Our Project
Through the application of Fast Cloning, we were able to successfully create a biobrick consisting of trkH and the pSB1C3 backbone. The construct was isolated from two separate overnight cultures and was verified through PCR using the VF and VF2 primers and gel electrophoresis. As the first iGEM team at UConn to compete at the Giant Jamboree, we were able to satisfy the bronze medal requirements by constructing and amplifying our first biobrick. The goal of this project was to obtain lab experience and practice with the basic techniques we will be needing for future iGEM projects. Hopefully, in building and training the iGEM team to successfully complete this year’s project, we are now closer to becoming experienced iGEM-ers who can help train and teach new team members. As a result, this year’s UConn iGEM project was more of an introduction of what will be a journey of team development. As possible future work, we will work on studying the effects of Trk overexpression in Escherichia coli on E. coli uptake, and also the efficiency of the uptake compared to established methods of thallium removal. Furthermore, we will explore whether we can cause E. coli to chemotax towards Tl+ so as to obtain a means of targeting Tl+ in solution rather than having to rely on Brownian motion of Tl+ and the random movements of E. coli for uptake.
