Difference between revisions of "Team:Hong Kong HKU"

The field of DNA nanotechnology has proved to be one of the fastest growing fields in synthetic biology. Recent advances have focused on the development of DNA origami, tweezer structures and various other two and three dimensional structures, with the aim of applying such structures into areas such as diagnostics, drug delivery, detection and more.

Hypothesis:
Through our project, we expect to follow in the footsteps of such advancements, however taking them a step further to develop a three dimensional DNA nanostructure that can undergo an induced structural change in the presence of its specific nucleic acid targets (RNA or DNA) not solely in vitro but also in living cells after expression.

Objectives:
Our objectives would be to first prove the efficiency and accuracy of our structure in detecting its respective target in vitro with the application of various laboratory techniques, for example gel electrophoresis and colorimetric assays, followed by the expression of our DNA nanostructure in organisms, namely E.coli, after which the structure can be extracted and tested as well again.
In brief, we will aim to construct a three dimensional DNA nanostructure that can be used for the detection of nucleic acid markers and explore its functionality, both in vitro and in living cells.

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-With the advent of DNA nanotechnology, the age old "DNA is the genetic blueprint of living beings" has expanded greatly with our increasing understanding about the physical and chemical properties of DNA. Establishing its basis through "Holiday Junction" and DNA origami such as of "Smiley Face", DNA nanotechnology has made its way as one of the most advanced and sought-after branches of synthetic biology.
+The field of DNA nanotechnology has proved to be one of the fastest growing fields in synthetic biology. Recent advances have focused on the development of DNA origami, tweezer structures and various other two and three dimensional structures, with the aim of applying such structures into areas such as diagnostics, drug delivery, detection and more.
-With the recent advances in DNA nanotechnology, scientists have made one success story after another to apply DNA nanodevices like three dimensional DNA structures in clinical diagnosis, environmental and nutritional fields. However, all of these structures have so far been done in vitro, where the structures are functional only outside living cells.
+</br></br>
-<br/><br/>
+<b>Hypothesis:</b>
-Therefore, HKU iGEM Team 2017 will continue to focus on HKU's strengths in the field of DNA nanotechnology and will be aiming to delve into this field, taking it further by aiming to produce a three dimensional nuclei acid-detecting structure in vivo that can be expressed directly in the living cell. Our goal is to design a DNA structure and try to express it in <i>E. coli</i> where the structure will be used to detect nucleic acid markers which may have prospective applications in aspects such as disease diagnosis, environmental fields, etc. We will make use of Watson-Crick base pairings, aptamers and G-quadruplex sequences to achieve our goal.
+</br>
-<br/><br/>
+Through our project, we expect to follow in the footsteps of such advancements, however taking them a step further to develop a three dimensional DNA nanostructure that can undergo an induced structural change in the presence of its specific nucleic acid targets (RNA or DNA) not solely in vitro but also in living cells after expression.
-<strong>
+</br></br>
-All in all, we are opting our best to create something new through iGEM in the world of synthetic biology to contribute to its advancement.
+<b>Objectives:</b>
-</strong>
+</br>
+Our objectives would be to first prove the efficiency and accuracy of our structure in detecting its respective target in vitro with the application of various laboratory techniques, for example gel electrophoresis and colorimetric assays, followed by the expression of our DNA nanostructure in organisms, namely <i>E.coli</i>, after which the structure can be extracted and tested as well again.
+</br>
+In brief, we will aim to construct a three dimensional DNA nanostructure that can be used for the detection of nucleic acid markers and explore its functionality, both in vitro and in living cells.
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