Team:Linkoping Sweden/Results

Laboratory

To design our protein, the two biobricks K525998 and E1010 was ligated together with our own custom synthesized sequence, epitope 2 of Ara h 1. We also found that due to the restriction sites a stop codon appeared between each ligated part, which might be a good explanation why the protein expression was unsuccessful during previous years project. We aimed to solve this problem by mutagenesis. However, due to faulty primers we have not gotten past this step yet.

Detector

We now have a new 3D-printed prototype of the detector with a different design. Some improvements have been made from the last years detector. We have now included a second filter, where both red and green light can pass. This is a great improvement since we now can detect not only the decrease in red light due to a decrease in FRET, but also the difference in light output between the two filters which correlates with the increase of green light.

Modeling

The field of modeling is completely new for this year and brings great news to the project. Through this modeling we found out that our detector could within seconds be able to tell the consumers if the food is safe to eat or not depending on which model coincides best with reality. Interestingly, we found that all models have the potential to reach the theoretical limit of the detector.

Outreach to the society

The main purpose of iGEM is to spread knowledge and create an interest for synthetic biology, for which we have given a lot of effort. We have been working hard to reach out to a lot of different people through social media, newscasts as well as through social interactions. Our work has paid off, since we have received great response and interest for both iGEM and our product.

Presentations and Events

We have held several presentations for groups of different ages. Our main goal was to get people interested in synthetic biology but also to show the opportunity that iGEM gives when it comes to designing your own project. By explaining the different work fields within iGEM we also managed to arouse the interest of many.

We also attended NärCon, a convention here in Linköping, during this summer. Here a lot of people showed us interest, especially in our mascot mr Peanut.

These are the the events we have attended so far. However, we will continue to attend a lot of exhibitions and hold more presentations for students in time to come. Among other things, some of our group members will participate at “forskarfredag”, a science convention in Linköping, at the time of the giant jamboree in Boston.

Education

For the younger population we wrote and illustrated a children’s book, where some animals with different allergies, intolerances, and knowledge go on a picnic. The aim of the book is to educate at an early age and to deepen the understanding of allergies among children.

To engage the adult population for research made in synthetic biology, we started our project “Science 2 Go”, where we wrote short summaries of scientific papers, easy to understand for the general public. The summaries were published on our Facebook page.

Because our project revolves around food allergies we also produced a mini documentary where we interview a young allergic woman, the mother of an allergic child, a children allergist and a scientist specialised in child allergies. The aim of this mini documentary was to get a more complete picture of allergies as well as the problems surrounding them and to share it with the public.

Surveys

Two surveys was completed, to test the knowledge about allergies in a given population as well as the interest for our product among people suffering from peanut allergy.

The knowledge about allergies was tested among students and employees at swedish universities, since they were a representative population we could reach. When those who answered this survey were asked if their knowledge about allergies were sufficient or not, 68% thought that it was not.

The market survey for our product was exclusively for those suffering from peanut allergy, were we asked about the interest and need of a peanut detecting system. This told us that 93% of the 130 people who answered would be interested in a peanut detector.

Media

After getting interviewed by “SVT Östergötland”, our local television news we received great response. Thereafter, we appeared at the national news after which we were contacted by our local newspaper, Corren. This has given great attention to both iGEM and Linköping University in general.

We have also been active through social medias, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and a little bit on Youtube, where we have reached out to a lot of people.