Team:UGA-Georgia

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{|align="justify"
 
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|You can write a background of your team here.  Give us a background of your team, the members, etc.  Or tell us more about something of your choosing.
 
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|[[Image:UGA-Georgia_logo.png|200px|right|frame]]
 
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''Tell us more about your project.  Give us background.  Use this as the abstract of your project.  Be descriptive but concise (1-2 paragraphs)''
 
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|align="center"|[[Team:UGA-Georgia | Team UGA-Georgia]]
 
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!align="center"|[[Team:UGA-Georgia|Home]]
 
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!align="center"|[[Team:UGA-Georgia/Team|Team]]
 
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!align="center"|[https://igem.org/Team.cgi?year=2013&team_name=UGA-Georgia Official Team Profile]
 
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!align="center"|[[Team:UGA-Georgia/Project|Project]]
 
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!align="center"|[[Team:UGA-Georgia/Modeling|Modeling]]
 
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=Welcome to the University of Georgia 2013 iGEM Team Wiki!=
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'''''Welcome to the University of Georgia 2013 iGEM Team Wiki!'''''
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[[Image:Edinburgh-[[File:Example.jpg]]Panorama.jpg]]
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== Introduction: Global problems ==
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* It has been predicted that by 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and natural gas will no longer keep up with demand. This prediction is based on the current rate of consumption, but this is expect to increase. The repercussions of this are already being felt on a global level with food prices rising.
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* The burning of fossil fuels is also fuelling global warming. This is having negative effects on crop yields worldwide, with longer droughts occurring year on year, especially in Africa and Australia. The melting of the polar ice-caps which accompanies this will raise sea-levels, inundating currently arable land, reducing the land available for an ever enlarging world population.
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== Introduction ==
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* At present the major alternative to fossil fuel use for transport comes from ethanol fermented from starch and sugar in sugar cane and soy bean. These biofuel crops are being grown in areas previously used for food crops or in previously pristine natural environments, and thus are unsustainable.<br />
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[[Image:Tshirtday.jpeg|right|frame]]
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<br />
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Over the past couple of decades metabolic engineering and synthetic biology has enabled researchers to develop biological systems for the purpose of producing pharmaceuticals, high value chemicals or other medical devices/ instruments. Most of the synthetic biology work is limited to ''E. coli''. Although ''E. coli'' has been heavily studied and utilized it does have its drawbacks, like requirement of specific temperatures and growth conditions.  
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All this is burdening the global economy and destroying lives, and worse is likely to come.<br />
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'''Wouldn't it be brilliant if we could do something to counter this trend?'''<br />
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This is what the Edinburgh 2008 iGEM team have been trying to do. - The rising cost of food coupled to the current unsustainability of human activity makes this the perfect time to contemplate the restructuring of global agriculture.<br />
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== Primary Objective: A single sustainable bacterial solution ==
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With the intention of expanding synthetic biology beyond traditional approaches and biological platforms we dared to explore/expand its reach into archaea. The production of high value chemicals in archaea has the following advantages:
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<li> Using renewable carbon sources
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<li> Methanogens can grow utilizing formate and hydrogen, making it superior to ''E. coli'' in terms of both growth conditions and cheap energy sources.
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[[Image:Edinburgh-MicroMaize.jpg|thumb|150px|right|A false-colour SEM of MicroMaize cells.]]
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In this work we demonstrate the utility of chemicals production in archaea. We targeted the production of Geraniol as:
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[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0254629910001559]
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We have been investigating engineering bacteria to '''produce starch from the cellulose in waste biomass''' (that is agricultural waste, wood chippings, waste from paper production etc.). This starch could be:
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<li> It is reported to inhibit pancreatic and prostate cancers.
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# sold to the biofuels industry for conversion to ethanol
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<li> It has a higher energy density than Ethanol, thereby having better fuel properties.
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# used as feed for livestock
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<li> It can be used as a component of insect repellents.
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# used as a starch supplement in the human diet if needed.
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<li> It can be used commercially as a flavoring agent and in perfumes.
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This will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and free up agricultural land for the growth of food crops, ultimately putting less strain on ecosystems.
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== Secondary Objective: Solving vitamin A deficiency in the developing world ==
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== Abstract ==
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We have also been continuing the work of [https://2007.igem.org/Edinburgh/Yoghurt our 2007 team] in engineering ''Escherichia coli'' to '''produce the vitamin A precursor β-carotene'''. Vitamin A is required for vision and a healthy immune system. 250,000-500,000 children in the developing world lose their vision each year, half of them dying within 12 months of this ([http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/vad/en/ WHO]).
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[[Image:E coli and archaea expansion.jpg|right]]
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== Further Considerations ==
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'''Geraniol production via novel protein expression tools in ''Methanococcus maripaludis'''''
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In the pursuit of our project, as well as the biological aspects, we:
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Geraniol is an intriguing 10 carbon compound with diverse applications including use as an agent for cancer prevention, fragrance, insect repellent, proposed biofuel etc. We explored and engineered a novel gene expression tool (BBa_K890000) for ''Methanococcus'' with the capability of expressing geraniol synthase from ''Ocimum basilicum'' (BBa_K1138000). We report the biosynthesis of geraniol at over 0.2% of DLW by transforming the vector into Methanococcus thereby expanding its native isoprenoid pathway. Furthermore we engineered new vectors (BBa_K1138001 & BBa_K1138002) with the potential capability of regulating and quantifying the expression of desired proteins via red fluorescence. This work demonstrates the use of ''Methanococcus'' as a cell factory for chemical production and highlights synthetic biology advancement by engineering new systems over traditional biological systems such as ''Escherichia coli''.
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* considered aspects of [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Edinburgh/Modelling scale-up], including the [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Edinburgh/ELSI ethical, legal and social implications] of our potential final product, MicroMaize,
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* programmed [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Edinburgh/Software a new piece of software] for use in metabolic modelling,
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* [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Edinburgh/Protocols developed and tested a number of new techniques] to make the process of creating BioBricks<sup>TM</sup> that little bit easier,
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* collaborated with [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Guelph the University of Guelph team], sharing carotenoid synthesis genes, flux modulators, and gram positive plasmids.
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Latest revision as of 17:39, 27 September 2013


Welcome to the University of Georgia 2013 iGEM Team Wiki!

Introduction

Tshirtday.jpeg

Over the past couple of decades metabolic engineering and synthetic biology has enabled researchers to develop biological systems for the purpose of producing pharmaceuticals, high value chemicals or other medical devices/ instruments. Most of the synthetic biology work is limited to E. coli. Although E. coli has been heavily studied and utilized it does have its drawbacks, like requirement of specific temperatures and growth conditions.

With the intention of expanding synthetic biology beyond traditional approaches and biological platforms we dared to explore/expand its reach into archaea. The production of high value chemicals in archaea has the following advantages:

  • Using renewable carbon sources
  • Methanogens can grow utilizing formate and hydrogen, making it superior to E. coli in terms of both growth conditions and cheap energy sources.

    In this work we demonstrate the utility of chemicals production in archaea. We targeted the production of Geraniol as: [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0254629910001559]

  • It is reported to inhibit pancreatic and prostate cancers.
  • It has a higher energy density than Ethanol, thereby having better fuel properties.
  • It can be used as a component of insect repellents.
  • It can be used commercially as a flavoring agent and in perfumes.

    Abstract

    E coli and archaea expansion.jpg

    Geraniol production via novel protein expression tools in Methanococcus maripaludis

    Geraniol is an intriguing 10 carbon compound with diverse applications including use as an agent for cancer prevention, fragrance, insect repellent, proposed biofuel etc. We explored and engineered a novel gene expression tool (BBa_K890000) for Methanococcus with the capability of expressing geraniol synthase from Ocimum basilicum (BBa_K1138000). We report the biosynthesis of geraniol at over 0.2% of DLW by transforming the vector into Methanococcus thereby expanding its native isoprenoid pathway. Furthermore we engineered new vectors (BBa_K1138001 & BBa_K1138002) with the potential capability of regulating and quantifying the expression of desired proteins via red fluorescence. This work demonstrates the use of Methanococcus as a cell factory for chemical production and highlights synthetic biology advancement by engineering new systems over traditional biological systems such as Escherichia coli.

    Retrieved from "http://2013.igem.org/Team:UGA-Georgia"