Team:KCL UK/Basic Part
Basic Parts
For this year’s iGEM competition, our team has chosen to present nine different small RNAs
(BBa_K2595000, BBa_K2595001, BBa_K2595003, BBa_K2595004, BBa_K2595005, BBa_K2595006,
BBa_K2595007, BBa_K2595008, BBa_K2595009) for the Registry of Standard Biological Parts.
Small RNAs are a type of non-coding RNA, often involved in regulating translation of target RNAs through
RNA-RNA interactions (Hagemann-Jensen et al., 2018). With small RNAs’ participation in several
cellular processes, they are innovative yet cell-friendly synthetic technology which can be used for
down regulating the quantity of a cellular component.
KCl iGEM is very excited to introduce the first
library of small RNAs to the iGEM competition and creating a platform with tools available to future
iGEM teams to incorporate in their design.
How our engineered RNAs work
Our nine small RNA parts are the active component of RNA interference. For the implementation of
our technology, each engineered RNA is inserted into the plasmid and down-regulate the expression
of targeted gene. In the absence of our engineered small RNAs, the competent cells will express the
normal quantity of cellular component which may be a protein, a receptor or RNA (Please follow the
link below for specific functions of each sRNAs).
Why regulate small RNAs?
Our approach to engineer small RNAs provides a more simple, yet effective regulatory system
compared to a traditional protein-based regulatory system. Our engineering technology offers easier
way of designing by using Watson-Crick base pairing and bypassing unpredictable structural protein-
protein interaction. This technology is easily adaptable and universal due to its portability, as RNA-
based regulation is not host-specific. Our library of sRNAs could be applied throughout not only the
bacterial kingdom but also, Archaea, and Eukaryota.
Table of the Basic Parts registered on the Registry of Standard Biological Parts
References
Hagemann-Jensen, M., Abdullayev, I., Sandberg, R. and Faridani, O.R., 2018. Small-seq for single-
cell small-RNA sequencing. Nature protocols, p.1.