Difference between revisions of "Team:Concordia"

Combat Cells!

This year, Concordia University’s iGEM team aims to adapt the popular and engaging TV show Robot Wars, in which teams design and battle robots, and incorporate our spin for the synthetic biology community. Our project consists of equipping cells with nanoparticles and have them battle one another, with the intention of creating a broadcast acting as a medium through which we can entertain, educate, and inspire the public to participate in synthetic biology. The project involves three phases: nanoparticle synthesis, nanoparticle attachment, and analysis of cell survival on a microfluidic chip. Ultimately, we envision a multi-team league in which every team has a unique nanoparticle synthesis and attachment strategy. This year, we will focus on the proof of concept: to develop an optimized method to synthesize and attach nanoparticles on the surface of cells, to enhance nanoparticle-coated cell survival in different chemical conditions, and to characterize and observe the interactions occurring between coated cells. Our plan of action begins with nanoparticle synthesis using published, plant-based methods, which allows us to control the shapes and sizes of the nanoparticles. We will then aim to optimize a method to attach our nanoparticles to the external cell walls of bacterial and eukaryotic model systems. Once a functional synthesis and attachment method have been established, nanoparticle-coated cells will be isolated in droplets using microfluidic technologies. Within these microfluidic chips, we will assay survival based on the presence/absence of a coloured pigment as a consequence of the cell wall being permeabilized or ruptured.