Difference between revisions of "Team:Lethbridge/Description"

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<h2 class="segmentHeader">Types of Cell-Free Systems</h2>
 
<h2 class="segmentHeader">Types of Cell-Free Systems</h2>
  
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<p class="pageText"> Cell-free systems include all of the necessary biomachinery for protein production, utilizing cell extracts or a purified reconstituted system
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<p class="pageText"> Cell-free systems include all of the necessary biomachinery for protein production, utilizing cell extracts or a purified reconstituted system.
 
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<h2 class="segmentHeader">N<I>ex</i>t <I>Vivo</i></h2>
 
<h2 class="segmentHeader">N<I>ex</i>t <I>Vivo</i></h2>
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<p class="pageText"> It is our goal to make a completely customizable and accessible cell-free system, that is inherently safe and user-friendly. To accomplish this we developed Next vivo, a standardized and modular system that contains all of the necessary biomachinery for protein production.
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<p class="pageText">We designed, in BioBrick standard, an open-source collection of parts for cell-free protein synthesis. Next vivo allows individual user groups to select which components they want in their system and leave out any additional factors of their choosing. As such, future modules can be added to the system with ease creating a wide variety of customizable TX-TL kits.
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<p class="pageText"> Specifically, we aim to over-express all TX-TL components simultaneously and pool the resulting cell lysates for co-purification, providing a simple method for producing the system. Using our approach, the tRNA and ribosomes will bind to an MS2 coat protein/nickel complex, and the TX-TL proteins will bind directly to the nickel affinity chromatography resin. In this way, components can be purified in batch and a tailored cell-free system can be created on demand.
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<h2 align= "center"> Biocontainment </h2>
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<p class="pageText"> A modular and accessible cell-free platform enables the development of re-coding technologies leading to the creation of a modified codon table. Re-coded systems are unable to be horizontally transferred to living system, providing an intrinsic form of biocontainment and preventing accidental environmental release. We have created a nucleic acid sequence modification tool that will produce re-coded sequences to support such developments.
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<h2 class="segmentHeader">Recent Advancements</h2>
 
<h2 class="segmentHeader">Recent Advancements</h2>
  
 
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Revision as of 05:15, 26 October 2017



“The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to EDUCATION and COMPETITION, the ADVANCEMENT of synthetic biology, and the development of an OPEN COMMUNITY and collaboration.”


For our tenth year as an iGEM team, we wanted to give back to the community and looked to the iGEM mission statement for inspiration. To align our project with the foundation, it was our goal to develop a tool to advance synthetic biology and increase its accessibility to novices, hobbyists and experts.

Cell-Free Systems

Cell-free systems allow for the reliable and consistent expression of recombinant proteins outside of a living cell, bypassing issues with genetic regulation and cellular noise [1].

Such systems are advantageous over cell-based synthetic biology due to the:

  • Ability to tolerate toxins normally detrimental to the cell
  • Ability to direct all energy resources to the application increasing the freedom of design
  • Inherent feature of reduced bio-contamination, as components do not replicate mutate or evolve
  • Easy control of transcription and translation in an open environment
  • Easy incorporation of unnatural amino acids
  • Ability to modulate the environment for optimal protein expression
  • Rapid design-build-test cycle
  • Ability to use linear and plasmid DNA as a template

Applications

Emerging as a new platform for synthetic biology, cell-free systems have shown potential for use in a variety of applications exemplifying the utility of such systems [2,3].


Types of Cell-Free Systems

Cell-free systems include all of the necessary biomachinery for protein production, utilizing cell extracts or a purified reconstituted system.

Next Vivo

It is our goal to make a completely customizable and accessible cell-free system, that is inherently safe and user-friendly. To accomplish this we developed Next vivo, a standardized and modular system that contains all of the necessary biomachinery for protein production.

We designed, in BioBrick standard, an open-source collection of parts for cell-free protein synthesis. Next vivo allows individual user groups to select which components they want in their system and leave out any additional factors of their choosing. As such, future modules can be added to the system with ease creating a wide variety of customizable TX-TL kits.

Specifically, we aim to over-express all TX-TL components simultaneously and pool the resulting cell lysates for co-purification, providing a simple method for producing the system. Using our approach, the tRNA and ribosomes will bind to an MS2 coat protein/nickel complex, and the TX-TL proteins will bind directly to the nickel affinity chromatography resin. In this way, components can be purified in batch and a tailored cell-free system can be created on demand.

Biocontainment

A modular and accessible cell-free platform enables the development of re-coding technologies leading to the creation of a modified codon table. Re-coded systems are unable to be horizontally transferred to living system, providing an intrinsic form of biocontainment and preventing accidental environmental release. We have created a nucleic acid sequence modification tool that will produce re-coded sequences to support such developments.

Recent Advancements