Difference between revisions of "Team:Lethbridge"

 
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{{Lethbridge}}
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<h1>Project Description</h1>
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        <title>iGEM</title>
  
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<p>dsRNA induced gene silencing as an alternative to traditional
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fungicides to manage Fusarium infection in cereal crops.</p>
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<p>Each year, Alberta applies over 10,000 metric tonnes of pesticide to
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agricultural, industrial, and domestic land. This is not only
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financially costly, but it may lead to downstream off-target effects
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and bioaccumulation within the prairie ecosystem. Double stranded RNA
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(dsRNA) has been shown to be capable of activating the RNA
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interference machinery with a lethal effect when consumed by a
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eukaryotic pest organism. While these results are promising, the cost
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of dsRNA synthesis remains prohibitively expensive and not easily
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tailored to each specific pest species.</p>
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<p>Our proposed project involves the synthesis of highly pure dsRNA for
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use as a topical fungicide. The target of our RNAi-based approach will
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be a member of the genus Fusarium, responsible for the spread of
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Fusarium Head Blight which decimates cereal grain yields across
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Canada. This project will target specific Fusarium virulence factors
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and effectively silence them, protecting the crops from infection.
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Furthermore, our design involves a scaffold in which any dsRNA
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sequence of interest may be inserted for targeting of a gene of
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interest within a specific species. Altogether, this project represent
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a scalable, highly species specific and widely applicable solution to
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global agriculture problems that has an added bonus of being rapidly
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degradable in the environment ~36 hours.</p>
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                <ul>
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                    <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/">iGEM</a></li>
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                    <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge">RNAiCare</a></li>
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                    <li>
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                        <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Project">Project</a>
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                        <ul>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Description">Description</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Design">Design</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Results">Results</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Project_Production">Production</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Project_Judging">Judging</a></li>
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                        </ul>
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                    </li>
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                    <li>
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                        <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Parts">Parts</a>
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                        <ul>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Basic_Part">Basic Parts</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Composite_Part">Composite Parts</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Measurement">Measurement</a></li>
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                        </ul>
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                    </li>
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                    <li>
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                        <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Practices">Practices</a>
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                        <ul>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Practices_Risks">Risks</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Practices_Stakeholders">Stakeholders</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Practices_Current">Current Problems</a></li>
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                        </ul>
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                    </li>
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                    <li>
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                        <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Notebook">Notebook</a>
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                        <ul>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Notebook_July">July</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Notebook_August">August</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Notebook_September">September</a></li>
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                        </ul>
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                    </li>
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                    <li>
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                        <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Team">Team</a>
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                        <ul>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Team_Members">Members</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Collaborations">Collaborations</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Attributions">Attributions</a></li>
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                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Sponsors">Sponsors</a></li>
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                        </ul>
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                    </li>
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                </ul>
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                <div id="main_banner_container">
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                    <div class="banner_title">Pesticides for the Future</div>
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                    <div class="banner_buttons">
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                        <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Design">Design</a>
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                        <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Results">Results</a>
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                        <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Practices">Practice</a>
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                    </div>
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                </div>
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                <div class="info_box" id="info_1" style="background:#f1f6f3">
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                    <h2 style="color:#333;font-size:48px;">World Food Shortage</h2>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;">By 2030 the Earth will have about 8.4 billion people living on it.</p>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;">The UN estimates that we will need to increase agricultural production by 70% to feed the inhabitants of the world by 2050.</p>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;">We need a better way to ensure the safety and productivity of our food supply across the globe.</p>
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                    <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/6/6f/Uleth15_Globe.png" alt="earth" style="display:block;margin:0 auto;width:25%;" />
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                </div>
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                <div class="info_box" id="info_2">
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                  <div style="width:50%;height:100%;">
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                    <h2 style="color:#fff;font-size:48px;">Current Pesticides</h2>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;">In the past we have relied on small molecule pesticides to control species that threaten our food supply. However, with the development of resistant pest species, harmful off-target effects, persistence in the environment, and diminishing returns, conventional pesticides have shown themselves to be unsustainable for a growing planet.</p>
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                  </div>
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                </div>
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                <div class="info_box" id="info_3">
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                  <div style="width:50%;height:100%;margin-left:50%;">
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                    <h2 style="color:#fff;font-size:48px;">Our Solution</h2>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;color:#fff;">We propose an alternative: a biosynthetic pesticide that is:</p>
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                    <ul style="font-size:36px;color:#fff;list-style:none;padding-left:32px;">
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                        <li>Species specific</li>
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                        <li>Cheap to produce</li>
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                        <li>Easy to apply</li>
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                        <li>Safe for the environment.</li>
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                    </ul>
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                  </div>
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                </div>
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                <div class="info_box" id="info_4">
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                    <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Design"><h2 style="color:#333;font-size:48px;">Design</h2></a>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;color:#333;">RNA Interference mediated by double stranded RNA (dsRNA) has been a powerful tool for research since it’s discovery. RNA is: transient, non-heritable, auto-hydrolyzing, making it the perfect molecule for pesticide use. Our goal is to produce highly pure and specific siRNAs to induce silencing in pest species using E.coli. In addition to increasing the scope of potential target species that siRNAs can combat.</p>
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                    <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/7/78/Uleth15_RiboYolo.png" alt="Ribosyme" style="display:block;margin:0 auto;width:25%;" />
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                </div>
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                <div class="info_box" id="info_5">
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                    <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Results"><h2 style="color:#fff;font-size:48px;">Results</h2></a>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;color:#fff;">We successfully produced a theophylline aptazyme in vitro which had previously only been characterized in vivo.</p>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;color:#fff;">In addition, we successfully purified RNA using a Ribozyme Affinity Purification strategy.</p>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;color:#fff;">We were able to knockdown genes in Fusarium graminearum using directly-applied dsRNA which had previously never been demonstrated.</p>
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                </div>
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                <div class="info_box" id="info_7">
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                    <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Practices"><h2 style="color:#fff;font-size:48px;">Practices</h2></a>
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                    <p style="font-size:36px;color:#fff;">We took an in depth look at the ethical issues surrounding our project, met with researchers, farmers, and pesticide producers.</p>
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                    <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/3/39/Uleth15_WheatHands.jpg" alt="Wheat hands" style="margin:0 auto;width:60%;" />
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                </div>
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                <div class="info_box" id="info_8" style="background:#f1f6f3;">
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                    <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Team_Members"><h2 style="color:#333;font-size:48px;text-align:center;">Meet the team behind the project:</h2></a>
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                    <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Lethbridge/Team_Members" style="display:block;width:100%;"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/8/8e/Uleth15_TeamPhoto.jpg" height="50%" width="50%" style="display:block;margin:0 auto;" ></a>
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                </div>
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                <div class="info_box" id="index_sponsors">
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                        <a href="https://www.idtdna.com/site" id="index_sponsor_IDT"></a>
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                        <a href="http://www.geneious.com/" id="index_sponsor_geneious"></a>
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                        <a href="http://www.albertatechfutures.ca/" id="index_sponsor_AITF"></a>
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                        <a href="http://pearlbiotech.com/" id="index_sponsor_pearl"></a>
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                        <a href="http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/home/" id="index_sponsor_AAFC"></a>
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                        <a href="http://www.uleth.ca/research/alberta-rna-research-and-training-institute-arrti" id="index_sponsor_AARTI"></a>
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                        <a href="http://www.uleth.ca/" id="index_sponsor_Uleth"></a>
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                </div>
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            </div>
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Latest revision as of 03:56, 19 September 2015

iGEM

World Food Shortage

By 2030 the Earth will have about 8.4 billion people living on it.

The UN estimates that we will need to increase agricultural production by 70% to feed the inhabitants of the world by 2050.

We need a better way to ensure the safety and productivity of our food supply across the globe.

earth

Current Pesticides

In the past we have relied on small molecule pesticides to control species that threaten our food supply. However, with the development of resistant pest species, harmful off-target effects, persistence in the environment, and diminishing returns, conventional pesticides have shown themselves to be unsustainable for a growing planet.

Our Solution

We propose an alternative: a biosynthetic pesticide that is:

  • Species specific
  • Cheap to produce
  • Easy to apply
  • Safe for the environment.

Design

RNA Interference mediated by double stranded RNA (dsRNA) has been a powerful tool for research since it’s discovery. RNA is: transient, non-heritable, auto-hydrolyzing, making it the perfect molecule for pesticide use. Our goal is to produce highly pure and specific siRNAs to induce silencing in pest species using E.coli. In addition to increasing the scope of potential target species that siRNAs can combat.

Ribosyme

Results

We successfully produced a theophylline aptazyme in vitro which had previously only been characterized in vivo.

In addition, we successfully purified RNA using a Ribozyme Affinity Purification strategy.

We were able to knockdown genes in Fusarium graminearum using directly-applied dsRNA which had previously never been demonstrated.

Practices

We took an in depth look at the ethical issues surrounding our project, met with researchers, farmers, and pesticide producers.

Wheat hands