Modelling
Introduction
According to Green et al., the optimal length of RNA to be detected by a toehold switch is around 30 bp. In other words, a target RNA with 1000 bp in length can have 970 possible switches. However, the performances of each possible switch will be different, since switches that target different region will have different thermodynamic characteristic and structure, which can affect the performance of the switch. Therefore, we modeled the thermodynamic and structure of our toehold switch during designing stage and simulate the expression of activated switch in silico. Our modelling helped us a lot in gaining insight.
RNA thermodynamic modeling
Background
Toehold switch structure:
Gold Medal Criterion #3
To complete for the gold medal criterion #3, please describe your work on this page and fill out the description on your judging form. To achieve this medal criterion, you must convince the judges that your team has gained insight into your project from modeling. You may not convince the judges if your model does not have an effect on your project design or implementation.
Please see the 2017 Medals Page for more information.
Best Model Special Prize
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Inspiration
Here are a few examples from previous teams:
