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iGEM is a part of the large TU Delft DreamTeam family. DreamTeams are teams that pursue their goals in many different categories of science. An example is the NUON solar team, the DreamTeam that designs and constructs the best solar car in the world. Please find out more about our DreamTeam Family on the D:DREAM website.
The iGEM DreamTeam is unique in various ways. Firstly, as you may know, D:DREAM signifies Delft: Dream Realization of Extremely Advanced Machines. The iGEM team is the only TU Delft DreamTeam that works with living, biological systems. In our opinion, the cell is the most advanced machine there is, both in terms of the extremely complex tasks it can fulfill, as well as the impressive number of these processes that take place at the same time, in every single cell of our bodies. In addition, every new team designs a new application from scratch. Rather than further optimizing the design and project from previous teams, new iGEM teams work on an entirely new project using the tools of synthetic biology.
iGEM can be considered the world championship in synthetic biology. iGEM stands for international Genetically Engineered Machine and is the largest worldwide synthetic biology competition for collegiate students. It aims to combine and create novel biological (genetic) parts, which can be incorporated into an organism, thereby equipping it with new functions.
Each year, multi-disciplinary teams from all over the world work for nine months to produce their own enhanced organism using synthetic biology. This year, our work will be presented to the scientific community at the Giant Jamboree in Boston in November 2017. Next to the research conducted, public outreach is an important part of the competition. Each team aims to spread public awareness on synthetic biology by means of a website, presentations and appearances at conferences and events, amongst others.
Currently, antibiotics are often misused in livestock farming. This poses a problem because it accelerates the process of bacteria developing resistance to these antibiotics, making it harder to treat the infections that they cause. Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to health, food security and development according to the World Health Organization. Recently, during the G20, the world leaders decided it is time for action!
We as the iGEM TU Delft DreamTeam 2017, want to contribute to a solution by developing an affordable, user-friendly diagnostic tool, able to detect antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. Our tool will be a big improvement on current methods so that antibiotics can be given to cattle in a more directed way. Such a tool will allow rapid detection of antibiotic resistant bacteria in livestock infections. The project’s name is CASE13a, as we make use of the recently discovered Cas13a/C2c2 which is a variant of a protein from the CRISPR/Cas system. Upon recognition of (antibiotic resistance) target mRNA, Cas13a is activated and engages in collateral cleavage of all RNA in its surroundings. This collateral cleavage allows for conversion of target recognition into an optical readout. Our device is inspired by three design requirements: sensitivity, safety and storability. These three topics form the four research modules of our project, along with an integrating module on the final design.