Difference between revisions of "Team:WashU StLouis/HP/Silver"

As detailed on our background page, the main focus of our project is protecting photosynthetic organisms against rising UV Radiation. We came up with three main specific applications: protecting wild cyanobacteria at the poles, shielding plants (mainly crops), and creating resistant cyanobacteria for the use of biofuels. Each of these uses brought its own set of questions that we tried to answer over the summer:

How do you get approval, nationally and internationally, for a genetically modified organism?
Is it possible to release a genetically modified organism into the wild?
Are each of these applications feasible and important?

The Effects of UV Radiation on Photosynthetic Organisms

At the very beginning of the summer, we spoke to Dr. Himadri Pakrasi, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who studies photosynthetic processes in Cyanobacteria. At this point, our project only included three of the four genes: Dsup, phrAT, and uvsE. Our project also focused on our first application, protecting polar cyanobacteria. He pointed out first of all that testing our genes only against natural E. Coli defenses would not be very effective. This was because photosynthetic organisms exist naturally in light, and so have evolved much stronger UV radiation resistance.

He pointed out however, that just because they are naturally resistant did not mean that the systems were perfect, and any increase in protection would be useful. He suggested to us to use a control to account for cyanobacterial resistance. To accomplish this, we added the gene phrAC to our list, and decided to try to transform and test our genes in cyanobacteria. He also suggested that we look into genetically modified plants, since there is a much larger infrastructure for that kind of genetic modification.

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       <p style="font-size: 2.5vw; text-align:center; padding 0.5vw">The Effects of UV Radiation on Photosynthetic Organisms</p>
-      <p style="font-size:1.5vw">UV-B radiation affects photosynthetic organisms in a variety of ways. While the bulk of our team’s research concerns the damage done to DNA by ultraviolet radiation, UV-B also has adverse effects on other cellular components, including proteins, lipids, membranes, and pigments. (4)</p>
+      <p style="font-size:1.5vw">At the very beginning of the summer, we spoke to Dr. Himadri Pakrasi, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who studies photosynthetic processes in Cyanobacteria. At this point, our project only included three of the four genes: Dsup, phrAT, and uvsE. Our project also focused on our first application, protecting polar cyanobacteria. He pointed out first of all that testing our genes only against natural E. Coli defenses would not be very effective. This was because photosynthetic organisms exist naturally in light, and so have evolved much stronger UV radiation resistance.
+</p>
-     <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/6/6a/T--WashU_StLouis--dnadamage.gif" style="width:28vw; margin 3vw; float:right"/>
-      <p style="font-size:1.5vw">Plants are not entirely defenseless against the dangers of UV-B radiation. Because they are photosynthetic organisms and must live their entire lives in the sun in order to survive, plants have developed multi-faceted systems to deal with the stress of normal radiation levels. For example, many plants produce compounds called flavenoid photoprotectants that absorb UV radiation before it can harm the organism (2). Plants can also produce antioxidants, which neutralize harmful reactive oxygen species produced by UV light (9).</p>
+      <p style="font-size:1.5vw">He pointed out however, that just because they are naturally resistant did not mean that the systems were perfect, and any increase in protection would be useful. He suggested to us to use a control to account for cyanobacterial resistance. To accomplish this, we added the gene phrAC to our list, and decided to try to transform and test our genes in cyanobacteria. He also suggested that we look into genetically modified plants, since there is a much larger infrastructure for that kind of genetic modification.</p>
-     <p style="font-size:1.5vw">While these and other mechanisms of protection have historically been enough to guard plants against significant damage due to UV-B irradiation, ozone depletion due to the production of greenhouse gasses is leading to increasing levels of UV-B at the earth’s surface. While some plants are largely unaffected by this change, many, including vital crops like corn and rice, are sensitive to these rising levels of radiation (5, 7).</p>
-     <p style="font-size:1.5vw">A study by _______ et al examining the effects of UV-B on corn found that increased levels of UV-B are correlated with decreased leaf area, decreased levels of protein, sugar, and starch, and decreased rates of photosynthesis. The study concluded that overall corn yield decreased with increases in UV-B radiation (5). A second study by Rousseaux et al examined DNA damage in plants in South America under the passage of an ozone hole. The results of these two students are consistent with those found by similar studies, demonstrating that increased levels of UV-B radiation could pose a credible threat to the world’s food supply (10).</p>
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