Team:Madrid-OLM/Improve

• Team
  • Members
  • Attribution
  • Sponsors
• Project
  • Description
  • Contribution
  • Improve
  • Demonstrate
  • Judging Form
• Aptamers
  • Overview
  • Discovery
  • Characterization
  • Computational
    Improvement
  • Binding to Electrode
• Device
  • Overview
  • First Prototype
  • Final Prototype
    • Overview
    • Microfluidics
    • Electronics
• Experiments
  • Interlab
  • Protocols
    • Aptamer Related
    • Manufacturing
• Human Practices
  • Integrated Human Practice
  • Education and
    Engagements
  • Collaborations
• Awards
  • Hardware
  • Applied Design
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Measurement
• Medals

Improve

During this competition, we have obtained inspiration from different sources. One of the most important iGEM teams that worked with aptamers is iGEM Bonn 2017.

Although their work trying to develop aptamers which are active in saliva is remarkable, when we have tried to replicate them we have come across the following problems:

1. The way in which they separate aptamers from the target proteins is more expensive than what we could afford. It also needs special laboratory equipment which is not standard in a normal wet lab.

2. The aptamer/SELEX round characterization method, which is through Next Generation Sequencing, is expensive and requires more than one month waiting to be adapted to a particular case. Then, It is not feasible for checking frequently the success of SELEX rounds. It also does not give any kind of information on aptamer specificity or affinity.

3. The lack of results on the achievement of the SELEX process. This process is hard and having success on the aptamer discovery during an iGEM competition is not as easy at it seems. In their wiki page, we could not find any kind of result that indicates the accomplishment of their SELEX process.

During this competition, we have obtained inspiration from different sources. One of the most important iGEM teams that worked with aptamers is iGEM Bonn 2017.