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Stanford iGEM:
Information Session Packet
THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN STANFORD IGEM! PLEASE FORWARD YOUR QUESTIONS TO
[email protected] OR ASK NGHI NGUYEN/ARIANE TOM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS).
REMEMBER, THE APPLICATION IS DUE DECEMBER 1, 2008 BY MIDNIGHT, AND CAN BE FOUND HERE:
HTTP://WWW.FREEWEBS.COM/STANFORDIGEM/
MEETING AGENDA: NOVEMBER 20, 2008
1. INTRODUCTION
-IGEM MISSION & VISION (SUMMER AND BEYOND)
-WHAT IS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY?
- IGEM 2008 JAMBOREE
2. TEAM STRUCTURE:
-RESPONSIBILITIES & EXPECTATION
-LEADERSHIP ROLES
-TIME COMMITMENT
3. TIMELINE
4. APPLICATION & (TENTATIVE) INTERVIEW
-CRITERIA
5. COURSEWORK
-WINTER: INTRODUCTION TO SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
-SPRING: STUDENT-INITIATED COURSE & LAB TRAINING
6. FUNDING
7. Q&A
IGEM 2008 JAMBOREE
1925
1200
825
84
77
24
22
21
MINUTES OF TALKS
PARTICIPANTS
ATTENDEES
TEAMS
PRESENTATIONS
AWARDS
WEEKS OF WORK
COUNTRIES
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: SLOVENIA
1ST RUNNER UP:
FREIBURG
2ND RUNNER UP:
CALTECH
FINALIST:
NYMU-TAIPEI
UC BERKELEY
HARVARD
WINNING PROJECT ABSTRACTS:
IMMUNOBRICKS SLOVENIA, HEALTH OR MEDICINE
ALMOST HALF OF THE WORLD POPULATION IS INFECTED WITH BACTERIA HELICOBACTER PYLORI WHICH IS ALSO
RECOGNIZED AS A TYPE I CARCINOGEN BY WHO. EFFECTIVE VACCINE AGAINST H.PYLORI IS NOT AVAILABLE,
ALTHOUGH IT WOULD BE A DURABLE SOLUTION, PARTICULARLY IN A FORMULATION AFFORDABLE TO THE THIRD
WORLD POPULATION. H.PYLORI EVADES THE IMMUNE SURVEILLANCE BY MODIFYING SEVERAL OF ITS COMPONENTS
TO AVOID DETECTION BY SEVERAL TOLL-LIKE RECEPTORS. RECENT DISCOVERIES DEMONSTRATE THAT SYNERGY
BETWEEN INNATE AND ADAPTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSE IS ESSENTIAL FOR AN EFFECTIVE VACCINE. W E USED
PRINCIPLES OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY TO ASSEMBLE WELL DEFINED SYNTHETIC VACCINE, COMPOSED OF THE
FUNCTIONAL “IMMUNOBRICKS”, WHICH COMBINE THE ACTIVATION OF INNATE IMMUNE RECEPTORS, APPROPRIATE
CELLULAR LOCALIZATION FOR PROCESSING OF ANTIGENS AND ANTIGENIC SEGMENTS TO STIMULATE FORMATION
OF ANTIBODIES AND CELLULAR ADAPTIVE RESPONSE. OUR ENGINEERED VACCINE WAS IMPLEMENTED IN THREE
DIFFERENT TYPES OF VACCINES BASED ON RECOMBINANT PROTEIN, ENGINEERED BACTERIA AND GENETIC
VACCINE.
MODULAR SYNTHETIC TRANSMEMBRANE RECEPTOR SYSTEMS INTERFACED WITH NANO
BREADBOARDS FREIBURG, MANUFACTURING
SIGNALING THROUGH MEMBRANES IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF LIFE. TRANSMEMBRANE PROTEINS CONTROL
PROLIFERATION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND CELLULAR RESPONSE AND ARE KEY FOR THE FORMATION OF
MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS. CONTROLLING SUCH PROTEINS ENABLES ONE TO MODIFY CELLULAR BEHAVIOR AND
ULTIMATELY PROGRAM CELLS AT WILL. THE COMPLEX RULES FOR TRANSMEMBRANE SIGNALING OFTEN REQUIRE
ENGAGEMENT OF SEVERAL PROTEINS IN A FINE-TUNED SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL MANNER. TO TAP INTO THE
POSSIBILITIES OF TRANSMEMBRANE PROGRAMMING, THE FREIBURG 2008 IGEM TEAM PROVIDES AN EXTENSIBLE
SYSTEM COMPRISING AN EXTERNAL FRAMEWORK WITH SPATIAL RESOLUTION, A CONCEPT FOR MODIFYING
NATURAL RECEPTORS, AND A MODULAR SET OF FUSION-BIOBRICKS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF SYNTHETIC
RECEPTORS. SPATIAL RESOLUTION IN NANOMETER SCALE IS PROVIDED BY DNA-ORIGAMI MODIFIED WITH DISTINCT
PATTERNS AND COMBINATIONS OF LIGANDS. RECEPTORS ARE DECOUPLED FROM THEIR NATURAL LIGANDS BY
FUSION WITH ARTIFICIAL BINDING DOMAINS. THE BIOBRICK COLLECTION CONTAINS SIGNAL SEQUENCES, BINDING
DOMAINS, TRANSMEMBRANE DOMAINS, AND EFFECTOR DOMAINS FEATURING SPLIT ENZYMES AND SPLIT
FLUORESCENT PROTEINS FOR IMMEDIATE READOUT.
ENGINEERING MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PROBIOTIC BACTERIA CALTECH, HEALTH OR MEDICINE
THE HUMAN GUT HOUSES A DIVERSE COLLECTION OF MICROORGANISMS, WITH IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR THE
HEALTH AND WELFARE OF THE HOST. W E AIM TO ENGINEER A MEMBER OF THIS MICROBIAL COMMUNITY TO
PROVIDE INNOVATIVE MEDICAL TREATMENTS. OUR WORK FOCUSES ON FOUR MAIN AREAS: (1) PATHOGEN
DEFENSE, EITHER BY EXPRESSION OF PATHOGENSPECIFIC BACTERIOPHAGE OR BY TARGETED BURSTS OF
REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES; (2) PREVENTION OF BIRTH DEFECTS BY FOLATE OVER-EXPRESSION AND DELIVERY;
(3) TREATMENT OF LACTOSE INTOLERANCE, BY CLEAVING LACTOSE TO ALLOW FOR ABSORPTION IN THE LARGE
INTESTINE; AND (4) REGULATION OF THESE THREE TREATMENT FUNCTIONS TO PRODUCE RENEWABLE
SUBPOPULATIONS SPECIALIZED FOR EACH FUNCTION. OUR RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES THAT SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
TECHNIQUES CAN BE USED TO MODIFY NATURALLY OCCURRING MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES FOR APPLICATIONS IN
BIOMEDICINE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY.