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Team_Parts

Best New Basic Part
BBa_K1621009
With this improved iGEM backbone we submitted to the Registry we allow future iGEM Teams to efficiently overexpress proteins still using iGEM standard procedures for cloning.

iGEM Prizes

Measurement
During our project we used an emerging new technology called iRIf to measure antigen-antibody interactions. In the case of our DiaCHIP we focused on the diagnostic possibilities arising from this measurement method and the advantages associated with this new diagnostic device. To make the DiaCHIP accessible to medical staff all over the world, we rebuilt the measuring device. Compared to the high-tech version of the iRIF device our reproduction shows a similar capability of measuring protein interactions while it only costs a fraction of money ($50 000¹⁾ vs. $500).
With our rebuilt device it is possible to measure any kind of protein-protein interaction thus we are giving future iGEM teams the possibility to investigate interactions of different parts and use our device for their projects. We offer this new method to all iGEM teams and provide an easy to follow step-by-step construction manual, including a list of needed devices.

¹⁾ Personal communication: Dr. Günter Roth

Applied Design
To this day, common diagnostic methods both in industrialized and in developing countries have restrictions. Some are expensive, time-consuming, can only be operated by trained personnel, or are difficult to store and most are a combination of these. In the course of our iGEM project, we have developed a device and method, that tackles all these limitations at once. The DiaCHIP provides great capacity for multiplexing as many diseases can be detected simultaneously. In combination with a microfluidic system it allows fast and specific diagnosis. The detection of antigens present in a patients blood serum is detected by their interaction with their respective immobilized antigens. The antigen microarray can be produced cell-free from a DNA template, which offers a more stable alternative to protein arrays. The array production and the detection of interaction happen in the same device for which we provide a detailed construction manual. Thereby the DiaCHIP outcompetes conventional diagnostics, in speed as well as in affordability!

iGEM Medal Requirements

Requirements for a Gold Medal

Choose one of these two options: (1) Expand on your silver medal Human Practices activity by demonstrating how you have integrated the investigated issues into the design and/or execution of your project. OR (2) Demonstrate an innovative Human Practices activity that relates to your project (this typically involves educational, public engagement, and/or public perception activities; see the Human Practices Hub for information and examples of innovative activities from previous teams).
Required link: Human Practices
To investigate the people's attitude towards our DiaCHIP we performed a survey in the public, using two different kinds of explanations. Additionally, besides giving a lecture to a class of Liberal Arts and Sciences students at the University College of Freiburg, we educated people in the field of synthetic biology on the annual science fair in Freiburg and extracted DNA out of fruits with them. Finally, we participated in a theater project dealing with synthetic biology in discussions, installations and plays.

Help any registered iGEM team from a high-school, different track, another university, or institution in a significant way by, for example, mentoring a new team, characterizing a part, debugging a construct, modeling/simulating their system or helping validate a software/hardware solution to a synbio problem.
Required link: Collaborations
We had different collaborations running during summer that you can check out on the page linked above. They belonged to different areas of our project, reaching from cell-free expression to the iRIf device and to contributing to other team's work by writing articles for example.

Improve the function OR characterization of a previously existing BioBrick Part or Device (created by another team, or by your own team in in a previous year of iGEM), and enter this information in the part's page on the Registry. Please see the Registry Contribution help page for help on documenting a contribution to an existing part. This part must not come from your team's 2015 range of part numbers.
Required link: Improved BioBrick
Part Number: BBa_K1621009
We improved the Registry backbone pSB6A1 based on the expression vector pET22b+. It allows efficient inducible protein overexpression while at the same time meeting the iGEM standards for cloning.

Demonstrate a functional prototype of your project. Your prototype can derive from a previous project (that was not demonstrated to work) by your team or by another team. Show this system working under real-world conditions that you simulate in the lab. (Remember, biological materials may not be taken outside the lab.)
Required link: Functional prototype
During summer we managed to rebuild the measurement device we are using for the whole setup of our DiaCHIP in a low-budget version. We even provide a building plan for future iGEM Teams to be able to use this method for studying all kinds of protein-protein interactions as well.

Requirements for a Silver Medal

Experimentally validate that at least one new BioBrick Part or Device of your own design and construction works as expected. Document the characterization of this part in the Main Page section of the Registry entry for that Part/Device. This working part must be different from the part you documented in Bronze medal criterion #6.
Part Numbers: BBa_K1621003, BBa_K1621004, BBa_K1621006, BBa_K1621009
The first four BioBricks mentioned here encode for antigens as well and were all verified by Western Blot analysis. They will be very helpful for teams working in the "Health and Medicine" track. As not many antigens are available in the iGEM Registry yet, we broaden the access to useful BioBricks in this area.
The last BioBrick is an improved backbone and is further described in the Gold Medal Requirements.

Submit this new part to the iGEM Parts Registry. This part must be different from the part you documented in Bronze medal criterion #6. (Submissions must adhere to the iGEM Registry guidelines.)
Part Numbers: BBa_K1621003, BBa_K1621004, BBa_K1621006, BBa_K1621009
All the BioBricks mentioned above were submitted to the iGEM Registry to provide them for future iGEM Teams.

iGEM projects involve important questions beyond the bench, for example relating to (but not limited to) ethics, sustainability, social justice, safety, security, and intellectual property rights. We refer to these activities as Human Practices in iGEM. Demonstrate how your team has identified, investigated and addressed one or more of these issues in the context of your project. (See the Human Practices Hub for more information.)
Required link: Human Practices
Before and while working on our project we had to reflect some questions about ethics concerning synthetic biology as such, but also related to our specific project. We discussed our thoughts with an ethicist and present them here.

Requirements for a Bronze Medal

Register the team, have a great summer, and plan to have fun at the Giant Jamboree.

Successfully complete and submit this iGEM 2015 Judging form.

Create and share a description of the team's project using the iGEM wiki, and document the team's parts using the Registry of Standard Biological Parts.

Plan to present a Poster and Talk at the iGEM Jamboree.

Create a page on your team wiki with clear attribution of each aspect of your project. This page must clearly attribute work done by the students and distinguish it from work done by others, including host labs, advisors, instructors, sponsors, professional website designers, artists, and commercial services.
Required link: Attributions
We were supported by some people giving us advice and introducing us to special devices and/or background knowledge. On our attributions page we want to give our deep gratitude to them and their institutions. Without you we would not have gotten to where we are now!

Document at least one new standard BioBrick Part or Device central to your project and submit this part to the iGEM Registry (submissions must adhere to the iGEM Registry guidelines). You may also document a new application of a BioBrick part from a previous iGEM year, adding that documentation to the part's main page.
Part Number: BBa_K1621000, BBa_K1621001, BBa_K1621002, BBa_K1621005
All of these BioBricks encode for immunogenic but non-pathogenic peptides from different viruses and bacteria. All of them are commonly used for diagnostic applications such as ELISA.