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Team:UGA-Georgia
From 2013.igem.org
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Welcome to the University of Georgia 2013 iGEM Team Wiki!
Contents |
Introduction: Global problems
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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:
- sold to the biofuels industry for conversion to ethanol
- used as feed for livestock
- used as a starch supplement in the human diet if needed.
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.
Secondary Objective: Solving vitamin A deficiency in the developing world
We have also been continuing the work of 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 (WHO).
Further Considerations
In the pursuit of our project, as well as the biological aspects, we:
- considered aspects of scale-up, including the ethical, legal and social implications of our potential final product, MicroMaize,
- programmed a new piece of software for use in metabolic modelling,
- developed and tested a number of new techniques to make the process of creating BioBricksTM that little bit easier,
- collaborated with the University of Guelph team, sharing carotenoid synthesis genes, flux modulators, and gram positive plasmids.
