Difference between revisions of "Team:Warwick/Description"

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                         $("#TB3P").html("Gas vesicles are found, naturally occuring, in five phyla of bacteria and two species of archaea<sup><a href='https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8177173'>5</a></sup>. They provide aquatic microorganisms with a way of moving vertically, enabling suspension at ideal depth. Across different organisms, eight to fourteen genes have been identified that are involved in the production of gas vesicles, however, only two of these genes have been directly found in the gas vesicle structure<sup><a href='https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro2834'>6</a></sup>. These genes combine to form a hollow, proteinous structure.<img style='width: 60%' src='https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/7/7d/T--Warwick--leaddesc1.png'><br><sup>Geometry of the Anabaena Gas vesicle <a href='https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC372955/?page=15'>7</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Electron Micrograph Image of Gas Vesicle<a href='https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14695294'>8</a></sup><br>Forming like an organelle, the gas vesicle increases cell buoyancy by decreasing density and thus allowing the cell to float.");       
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                         $("#TB3P").html("Gas vesicles are found, naturally occuring, in five phyla of bacteria and two species of archaea<sup><a href='https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8177173'>5</a></sup>. They provide aquatic microorganisms with a way of moving vertically, enabling suspension at ideal depth. Across different organisms, eight to fourteen genes have been identified that are involved in the production of gas vesicles, however, only two of these genes have been directly found in the gas vesicle structure<sup><a href='https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro2834'>6</a></sup>. These genes combine to form a hollow, proteinous structure.<img style='width: 60%' src='https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/7/7d/T--Warwick--leaddesc1.png'><br><sup>Geometry of the Anabaena Gas vesicle <a href='https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC372955/?page=15'>7</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Electron Micrograph Image of Gas Vesicle <a href='https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14695294'>8</a></sup><br>Forming like an organelle, the gas vesicle increases cell buoyancy by decreasing density and thus allowing the cell to float.");       
 
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Revision as of 20:47, 17 October 2018

Ripple


Project Description

Biological

We have developed a detection kit for Legionella Pneumophila - a pathogenic bacteria responsible for Legionnaires disease. The legionella family retain a highly conserved but unique protein known as Legiolysin (a hemolysin toxin). We developed a self-folding mRNA known as a riboswitch; the device only unfolds when binding specifically to a segment of the Legiolysin toxin. We then fused our riboswitch with the guide RNA of a type II Streptococcus pyogenes dCAS9 in order to block the targeting domain of the guide sequence with a double stranded RNA loop.

Organic

For the organic aspect of our water safety focus, we looked at the growing problem of high oestrogen levels in British waterways negatively impacting fish populations, and attempted to provide a solution using synthetic biology. The synthetic oestrogen, 17β-estradiol (EE2), is the form that has the largest effect on fish populations, and levels in British rivers range from around 0.05 to 2.80 ng L -1 (Jobling et al, 2009). This is the form of oestrogen we decided to target with our project. This may seem like a very small amount, however studies have shown that even extremely low concentrations such as these can have profound effects on freshwater fish.

Inorganic

The third class of pollutants we looked into was inorganic, specifically, lead poisoning and heavy metal detoxification. Lead has been identified by the WHO as one of ten chemicals posing a major global health concern1; the neurological and behavioural effects of lead are widely believed to be irreversible2. It’s health effects are particularly adverse in young children ands been linked to reduced IQ, mental disability and higher rates of violent crime3 and antisocial behaviour in societies with high lead exposure4. To combat this global problem, we’ve been working on a solution to isolate and remove lead from water systems. And the solution we’ve come up with is inducing gas vesicles in bacteria.