Team:Aalto-Helsinki
Recombinant Silk Protein and Pigments
Replacing synthetic pigments with natural ones is a growing global trend affecting a large number of fields, such as textile, hair and food dyeing. Many synthetic dyes are toxic for the environment and humans, and they can accumulate in the environment and spoil water bodies. The textile dyeing industry is the second largest polluter of bodies of water in the world.
Our idea for Aalto-Helsinki iGEM 2018 is to use a microbial host to produce environmentally friendly dyes together with dragline spider silk proteins. Dragline silk has exceptional strength and elasticity properties, but since producing recombinant silk fibres is extremely challenging at the moment, we have decided to focus on silk proteins. Silk proteins have interesting properties for coating materials, such as textiles or hair.
The combination of silk proteins and coloured pigments can be used to make prints onto textiles, using natural and environmentally friendly materials. As a hair product, silk proteins attach onto and into the hair keratin, providing improved strength, durability and smoothness. Together with pigment proteins found in corals, we hope to be able to both improve the hair quality, as well as give it a beautiful colour.
Before you start
Please read the following pages:
Styling your wiki
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Wiki template information
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Tips
This wiki will be your team’s first interaction with the rest of the world, so here are a few tips to help you get started:
- State your accomplishments! Tell people what you have achieved from the start.
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- You have a global audience! Consider the different backgrounds that your users come from.
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- Start documenting your project as early as possible; don’t leave anything to the last minute before the Wiki Freeze. For a complete list of deadlines visit the iGEM 2018 calendar
- Have lots of fun!
Inspiration
You can also view other team wikis for inspiration! Here are some examples: