Team:MCIT Indianapolis

From 2013hs.igem.org

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'''''Welcome to the University of Edinburgh 2008 iGEM Team Wiki!'''''
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<div id="template" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: large; /*color: #f6f6f6*/; padding: 5px;">
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This is a template page. READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS.
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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 <a href="https://2009.igem.org/Help:Template/Examples">HERE</a>.
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You <strong>MUST</strong> have the following information on your wiki:
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<ul style="font-weight:normal;">
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<li>a team description</li>
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<li>project description</li>
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<li>safety information (did your team take a safety training course? were you supervised in the lab?)</li>
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<li>team attribution (who did what part of your project?)</li>
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REMEMBER, keep all of your pages within your teams namespace. <br><span style="font-weight:normal; font-style:italic;">Example: 2013hs.igem.org/Team:MCIT_Indianapolis/Our_Pets</span>
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[[Image:Edinburgh-Panorama.jpg]]
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== Introduction: Global problems ==
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* It has been predicted that by 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and natural gas will no longer keep up with demand. This prediction is based on the current rate of consumption, but this is expect to increase. The repercussions of this are already being felt on a global level with food prices rising.
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* The burning of fossil fuels is also fuelling global warming. This is having negative effects on crop yields worldwide, with longer droughts occurring year on year, especially in Africa and Australia. The melting of the polar ice-caps which accompanies this will raise sea-levels, inundating currently arable land, reducing the land available for an ever enlarging world population.
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* At present the major alternative to fossil fuel use for transport comes from ethanol fermented from starch and sugar in sugar cane and soy bean. These biofuel crops are being grown in areas previously used for food crops or in previously pristine natural environments, and thus are unsustainable.<br />
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|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.
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<br />
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|[[Image:MCIT_Indianapolis_logo.png|200px|right|frame]]
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All this is burdening the global economy and destroying lives, and worse is likely to come.<br />
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'''Wouldn't it be brilliant if we could do something to counter this trend?'''<br />
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''Tell us more about your project.  Give us background.  Use this as the abstract of your project.  Be descriptive but concise (1-2 paragraphs)''
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<br />
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|[[Image:MCIT_Indianapolis_team.png|right|frame|Your team picture]]
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This is what the Edinburgh 2008 iGEM team have been trying to do. - The rising cost of food coupled to the current unsustainability of human activity makes this the perfect time to contemplate the restructuring of global agriculture.<br />
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|align="center"|[[Team:MCIT_Indianapolis | Team MCIT_Indianapolis]]
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<!--- Team Information Link --->
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== Primary Objective: A single sustainable bacterial solution ==
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{| style="color:#1b2c8a;background-color:#0c6;" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" border="1" bordercolor="#fff" width="62%" align="center"
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[[Image:Edinburgh-MicroMaize.jpg|thumb|150px|right|A false-colour SEM of MicroMaize cells.]]
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!align="center"|[https://igem.org/Team.cgi?year=2013&division=high_school&team_name=MCIT_Indianapolis Official Team Profile]
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===Team===
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We have been investigating engineering bacteria to '''produce starch from the cellulose in waste biomass''' (that is agricultural waste, wood chippings, waste from paper production etc.). This starch could be:
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Tell us about your team, your school!
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# sold to the biofuels industry for conversion to ethanol
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# used as feed for livestock
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# used as a starch supplement in the human diet if needed.
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This will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and free up agricultural land for the growth of food crops, ultimately putting less strain on ecosystems.
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== Secondary Objective: Solving vitamin A deficiency in the developing world ==
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===Project===
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We have also been continuing the work of [https://2007.igem.org/Edinburgh/Yoghurt our 2007 team] in engineering ''Escherichia coli'' to '''produce the vitamin A precursor β-carotene'''. Vitamin A is required for vision and a healthy immune system. 250,000-500,000 children in the developing world lose their vision each year, half of them dying within 12 months of this ([http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/vad/en/ WHO]).
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What are you working on this semester?
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== Further Considerations ==
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===Notebook===
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In the pursuit of our project, as well as the biological aspects, we:
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Show us how you spent your days.
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* considered aspects of [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Edinburgh/Modelling scale-up], including the [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Edinburgh/ELSI ethical, legal and social implications] of our potential final product, MicroMaize,
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* programmed [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Edinburgh/Software a new piece of software] for use in metabolic modelling,
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* [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Edinburgh/Protocols developed and tested a number of new techniques] to make the process of creating BioBricks<sup>TM</sup> that little bit easier,
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===Results/Conclusions===
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* collaborated with [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Guelph the University of Guelph team], sharing carotenoid synthesis genes, flux modulators, and gram positive plasmids.
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What did you achieve over the course of your semester?
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===Safety===
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What safety precautions did your team take? Did you take a safety training course? Were you supervised at all times in the lab?
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===Attributions===
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Who worked on what?
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===Human Practices===
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What impact does/will your project have on the public? 
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===Fun!===
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What was your favorite team snack?? Have a picture of your team mascot?
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<forum_subtle />
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Revision as of 18:09, 13 February 2013


Welcome to the University of Edinburgh 2008 iGEM Team Wiki!

File:Edinburgh-Panorama.jpg

Contents

Introduction: Global problems

  • It has been predicted that by 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and natural gas will no longer keep up with demand. This prediction is based on the current rate of consumption, but this is expect to increase. The repercussions of this are already being felt on a global level with food prices rising.
  • The burning of fossil fuels is also fuelling global warming. This is having negative effects on crop yields worldwide, with longer droughts occurring year on year, especially in Africa and Australia. The melting of the polar ice-caps which accompanies this will raise sea-levels, inundating currently arable land, reducing the land available for an ever enlarging world population.
  • At present the major alternative to fossil fuel use for transport comes from ethanol fermented from starch and sugar in sugar cane and soy bean. These biofuel crops are being grown in areas previously used for food crops or in previously pristine natural environments, and thus are unsustainable.


All this is burdening the global economy and destroying lives, and worse is likely to come.

Wouldn't it be brilliant if we could do something to counter this trend?

This is what the Edinburgh 2008 iGEM team have been trying to do. - The rising cost of food coupled to the current unsustainability of human activity makes this the perfect time to contemplate the restructuring of global agriculture.

Primary Objective: A single sustainable bacterial solution

File:Edinburgh-MicroMaize.jpg
A false-colour SEM of MicroMaize cells.

We have been investigating engineering bacteria to produce starch from the cellulose in waste biomass (that is agricultural waste, wood chippings, waste from paper production etc.). This starch could be:

  1. sold to the biofuels industry for conversion to ethanol
  2. used as feed for livestock
  3. used as a starch supplement in the human diet if needed.

This will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and free up agricultural land for the growth of food crops, ultimately putting less strain on ecosystems.

Secondary Objective: Solving vitamin A deficiency in the developing world

We have also been continuing the work of our 2007 team in engineering Escherichia coli to produce the vitamin A precursor β-carotene. Vitamin A is required for vision and a healthy immune system. 250,000-500,000 children in the developing world lose their vision each year, half of them dying within 12 months of this ([http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/vad/en/ WHO]).

Further Considerations

In the pursuit of our project, as well as the biological aspects, we:

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