Team:DTU-Denmark
Our Team
We are DTU BioBuilders, the iGEM team of the Technical University of Denmark. We study biotechnolgy, bioinformatics, mathematical modelling, environmental engineering and biomedical engineering. Our team consists of 13 graduates and 3 undergraduates. In addition, we have 3 highschool students assisting us in the lab. Our team members come from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, China and Poland. This year we tackle substrate utilization in cell factories and this is our wiki:
The brainstorm
We tried to identify a project that meets the following criteria:
- Identify a local challenge that has a global impact.
- To tackle iGEM with a "Cell Factory Engineering"- perspective
- Make a novel contribution to the biobrick registry
The problem: Waste
In Denmark today, less than half the waste produced is recycled, which means that more than 3.5 million tons get burned off each year.
We have abundant waste streams from the industry such as glycerol from biodiesel production, byproducts from rapeseed production, used cooking oil and ordinary household waste.
Cell factories are becoming an increasing factor in the industry today, where different microorganisms are utilized to produce various compounds from therapeutics, organic acids, food additives etc. Currently however, the sustainability of these industrial processes is limited by the narrow substrate range of the organisms used. The most common feeds in use are simple carbohydrates such as glucose produced by enzymatic hydrolysis from edible plants such as maize, rice and wheat.
Aim of our project
This project aims to develop the chassis for a versatile and efficient cell factory that can transform abundant waste streams into valuable products using Yarrowia lipolytica and state of the art genetic editing techniques.
Our contribution: a molecular toolbox
The reason why Y. lipolytica has not been implemented in industry yet is the current lack of tools for genetic engineering.
In our project, we develop and test tools for Y. lipolytica. This set will standardized and based on CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing. Y. lipolytica naturally comes with a high potential for biotechnological applications. By using our toolbox, anyone will be able to easily customize the genome to their needs.
