Difference between revisions of "Competition/Tracks/New Application"

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<h2>New Application Track</h2>
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<h1>New Application Track</h1>
 
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The New Applications tracks in iGEM is possibly the most difficult to describe. Without using the term "catch-all", there is a certain diversity of projects that is not found as much in other tracks. New Application teams work to create novel, forward thinking projects and innovative ideas that don't fit into conventional paradigms.  
 
The New Applications tracks in iGEM is possibly the most difficult to describe. Without using the term "catch-all", there is a certain diversity of projects that is not found as much in other tracks. New Application teams work to create novel, forward thinking projects and innovative ideas that don't fit into conventional paradigms.  
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<li><a href ="https://igem.org/Team_Tracks?year=2016"> iGEM 2016 New Application team list</a></li>
 
<li><a href ="https://igem.org/Team_Tracks?year=2015"> iGEM 2015 New Application team list</a></li>
 
<li><a href ="https://igem.org/Team_Tracks?year=2015"> iGEM 2015 New Application team list</a></li>
 
<li><a href ="https://igem.org/Team_Tracks?year=2014"> iGEM 2014 New Application team list</a></li>
 
<li><a href ="https://igem.org/Team_Tracks?year=2014"> iGEM 2014 New Application team list</a></li>
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<h2>Recent New Application projects to win best in track</h2>
 
  
<h3>Winning New Application projects in 2013 Undergrad: Wormboys</h3>
 
  
<h3><a href="https://2013.igem.org/Team:Valencia_Biocampus">Valencia Biocampus </a></h3>
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/a/a9/Valencia_2013_Screen_Shot_2014-02-11_at_2.40.08_PM.png" width="920px">
 
  
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<strong>Project abstract:</strong>
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Bacteria are essential in biotechnology, but they can hardly move. Nematodes, such a C. elegans, are fast crawling organisms, but they have limited biotechnological applications. By combining the best from both organisms, we present the first artificial synthetic symbiosis with bacteria engineered to ride on worms, which concentrate in hotspots where bacteria perform a desired biotechnological process, such as bioplastic (PHA) production. We have engineered Pseudomas putida with a whole operon that allows the formation of a biofilm on the worm. Biofilm formation is swhitched on and off depending on the media, and thus bacteria get on and off the worm like travellers on a bus. We have also engineered a third partner, E. coli, to express an interference RNA that promotes clumping. Taken together, our artificial symbiosis allows biotechnologically interesting bacteria to travel on nematodes, reach nutrient-rich biomass spots and maximize the efficiency of biotechnological fermentations in heterogenous substrates.
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/2/2d/HQ_newapplication_SCAU-China2016.jpg">
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<h3><a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:SCAU-China"> SCAU-China 2016 </a></h3>
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<h4> aSTARice -- astaxanthin biosynthesis in rice endosperm  </h4>
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Astaxanthin is a naturally-occurring keto-carotenoid found in microalgae, salmon, shrimp, crustaceans, and the feathers of some birds. It provides the red color of salmon meat and cooked shellfish.Because astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant with great value in medical and health care,it is meaningful to make astaxanthin an accessible health product.Currently, the industrial ways to produce astaxanthin are extract from microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis,Phaffia yeast,shrimp processing waste and chemical product.However these ways aren’t safety enough and the purification is difficult. While higher plants are supposed to be an efficient and safe bioreactor to produce astaxanthin,because it has advanced protein processing system to produce complex product.So we think about using higher plant to produce astaxanthin.In our project,we take rice endosperm as the bioreactor of astaxanthin production,and use a technique called multiple-gene metabolic engineering to specifically express astaxanthin in rice endosperm. In this way, rice endosperm can produce and store astaxanthin.
 
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<h3>Winning New Application projects in 2013 Overgrad: Engineering synthetic microbial consortia</h3>
 
  
<h3><a href="https://2013.igem.org/Team:Braunschweig">Braunschweig </a></h3>
 
  
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/1/17/Braunschweig_2013_Screen_Shot_2014-02-11_at_2.31.32_PM.png" width="920px">
 
  
<p>
 
<strong>Project abstract</strong>
 
Bacterial consortia offer a great benefit for synthetic biology due to the ability to perform complex tasks by splitting the whole reaction into smaller reactions and share the task among different specialized strains. Also, a self-regulating bacterial culture with intra consortial dependencies offers great advances in biosafety. To shut down the whole bacterial consortium, only on strain has to be eliminated. We engineer three different E. coli strains to grow in a consortium exploiting different Quorum Sensing systems. Each strain maintains a constitutive expression of an inactive transcription activator (LuxR, LasR or RhlR). Inducers are synthesized by different synthases (LuxI, LasI or RhlI) that are each expressed in one strain and subsequently secreted into the medium. Once taken up by a cell, the inducers bind to the corresponding, inactive transcription factors to render them functional. As a result, an antibiotic resistance under the control of an inducible promoter is expressed.
 
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<h3>Winning New Application project in 2012: Beadzillus: Fundamental BioBricks for Bacillus subtilis and spores as a platform for protein display</h3>
 
  
<h3><a href="https://2012.igem.org/Team:LMU-Munich">LMU Munich</a></h3>
 
  
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/0/01/LMU_Munich_2012-Screen_Shot_2014-02-11_at_3.10.19_PM.png" width="920px">
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/3/31/HQ_newapplication_tudelft2016.jpg">
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<h3><a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:TU_Delft"> TU Delft 2016 </a></h3>
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<h4> The new age of optics: Creating biological lenses and lasers to improve imaging techniques</h4>
  
 
<p>
 
<p>
<strong>Project abstract </strong>:
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This project aims to engineer Escherichia coli to make biological microlenses and lasers. To produce microlenses, we express the enzyme silicatein in our engineered cells, which catalyzes polymerization of silicic acid. This results in a biosilica layer around the cell, enabling it to function as a microlens. Additionally, we will create biological lasers to improve current imaging techniques by expressing fluorescent proteins within biosilica-covered cells. A fraction of the photons emitted by fluorescent proteins are trapped inside the cell by the biosilica layer. Once these photons hit other excited fluorescent proteins, stimulated emission occurs. This process results in light with a higher intensity and a narrower color spectrum compared to conventional fluorescence. With our research we hope to contribute to the wide range of applications in the field of bio-optics and enable environmentally friendly and economic production of microlenses with applications varying from smartphones to solar panels.
We chose to work with Bacillus subtilis to set new horizons and offer tools for this model organism to the Escherichia coli-dominated world of iGEM. Therefore, we created a BacillusBioBrickBox (BBBB) composed of reporter genes, defined promoters, as well as reporter, expression, and empty vectors in BioBrick standard. B. subtilis naturally produces stress resistant endospores which can germinate in response to suitable environmental conditions. To highlight this unique feature using the BBBB, we developed Sporobeads. These are spores displaying fusion proteins on their surface. As a proof of principle, we fused GFP to the outermost layer. Expanding this idea, we designed a Sporovector to easily create any Sporobead imaginable. Because the Sporobeads must be biologically safe and stable vehicles, we prevented germination by knocking out involved genes and developed a Suicideswitch turned on in case of germination. With the project Beadzillus, our team demonstrates the powerful nature of B. subtilis.
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<h3>Winning New Application project 2011: (Tie) Mars BioTools: Synthetic Biology for Space Exploration and Rainbofilm</h3>
 
  
<h3><a href ="https://2011.igem.org/Team:Brown-Stanford"> Brown-Stanford</a></h3>
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/6/62/HQ_newapplication_technionisrael2015.jpg">
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<h3><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Technion_Israel"> Technion_Israel 2015 </a></h3>
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<h4> Be Bold: Hit baldness at its root </h4>
  
 
<p>
 
<p>
<strong>Project abstract:</strong>
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Hair loss affects roughly 1.5 billion people worldwide. The trigger for male pattern baldness is believed to be dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a derivative of testosterone. We have created a system in which two different engineered bacterium are combined in a custom-made comb manufactured in a 3D printer, working together to break down DHT, treating the problem at its root. We engineered Bacillus Subtilis, to secrete 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3-α-HSD), an enzyme which reduces DHT to a non-steroidically active compound, using NADPH and NADH as cofactors. In addition, we genetically engineered Escherichia Coli to overproduce NADPH, enabling the enzymatic reaction to take place and driving it in the right direction. The two strains can be combined easily and cleanly with the help of our comb, providing a user-friendly tool and a novel, promising direction for future hair loss treatments.
"One of the major challenges of space exploration is the enormous cost of launching materials, limiting the size and affordability of long-term missions. Synthetic Biology can revolutionize space exploration and settlement by providing a microbial platform for catalyzing critical reactions and manufacturing essential products. Biological devices have a major advantage over classical machines: the ability to self-replicate and regenerate.
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Project RegoBrick uses bacteria to cement Martian and Lunar regolith simulant into a concrete-like compound. Extraterrestrial settlements will be able to use such a process to build structures using resources readily available in the environment, instead of having to transport materials from Earth.
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Project PowerCell develops a universal energy source from engineered cyanobacteria, which generate carbon and nitrogenous nutrients from sunlight and air and secrete them to sustain other microbes. This system will allow future settlers to transform resources on other planets into fuel, food, drugs, and other useful products."
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<h3><a href ="https://2011.igem.org/Team:ZJU-China">ZJU-China</a></h3>
 
  
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/a/a7/ZJU_2011-Screen_Shot_2014-02-11_at_3.45.17_PM.png" width ="920px">
 
  
<p>
 
<strong>Project abstract:</strong>
 
Rainbofilm is a stratified expression system in biofilm, a self-organized module extensible for various needs. Researchers found a vertical oxygen gradient establishes in the biofilm. Such property allows us to use oxygen sensitive promoters to artificially induce differentiated functions through the spatial distribution of cells. Thus, the multi-step reaction can be processed within the different layers of the biofilm. The biofilm and its layered structure form spontaneously. Also biofilm has the natural resistance to high levels of toxin. These two properties render the Rainbofilm a convenient stable system for bio-production and bio-sensor. The system can cater to different needs simply by changing downstream genes. One possible application is ethanol production. The cellulose is degraded to monose from the bottom to the middle layer, and the ethanol is produced and secreted in the surface to minimize the toxicity to the inner cells.
 
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<h3><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Tianjin"> Tianjin 2015 </a></h3>
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<h4> JANUS </h4>
  
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In ancient Roman myth, Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions, who is depicted as having two faces. Our project is focused on another Janus - hydrophobin the protein, who looks to the hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity. Because of this, a sea of new applications are created. Firstly, we re-designed the structures of two classes of hydrophobins, making expression in E.coli possible. Secondly, we use its double-sticky-tape-like ability to make two applications. We take this advantage to fix antibodies on a high-flux tumor detection chip. Meanwhile, they are used to catch cutinases for plastic degradation. We even make them into a fusion to test if the enhancement could be better. Thirdly, we use its amphipathicity to achieve protein separation, where they act as a special purification tag, and the system could be as simple as polymer, detergent and water. With help of this, we could even achieve recovery of cutinases.
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Latest revision as of 18:41, 16 December 2016

MENU

New Application Track

The New Applications tracks in iGEM is possibly the most difficult to describe. Without using the term "catch-all", there is a certain diversity of projects that is not found as much in other tracks. New Application teams work to create novel, forward thinking projects and innovative ideas that don't fit into conventional paradigms.

New Application is an apt description for a track that doesn't have a common problem, or focus tying all projects together. It is the novelty of ideas and approach in investigating a question that may never have previously been examined that qualifies a project in the New Application track.

You will find images and abstracts of the winning New Application teams from 2013 to 2015 in the page below. Also, follow the links below to see projects from all the New Application track teams.

SCAU-China 2016

aSTARice -- astaxanthin biosynthesis in rice endosperm

Astaxanthin is a naturally-occurring keto-carotenoid found in microalgae, salmon, shrimp, crustaceans, and the feathers of some birds. It provides the red color of salmon meat and cooked shellfish.Because astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant with great value in medical and health care,it is meaningful to make astaxanthin an accessible health product.Currently, the industrial ways to produce astaxanthin are extract from microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis,Phaffia yeast,shrimp processing waste and chemical product.However these ways aren’t safety enough and the purification is difficult. While higher plants are supposed to be an efficient and safe bioreactor to produce astaxanthin,because it has advanced protein processing system to produce complex product.So we think about using higher plant to produce astaxanthin.In our project,we take rice endosperm as the bioreactor of astaxanthin production,and use a technique called multiple-gene metabolic engineering to specifically express astaxanthin in rice endosperm. In this way, rice endosperm can produce and store astaxanthin.

TU Delft 2016

The new age of optics: Creating biological lenses and lasers to improve imaging techniques

This project aims to engineer Escherichia coli to make biological microlenses and lasers. To produce microlenses, we express the enzyme silicatein in our engineered cells, which catalyzes polymerization of silicic acid. This results in a biosilica layer around the cell, enabling it to function as a microlens. Additionally, we will create biological lasers to improve current imaging techniques by expressing fluorescent proteins within biosilica-covered cells. A fraction of the photons emitted by fluorescent proteins are trapped inside the cell by the biosilica layer. Once these photons hit other excited fluorescent proteins, stimulated emission occurs. This process results in light with a higher intensity and a narrower color spectrum compared to conventional fluorescence. With our research we hope to contribute to the wide range of applications in the field of bio-optics and enable environmentally friendly and economic production of microlenses with applications varying from smartphones to solar panels.

Technion_Israel 2015

Be Bold: Hit baldness at its root

Hair loss affects roughly 1.5 billion people worldwide. The trigger for male pattern baldness is believed to be dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a derivative of testosterone. We have created a system in which two different engineered bacterium are combined in a custom-made comb manufactured in a 3D printer, working together to break down DHT, treating the problem at its root. We engineered Bacillus Subtilis, to secrete 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3-α-HSD), an enzyme which reduces DHT to a non-steroidically active compound, using NADPH and NADH as cofactors. In addition, we genetically engineered Escherichia Coli to overproduce NADPH, enabling the enzymatic reaction to take place and driving it in the right direction. The two strains can be combined easily and cleanly with the help of our comb, providing a user-friendly tool and a novel, promising direction for future hair loss treatments.

Tianjin 2015

JANUS

In ancient Roman myth, Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions, who is depicted as having two faces. Our project is focused on another Janus - hydrophobin the protein, who looks to the hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity. Because of this, a sea of new applications are created. Firstly, we re-designed the structures of two classes of hydrophobins, making expression in E.coli possible. Secondly, we use its double-sticky-tape-like ability to make two applications. We take this advantage to fix antibodies on a high-flux tumor detection chip. Meanwhile, they are used to catch cutinases for plastic degradation. We even make them into a fusion to test if the enhancement could be better. Thirdly, we use its amphipathicity to achieve protein separation, where they act as a special purification tag, and the system could be as simple as polymer, detergent and water. With help of this, we could even achieve recovery of cutinases.