Team:Georgia State

IGEM Team:GSU

Protein Products Pichia Plants

Our Project

Protein Products from Plants and Pichia: Novel Manufacturing of Analgesics and Cannabinoids
Cannabinoids and opiates are widely used classes of pharmaceuticals; unfortunately, these drugs have strong psychoactive effects or can be addictive. Our project consists of two ideas, both revolving around utilizing bioengineered microorganisms to create non-psychoactive cannabinoids and non-addictive analgesics. To achieve this we developed two projects: (1) Manufacturing a protein expression system to produce CBDA synthase in tobacco plants using agrobacterium, (2) Engineering the pGAPα vector system to express the mambalgin in Pichia Pastoris as a continuation of the 2014 GSU iGEM project. Simultaneously, we developed a proof of concept using horseradish peroxidase. By the end of this project we hope to have produced a synthetic biological system to manufacture pharmaceutical alternatives for patients that suffer from diseases such as epilepsy, cancer, or chronic severe pain.

Our Team

Maruf M. Hoque

Graduate Adviser¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Jessica Siemer

Graduate Adviser

Laura Irvin

Year: Junior
Major: Biology

What is your spirit animal?
April Ludgate. Everyone should watch Parks and Rec.
Who is your role model?
I absolutely adore Cara Santa Maria. She's a neuroscientist and science communicator. She is part of the reason I went back to school to pursue my degree in the sciences.