2013

Mission: Continue Last Year’s Success, with a side of ‘Save the World’

Last year, CSU's gluten-free beer project and its potential for success in the brewing industry in Fort Collins (and beyond) set the bar quite high for the 2013 team here at CSU. All student team members, save one were new to the iGEM competition, and this combination of factors meant that our new project had to be one that would make substantial waves at the Toronto contest. We spent some of the first week researching prior iGEM projects and the parts that we had available and their functions, then some more time just spitballing ideas - possible projects that would be feasible and practical to pursue. We had many strong contenders, from transcription factors that produced specific pigments of light, capable of being read by computers that would make synthetic biology a digital process, to droplets consumers could place in their drinks at bars that would change color and luminesce in the presence of any unwanted drugs. At the beginning of week two, we took a vote and decided on two projects.

The first was culturally relevant to the scene in Fort Collins - a yeast that could seal a hole in a bicycle tire and also re-inflate it, as well as give off a color indication notifying the user when said yeast was low on fuel.

The second was a globally relevant project that would prove to be much more complicated. We wanted to design a yeast that would ingest the salt in seawater, sequester it, and then be easily removed from a sample so as to provide clean and potable drinking water. The yeast could then be caused to dump its store of salt so as to provide the necessary components for a salt powered battery. Such a project could hold untold benefits the world over, as 1 in 9 people worldwide lack access to a clean water source, and 1 in 4 lack electrical energy.

We were excited at the prospect of making a difference in the world, but knew our work would be cut out for us. The more research we did, the more difficult the project seemed to become, but we powered through, knowing the scope of our project was now much larger than our 6 man team, with much more on the line then a little nerd competition in Canada.

RamStrong

We proudly roam the steepest and most treacherous mountain sides, looking for adventure, and exploring whatever comes our way. We do not back down from challenges, instead we charge them head on. Although we do occasionally clash heads, we power through our disagreements, because... we are the CSU Rams!!!