]]==
Follow the link above to the team's lab notebook
==Chassis characterisation==
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/chassis|Chassis]]===
===In-vivo===
===In-vitro===
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/In-Veso|In-Veso Gene Expression]]===
==Applications==
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/Hrp System|Hrp System]]===
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Projects/Cell By Date|Cell By Date]]===
===[[IGEM:IMPERIAL/2007/Biofilm Detector|Biofilm Detector]]===

Latest revision as of 01:58, 14 August 2007


VesoCops - Imperial College iGEM 2007 Team

Infector Detector

The Imperial College iGEM 2007 team consists of ten 2nd year undergraduates from Bioengineering and Bioscience. This year, we are engineering VesoCops, biological systems that report the presence of nasty bacteria. Under the Cell-Free Intelligence (CFI), we have two divisions:

  • First, a surveillance team called Cell By Date that determines when food is spoilt more accurately than printed sell by dates. It exploits the thermal dependence of the rate of expression of a simple reporter system.
  • The second division consists of an undercover team - Infector Detector, which detects biofilms that are antibiotic-resistant and a major source of infection in hospitals. This system makes use of Lux quorum sensing to eavesdrop on the communication between biofilm-forming bacteria.


Cell By Date

Our contribution to the synthetic biology community will be the investigation of a Cell-Free Chassis, the common platform on which Cell By Date and Infector Detector will be built. The cell-free approach is particularly useful for VesoCops to operate in the medical and food industries. We believe that the characterization of this cell-free chassis will unlock fresh potential in simple constructs. Our project strategy is based on the Engineering Cycle, of which we have completed specifications and design of the systems. We are starting on modelling and implementation, and we aim to test our final constructs in the new chassis. We hope that by the end of the summer, the VesoCops will be ready to start their investigations.



Projects

Cell By Date

Infector Detector

Chassis characterisation

In-Veso Gene Expression

Resources

Experimental Design

DNA Constructs

General Protocols

Protocols being used by all projects. Examples:

  • Plasmid preparation
  • Plasmid extraction
  • Restriction digest
  • Ligation

Lab Notebook

A notebook of the daily activities in the lab

Reporters

Any reporters that might be used for the projects

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