Team:Penn Mishawaka IN

From 2014hs.igem.org

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===Project===
===Project===
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What are you working on this semester?
 
 +
== The presence of arsenic in drinking water provides a complicated obstacle for
 +
 +
developing countries. Some 100 million people are affected by arsenic poisoning
 +
 +
worldwide, and the problem is exasperated by the unpredictable patterns of contamination.
 +
 +
This necessitates frequent and comprehensive testing of well water; Bangladesh alone has
 +
 +
10 million water wells that must be checked twice a year. Effective arsenic tests have been
 +
 +
created in the past, yet they often require expensive reagents, advanced technology and
 +
 +
specialized technicians – not feasible for large-scale operations in the developing world.
 +
 +
Our team endeavors to create a simple, biologically-based test for arsenic. Using
 +
 +
existing BioBricks and building off the ideas of previous iGEM projects, we have designed
 +
 +
two systems that work within E.coli to detect the presence of arsenic in a water supply and
 +
 +
generate a strong, noticeable response. The first links an arsR promoter (BBa_J33201)
 +
 +
turned on in the presence of arsenic to a firefly luciferase reporter gene (BBa_K325909)
 +
 +
that emits a bioluminescent glow. Additionally in the system is a second luciferase reporter
 +
 +
gene, (BBa_K325209) attached to a constitutive gene that will constantly emit
 +
 +
bioluminescence of a different color to serve as an indicator of normal cell function. Ideally,
 +
 +
the end result would be cells that will glow in a dark room, change colors (yellow to green)
 +
 +
in the presence of arsenic, and stop glowing entirely if they are killed by arsenic or any
 +
 +
other toxin.
 +
 +
Additionally, we are in the process of designing a cascade sequence to detect and
 +
 +
react to the presence of arsenic. A cascade sequence provides the benefit of
 +
 +
customizability: we can control the reaction at many levels, both by ensuring when the
 +
 +
sequence is turned on or off and by controlling the amount of output created by the system
 +
 +
at different levels of arsenic.
 +
==
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== [[Headline text]] ==
===Notebook===
===Notebook===

Latest revision as of 16:17, 6 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:Penn_Mishawaka_IN/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. File:Penn Mishawaka IN logo.png

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:Penn Mishawaka IN team.png
Your team picture
Team Penn_Mishawaka_IN


Official Team Profile

Contents

Team

Tell us about your team, your school!

Project

== The presence of arsenic in drinking water provides a complicated obstacle for

developing countries. Some 100 million people are affected by arsenic poisoning

worldwide, and the problem is exasperated by the unpredictable patterns of contamination.

This necessitates frequent and comprehensive testing of well water; Bangladesh alone has

10 million water wells that must be checked twice a year. Effective arsenic tests have been

created in the past, yet they often require expensive reagents, advanced technology and

specialized technicians – not feasible for large-scale operations in the developing world.

Our team endeavors to create a simple, biologically-based test for arsenic. Using

existing BioBricks and building off the ideas of previous iGEM projects, we have designed

two systems that work within E.coli to detect the presence of arsenic in a water supply and

generate a strong, noticeable response. The first links an arsR promoter (BBa_J33201)

turned on in the presence of arsenic to a firefly luciferase reporter gene (BBa_K325909)

that emits a bioluminescent glow. Additionally in the system is a second luciferase reporter

gene, (BBa_K325209) attached to a constitutive gene that will constantly emit

bioluminescence of a different color to serve as an indicator of normal cell function. Ideally,

the end result would be cells that will glow in a dark room, change colors (yellow to green)

in the presence of arsenic, and stop glowing entirely if they are killed by arsenic or any

other toxin.

Additionally, we are in the process of designing a cascade sequence to detect and

react to the presence of arsenic. A cascade sequence provides the benefit of

customizability: we can control the reaction at many levels, both by ensuring when the

sequence is turned on or off and by controlling the amount of output created by the system

at different levels of arsenic. 

==

Headline text

Notebook

Show us how you spent your days.


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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