Difference between revisions of "Team:Exeter"

Line 584: Line 584:
 
<div id="project" class="link_fix"></div>
 
<div id="project" class="link_fix"></div>
 
<a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Project" id="sectionGap">
 
<a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Project" id="sectionGap">
−
Project
+
Our Project
 
</a>
 
</a>
 
<!--Sorted out #pp styling-->
 
<!--Sorted out #pp styling-->
−
<p id="pp">
+
−
<!--P1-->Biosafety is an important issue facing synthetic biology. Concerns surrounding synthetic organisms escaping into the environment has prompted the development of novel methods of bio-containment. Despite this, kill switches - inducible genetic devices that cause cell death - are poorly categorised in the standard registry of genetic parts. There is a distinct lack of quantitative data which prevents them being used with confidence.</p>
+
<!--P1-->
 +
 +
<br>
 +
<h6>How reliable is your kill switch?</h6>
 +
 +
<p id="pp">Biosafety is an important issue facing synthetic biology and concerns
 +
surrounding synthetic organisms escaping into the environment has prompted
 +
the development of novel methods of bio-containment. Many iGEM projects that
 +
require an organism to be released from the lab use kill switches to address
 +
concerns about the effect of GMOs on the environment. Unfortunately, kill switches
 +
- inducible genetic devices that cause cell death - are poorly categorised in
 +
the standard registry of genetic parts. There is a distinct lack of quantitative  
 +
data which prevents them being used with confidence.</p>
 +
 +
<p id="pp">Our project seeks to investigate the effectiveness of different types of kill switch,
 +
to quantify their robustness after several generations and compare the stability of these
 +
devices when integrated into the genome or carried on a plasmid. We hope to improve the standard
 +
of biosafety in the synthetic biology community and provide valuable data for the field to move forward.</p>
  
−
<p id="pp">Many iGEM projects that focus on bioremediation or require an organism to be released from the lab use kill switches to address concerns about the effect of GMOs on the environment. Our project seeks to investigate the effectiveness of different types of kill switch.We want to quantify their robustness after several generations and compare the stability of these devices when integrated into the genome or carried on a plasmid. We are testing three types of kill switch: a chemical kill switch using the fluorescent proteins KillerOrange and KillerRed, an enzymatic kill switch that lyses the cell on production and a DNAse kill switch that targets DNA disruption.
+
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
<h5><q style="margin:auto;display:block;"><i>Insert quote from Marcus about how kill switches aren't very good.</i></q></h5>
 +
 +
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
<center><p id="pp"><strong>We have designed and tested three types of kill switch:</strong></p></center>
  
−
</p>
+
<br>
−
+
 
−
<!--<div class="col-sm-4 col-xs-12">
+
<center><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/3/37/T--Exeter--Home_Lab1.jpeg" style= "margin-left:250px;width:22vw; height:44vh;margin: 0px 20px;">
−
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/a/ad/T--Exeter--Home_project_img.jpg" style="max-width:40%;float:right;display:block;padding-left:30px;">
+
 
−
</div>-->
+
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/7/74/T--Exeter--Home_KillerRed.jpeg" style="width:22vw;height:44vh;margin: 0px 100px;">  
−
<div class="col-xs-12">
+
−
+
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/3/37/T--Exeter--Home_Lab1.jpeg" style=" margin-right:40px; width:22vw; height:44vh;margin: 0px 70pxr;"></center>
−
<!--Positions "Next Section" arrow in div-->
+
 
−
</div>
+
 
−
+
<br>  
−
+
<ol id="pp">
−
</p>
+
<li style="margin-left: 40px"><strong><a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Parts">KillerRed and KillerOrange</a></strong>: These homologues of GFP produce
 +
high levels of ROS, which lyse the cell and also damage DNA.
 +
</li>
 
 
 +
<br>
 
 
−
 
 
 
−
<div class="col-xs-12">
+
<li style="margin-left: 40px"><strong><a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Parts">Lysosyme C</a></strong>: This is a common enzyme used in laboratories in
 +
the <i>Gallus gallus</i> form and is the basis of our enzymatic kill switch.
 +
When transported into the periplasm of gram
 +
negative bacteria it causes lysis by hydrolysing the glycosidic bond connecting
 +
N-acetylmuramic acid and N-acetylglucosamine, breaking down the peptidoglycan
 +
of the cell wall. T
 +
</li>
 +
 +
 
 +
 +
<br>
 +
 
 +
<li style="margin-left: 40px"><a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Parts"><strong>DNAse 1</strong></a>: This is an endonuclease that non-specifically
 +
cleaves DNA.</li>
 +
</ol>
 +
 +
<p id="pp"><i>You can find our models the time taken for cell lysis for these 3 kill switches <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Project">here</a></i></p>
 +
 +
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
<h6>What is a kill switch?</h6>
 +
 +
<p id="pp">We have been working hard to try to uncover what people think a kill switch is.
 +
We have been interviewing acedemics, key public science figures and university
 +
students what they think it means and how they view biosafety as a whole. You can find out more <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Human_Practices">here</a>.</p>
 +
 +
<br>
 +
<br>
 +
 +
<h6>Synthetic Biology Education</h6>
 +
 
 
−
<!--Positions "Next Section" arrow in div-->
 
−
<div>
 
−
<a id="Section_link" href="#humanpractices" style="display:block;margin:20px auto 0 auto;width:14px;"><span style="color:#47BCC2;font-size: 25px;" class="glyphicon glyphicon-menu-down" aria-hidden="true"></span></a>
 
−
</div>
 
−
</div>
 
−
</div>
 
−
<div class="col-xs-12 div_content">
 
−
<div id="humanpractices" class="link_fix"></div>
 
−
<a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Human_Practices" id="sectionGap">
 
−
Human Practices
 
−
</a>
 
−
 
 
<p id="pp" style="padding-left:40px;">
 
<p id="pp" style="padding-left:40px;">
−
<!--P1-->Our Human Practices is centred around improving public engagement and tackling the lack of education of synthetic biology in the UK and overseas. In particular we are targeting education at a secondary school and university level, focusing on the interdisciplinary nature of the subject and assessing diversity. We want to highlight the benefits and potential applications of this new scientific field, as well as trying to uncover the reasons why synthetic biology doesn’t get as much positive attention as it should have.</p>
+
 +
<!--P1-->Our Human Practices is centred around improving public engagement  
 +
 +
and tackling the lack of education of synthetic biology in the UK and overseas.  
 +
In particular we are targeting education at a secondary school and university level,
 +
focusing on the interdisciplinary nature of the subject and assessing diversity.  
 +
We want to highlight the benefits and potential applications of this new scientific field,  
 +
as well as trying to uncover the reasons why synthetic biology doesn’t get as much positive  
 +
attention as it should have. </p>
  
 
<p id="pp">
 
<p id="pp">
−
<!--P1-->We are working hard to introduce a new synthetic biology module to The University of Exeter’s curriculum, which will be available to students as soon as September 2017. For school children we have created a board game, BioMech, which educates students in key synthetic biology concepts in an easy to understand and engaging way. Furthermore, we have visited school and fairs, giving talks and running workshops where we aim to give children an introduction to what synthetic biology is and how it already affects their lives for the better.</p>
+
<!--P1-->We are working hard to introduce a new synthetic biology module to  
 +
The University of Exeter’s curriculum, which will be available to students as soon as September 2017 and has a large emphasis on
 +
biosafety.
 +
For school children we have created a board game, <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Human_Practices">BioMech</a>, which educates students in key synthetic biology
 +
concepts in an easy to understand and engaging way. Furthermore, we have visited school and fairs, giving  
 +
talks and running workshops where we aim to give children an introduction to what synthetic biology is and  
 +
how it already affects their lives for the better.</p>
  
 
<p id="pp">
 
<p id="pp">
−
<!--P1-->By interviewing researchers, academics and other professionals within the scientific community and presenting their opinions in a fun and educational way, we hope to have made synthetic biology a more attractive discipline to the general public.
+
<!--P1-->By interviewing researchers, academics and other professionals within the scientific community
−
 
+
and presenting their opinions in a fun and educational way, we hope to have made synthetic biology a more
−
</p>
+
attractive discipline to the general public. </p>
 +
 +
 +
 
 
 
<div class="col-xs-12">
 
<div class="col-xs-12">
Line 642: Line 704:
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
</div>
−
<div class="col-xs-12 div_content">
+
−
<div id="parts" class="link_fix"></div>
+
−
<a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Parts" id="sectionGap">
+
−
Parts
+
−
</a>
+
−
<div class="col-xs-8">
+
−
<p id="pp" style="padding-left:40px;">
+
−
<!--P1-->
+
−
</p>
+
−
</div>
+
−
<!--Positions "Next Section" arrow in div-->
+
−
<div>
+
−
<a id="Section_link" href="#team" style="display:block;margin:20px auto 0 auto;width:14px;"><span style="color:#47BCC2;font-size: 25px;" class="glyphicon glyphicon-menu-down" aria-hidden="true"></span></a>
+
−
</div>
+
−
</div>
+
−
<div class="col-xs-12 div_content">
+
−
<div id="team" class="link_fix"></div>
+
−
<a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Team" id="sectionGap">
+
−
Team
+
−
</a>
+
−
<div class="col-sm-8 col-xs-12">
+
−
<!--Manually adding  pixel padding over percent. This is because-->
+
−
<!--When using columns of different sizes, the percentage margin-->
+
−
<!--used in #pp causes two paragraphs to be out of line.-->
+
−
<p id="pp" style="padding-left:40px;">
+
−
<!--P1-->
+
−
</p>
+
−
</div>
+
−
+
−
<p id="pp">We are Exeter University’s 2016 iGEM team made up of first,
+
−
second and third year students from a wide variety of disciplines. We want
+
−
to address the question ‘what makes something a kill switch?’ as well as
+
−
helping to distinguish synthetic biology as a positive tool that can be
+
−
used to combat key problems from multiple scientific fields. </p>
+
−
+
 
 
 
 
Line 682: Line 710:
 
<img src="pic6.png" style="max-width:70%;">
 
<img src="pic6.png" style="max-width:70%;">
 
</div>
 
</div>
−
<div class="col-xs-12">
 
−
<p id="pp" style="padding-left:40px;">
 
−
<!--P2-->
 
−
</p>
 
−
<!--Positions "Next Section" arrow in div-->
 
−
<div>
 
−
<a id="Section_link" href="#modelling" style="display:block;margin:20px auto 0 auto;width:14px;"><span style="color:#47BCC2;font-size: 25px;" class="glyphicon glyphicon-menu-down" aria-hidden="true"></span></a>
 
−
</div>
 
−
</div>
 
−
</div>
 
−
<div class="col-xs-12 div_content">
 
−
<div id="modelling" class="link_fix"></div>
 
−
<a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Exeter/Modelling" id="sectionGap">
 
−
Modelling
 
−
</a>
 
 
 
−
<p id="pp" style="padding-left:40px;">
 
−
Our team has decided to models for our 3 different types of kill
 
−
switch:</p>
 
−
 
−
<ol id="pp">
 
−
<li><strong>KillerRed and KillerOrange models</strong>: These homologues of GFP produce
 
−
high levels of ROS, which lyse the cell and also damage the DNA.
 
−
We have modelled the death of cells that express KillerRed or KillerOrange
 
−
over time.</li>
 
−
 
−
<li><strong>Lysozyme C model</strong>: Lysozyme is a common enzyme used in laboratories and
 
−
the <i>Gallus gallus</i> form is basis of our enzymatic kill switch.
 
−
It is bacteriolytic when transported into the periplasm of gram
 
−
negative bacteria, hydrolysing the glycosidic bond connecting
 
−
N-acetylmuramic acid and N-acetylglucosamine. We have modelled
 
−
the time it takes for lysozyme c to break down the peptidoglycan
 
−
which makes up the cell wall. </li>
 
−
 
−
<li><strong>DNAse 1 model</strong>: DNase 1 is an endonuclease that non-specifically
 
−
cleaves DNA. We are modelling the time it takes this enzyme
 
−
to  degrade DNA and kill the cell.</li>
 
−
</ol>
 
−
 
−
 
−
 
−
 
−
 
−
<hr style="width:95%;display:block;margin:0 auto;" />
 
−
<div class="col-xs-12">
 
−
<p id="pp" style="padding-left:40px;">
 
−
<!--P1-->
 
−
</p>
 
−
                                                              <!--Positions "Next Section" arrow in div-->
 
−
<div>
 
−
<a id="Section_link" href="#modelling" style="display:block;margin:20px auto 0 auto;width:14px;"><span style="color:#47BCC2;font-size: 25px;" class="glyphicon glyphicon-menu-down" aria-hidden="true"></span></a>
 
−
</div>
 
−
</div>
 
−
</div>
 
 
 
 
</div>
 
</div>

Revision as of 14:31, 8 September 2016