Team:SMTexas

From 2014hs.igem.org

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Revision as of 05:40, 8 March 2014

This is a template page. READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS.

You are provided with this team page template with which to start the iGEM season. You may choose to personalize it to fit your team but keep the same "look." Or you may choose to take your team wiki to a different level and design your own wiki. You can find some examples HERE.

You MUST have the following information on your wiki:

a team description
project description
safety information (did your team take a safety training course? were you supervised in the lab?)
team attribution (who did what part of your project?)

You may also wish to add other page such as:

lab notebook
sponsor information
other information

REMEMBER, keep all of your pages within your teams namespace.
Example: 2013hs.igem.org/Team:SMTexas/Our_Pets

You can write a background of your team here. Give us a background of your team, the members, etc. Or tell us more about something of your choosing.
Tell us more about your project. Give us background. Use this as the abstract of your project. Be descriptive but concise (1-2 paragraphs)	File:SMTexas team.png Your team picture
	Team SMTexas

Official Team Profile

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death around the world. Early detection systems would enable us to diagnose the disease at a time when therapeutic intervention would be most effective. Noninvasive breath sampling has the potential to save lives as approximately 86% of lung cancer patients die within five years of diagnosis. Early detection improves survival rate by 50% from stage III to stage I of the cancer. Breath biochemical sensors also have important applications for other diseases. According to the World Health Organization’s latest report on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), these “diseases are the leading global causes of death, causing more deaths than all other causes combined.” Further research into these noninvasive tests while maintaining the tests’ accuracy and sensitivity could have a major impact on survival rates of other NCDs. Tests of this nature would reduce inequity and provide improved means of treatment for affected individuals regardless of nationality, income, or access to healthcare.

While invasive techniques, such as immunofluorescence and Western Blotting already exist to detect the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) biomarker, breath chemical tests via genetically modified Escherichia coli bacteria would be a novel and versatile method of lung cancer screening. Twenty-two volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been found to be unique to the breath of affected patients, creating a viable “fingerprint” for reliable detection (Horvath et al.). We will utilize these concepts to create a biosensor for lung cancer.

       Our team will design a system combining existing BioBricks along with novel synthesized biological parts to create a whole-cell bacterial sensor. We will attempt to create a breath biosensor through noninvasive intervention of lung cancer. Implementing recombinant DNA technology, the bacteria will be able to respond to environmental queues through a receptor-dependent pathway. The construct will fuse a DNA response element with reporter genes to create a portable biosensor. We are currently investigating E. coli promoters or alternative sigma factors in relation to our intended target compounds.

Notebook

On Tuesday, February 18th, Vikrant R, Rohin M, and Gopal R, inoculated bacterial strains A & B onto LB agar with ampicillin & kanamycin and incubated overnight at 37C.

On Wednesday, February 19th, Vikrant R & Rohin M transferred one colony from each of A & B and inoculated in LB BROTH with ampicillin & kanamycin and placed in shaking water bath at 37C.

The next step is to perform a miniprep, which will allow us to extract plasmid from each A & B bacterial strains, which will then allow us do the restriction digest and ligation.

All of these steps can be seen in the 3A Assembly kit protocols

Results/Conclusions

What did you achieve over the course of your semester?

Safety

What safety precautions did your team take? Did you take a safety training course? Were you supervised at all times in the lab?

Attributions

Who worked on what?

Human Practices

What impact does/will your project have on the public?

Fun!

What was your favorite team snack?? Have a picture of your team mascot?

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 ===Project===
-What are you working on this semester?
+Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death around the world. Early detection systems would enable us to diagnose the disease at a time when therapeutic intervention would be most effective. Noninvasive breath sampling has the potential to save lives as approximately 86% of lung cancer patients die within five years of diagnosis. Early detection improves survival rate by 50% from stage III to stage I of the cancer. Breath biochemical sensors also have important applications for other diseases. According to the World Health Organization’s latest report on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), these “diseases are the leading global causes of death, causing more deaths than all other causes combined.” Further research into these noninvasive tests while maintaining the tests’ accuracy and sensitivity could have a major impact on survival rates of other NCDs. Tests of this nature would reduce inequity and provide improved means of treatment for affected individuals regardless of nationality, income, or access to healthcare.
+While invasive techniques, such as immunofluorescence and Western Blotting already exist to detect the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) biomarker, breath chemical tests via genetically modified Escherichia coli bacteria would be a novel and versatile method of lung cancer screening. Twenty-two volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been found to be unique to the breath of affected patients, creating a viable “fingerprint” for reliable detection (Horvath et al.). We will utilize these concepts to create a biosensor for lung cancer.
+        Our team will design a system combining existing BioBricks along with novel synthesized biological parts to create a whole-cell bacterial sensor. We will attempt to create a breath biosensor through noninvasive intervention of lung cancer. Implementing recombinant DNA technology, the bacteria will be able to respond to environmental queues through a receptor-dependent pathway. The construct will fuse a DNA response element with reporter genes to create a portable biosensor. We are currently investigating E. coli promoters or alternative sigma factors in relation to our intended target compounds.
 ===Notebook===