Difference between revisions of "Team:Warwick/Description"

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                         $("#TB2P").html("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.<br>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.");
 
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                         $("#TB2P").html("For example, Schwindt et al, 2014, investigated exactly how oestrogens affect fish population dynamics through their effects on survival rate and fecundity. Concentrations of E2 as low as 3.2 ng L-1 (only slightly higher than those found in British rivers) reduced survival rate of male fathead minnows from 0.66 to 0.16 in an in vitro study. Furthermore, it was shown that juvenile fish whose parents had been exposed to oestrogen had a lower overall survival rate compared to those fish whose parents were not exposed to oestrogen. ");                         
 
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                         $("#TB2P").html("The oestrogen not only reduced survival rate of male fish, but also reduced their fertility too. The study found that while the reduction in the male population had little effects on reproductive output, a smaller amount of fertile males leads to other problems such as inbreeding depression, which over time can decimate populations. Clearly, even miniscule amounts of this hormone can have devastating effects on fish.");
 
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                         $("#TB2P").html("The removal of oestrogen from water is not a simple task. Current estimates place a granulated carbon filtration system for a large town of 250 000 people at EUR 8 million, with a EUR 800 000 per annum operating cost. This totals an initial fee of EUR 32bn for the whole of England and Wales, followed by incredibly high operating costs (Owen & Jobling, 2013). Clearly, this solution is far from economically viable. For our project, we aimed to produce a solution that was economically viable and could be integrated into our current water filtration systems without need for extensive modification, thus saving large sums of money.");
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                        $("#TB2P").html("Since water treatment plants already rely on microorganisms as part of the water treatment process, we believed that by creating a genetically engineered microorganism with the ability to degrade oestrogen, it could be implemented alongside the current microorganism facilitated mechanisms already in place.");
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                        $("#TB2P").html("Drawing on research from Taiwan, we discovered a gene from Sphingomonas bacteria called OecA that encodes the enzyme 17,ꞵ-estradiol dehydrogenase, which converts E2 into estrone, resulting in a fifty fold decrease in oestrogenic activity (Chen et al, 2017). The aim of our project was to insert this gene into <i>E.coli</i> with a secretion signal attached, to create a bacteria that produces and secretes the OecA enzyme, with the intent of it being able to efficiently convert E2 into estrone, thus reducing the oestrogenic activity of sewage effluent.");
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                        $("#TB2P").html("We also decided to check for oestrogen degrading bacteria that may be present in British water, as the original oestrogen degrading bacteria was only found abroad. We asked iGEM teams from around the country to send us water samples from local rivers and streams, and developed a protocol for checking if the samples contained oestrogen degrading bacteria.");
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                        $("#TB2P").html("Citations<br>Jobling S, Burn RW, Thorpe K, Williams R, Tyler C. Statistical Modeling Suggests that Antiandrogens in Effluents from Wastewater Treatment Works Contribute to Widespread Sexual Disruption in Fish Living in English Rivers. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2009;117(5):797-802. doi:10.1289/ehp.0800197<br><br>Jobling S, Owen R. Ethinyl oestradiol in the aquatic environment. Copenhagen, Denmark: European Environment Agency 2013. Report No.: No. 1, Vol. 13.");
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                        $("#TB2P").html("Citations Contd.<br>JSchwindt, A. R., Winkelman, D. L., Keteles, K. , Murphy, M. , Vajda, A. M. and Frid, C. (2014), An environmental oestrogen disrupts fish population dynamics through direct and transgenerational effects on survival and fecundity. J Appl Ecol, 51: 582-591<br><br>Yi-Lung Chen, Chang-Ping Yu, Tzong-Huei Lee, King-Siang Goh, Kung-Hui Chu, Po-Hsiang Wang, Wael Ismail, Chao-Jen Shih, Yin-Ru Chiang, Biochemical Mechanisms and Catabolic Enzymes Involved in Bacterial Estrogen Degradation Pathways,Cell Chemical Biology,Volume 24, Issue 6,2017,Pages 712-724.e7");
 
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                         $("#TB3P").html("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 concern<sup><a href='http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health'>1</a></sup>; the neurological and behavioural effects of lead are widely believed to be irreversible<sup><a href='http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health'>2</a></sup>. It’s health effects are particularly adverse in young children ands been linked to reduced IQ, mental disability and higher rates of violent crime<sup><a href='http://time.com/4227906/lead-poisoning-global-impact/'>3</a></sup> and antisocial behaviour in societies with high lead exposure<sup><a href='http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health'>4</a></sup>. 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.");
 
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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("The goal of our project is unlike anything that's been done before as we aim to induce gas vesicles in Bacillus subtilis in order to allow for the bioremediation of toxic metals, such as lead. <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> has been shown to naturally absorb such metals<sup><a href='https://jb.asm.org/content/127/3/1502'>9</a></sup> in its outer membrane to aid in its biofilm forming<sup><a href='https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24770836'>10</a></sup> properties. Thus, in making bacillus float, we hoped to allow for easier removal of such metals. Using bacillus in bioremediation is not a novel approach for removal of metals. <i>Bacillus megaterium</i> has been used in soils in order to remove several heavy metals such as iron, copper and magnesium<sup><a href='https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283820633_Bioremediation_Perspective_of_Bacillus_Megaterium_Towards_Heavy_Metals_in_Environments_Enriched_with_Phosphogypsum'>11</a></sup>.");
 
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                         $("#TB3P").html("Attempting to make <i>Bacillus subtilis</i>float, to say the least, an ambitious idea. However, we were intrigued by its novelty, and how hopefully simple it would be to incorporate. We also noted the massive potential our research may have: we looked at this summer as an iGEM team as a starting point. Eventually, some of the ideas that could make our project more realistic would include attaching, or SpyTagging, a magnetic protein to the surface of the gas vesicle in order to allow for the collection of the particles inside it after lysing the cells.");
 
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<h1>Project Description</h1>
 
<h1>Project Description</h1>
 
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<div style='width: 70%; height: 2px; margin: -3% 15% 0% 15%; background-color: #02c9d0'></div>
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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.
−
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim.
+
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.
 
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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.  
−
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim.
+
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.
 +
 
 
</p>
 
</p>
  

Latest revision as of 23:48, 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.