Difference between revisions of "Team:Lethbridge HS/Introduction"

Revision as of 03:27, 19 September 2015

Lethbridge High School iGEM

Eliminating Varoa Destructor

Overview

The top 100 food crops produced provide 90% of the world’s nutrition. 70% of these crops are pollinated by bees. A phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has decimated honeybee colonies across the world, halving the number of productive colonies worldwide. One of the main factors hypothesized to contribute to CCD is the mite and viral vector Varroa destructor. While feeding on the bee’s hemolymph, Varroa destructor expels RNA viruses into the bee crippling colony’s strength. Current commercial methods to eradicate Varroa have seen a gradual development of resistance in treated populations. Using synthetic biology, we plan to target Varroa more effectively by directly delivering the miticide, oxalic acid into Varroa and utilizing RNA interference to eliminate Varroa populations within commercial hives.

Our Solution

A few methods to deal with V. destructor are ineffective as they do not target the mite at a crucial phase when the bee is most susceptible. Others rely on chemicals that increase bee mortality rate. For example, formic acid has a harmful effect on capped and uncapped honey bee brood. We are working on killing the mites more effectively by directing delivery of the miticide, oxalic acid. Oxalic acid is an optimal weapon against the mites because the concentration needed to kill a mite is 70 times less lethal to the bee. The acid is already being used in syrup and spray solutions. Our method differs from other oxalic acid methods as it directly transfers the oxalic acid to the mite through the blood-like substance of the bee. Specifically, we are aiming to put E. coli in the midgut of the bee via ingestion, the E. coli would then produce oxalic acid which would be absorbed into the bloodstream. From there, when the mite attacks the bee and drinks its hemolymph, the oxalic acid will be there as a defense mechanism.

Human Practices

Although the science is an integral part of our project, we put some emphasis on human practices as well. Every team member contributed so that we could have a diverse and engaging set of human practices. We reached out many individuals, including one of our MLAs, who is also the Minister of Environment to get her support of our project; rural beekeepers in Southern Alberta to ask about the viability of our project; we also talked to our city council, and an urban planner to see how we could make our city more “bee-friendly”. We interacted with the public by handing out seed packets in parks, and informing them about the decline of bees and the city by-law that makes urban bee-keeping illegal; many signed a petition that we created to remove this by-law. To promote iGEM, we went to two middle schools to tell the students a little bit about our project and what iGEM is.

Aspects of Our Project

Project

Human Practices

Notebook

Safety

Parts

Achievements

Team

Collaborations

Thanks to our amazing sponsors

Who are we?

We are a High School team composed of three local high school within the Lethbridge city area in Southern Alberta, Canada. Team members hail from Winston Churchill High School, Chinook High School, and Lethbridge Collegiate School. Team meetings along with wet lab activities are hosted by the University of Lethbridge Chemistry and Biochemistry department.

Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com is licensed by CC BY 3.0

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                      jQuery("#slide1Paragraph").text('The top 100 food crops produced provide 90% of the world’s nutrition. 70% of these crops are pollinated by bees. A phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has decimated honeybee colonies across the world, halving the number of productive colonies worldwide. One of the main factors hypothesized to contribute to CCD is the mite and viral vector Varroa destructor. While feeding on the bee’s hemolymph, Varroa destructor expels RNA viruses into the bee crippling colony’s strength. Current commercial methods to eradicate Varroa have seen a gradual development of resistance in treated populations. Using synthetic biology, we plan to target Varroa more effectively by directly delivering the miticide, oxalic acid into Varroa and utilizing RNA interference to eliminate Varroa populations within commercial hives.');
+ jQuery("#slide15Paragraph").text('A few methods to deal with V. destructor are ineffective as they do not target the mite at a crucial phase when the bee is most susceptible. Others rely on chemicals that increase bee mortality rate. For example, formic acid has a harmful effect on capped and uncapped honey bee brood. We are working on killing the mites more effectively by directing delivery of the miticide, oxalic acid. Oxalic acid is an optimal weapon against the mites because the concentration needed to kill a mite is 70 times less lethal to the bee. The acid is already being used in syrup and spray solutions. Our method differs from other oxalic acid methods as it directly transfers the oxalic acid to the mite through the blood-like substance of the bee. Specifically, we are aiming to put E. coli in the midgut of the bee via ingestion, the E. coli would then produce oxalic acid which would be absorbed into the bloodstream. From there, when the mite attacks the bee and drinks its hemolymph, the oxalic acid will be there as a defense mechanism.');
 jQuery("#hp_paragraph").text('Although the science is an integral part of our project, we put some emphasis on human practices as well. Every team member contributed so that we could have a diverse and engaging set of human practices. We reached out many individuals, including one of our MLAs, who is also the Minister of Environment to get her support of our project; rural beekeepers in Southern Alberta to ask about the viability of our project; we also talked to our city council, and an urban planner to see how we could make our city more “bee-friendly”. We interacted with the public by handing out seed packets in parks, and informing them about the decline of bees and the city by-law that makes urban bee-keeping illegal; many signed a petition that we created to remove this by-law. To promote iGEM, we went to two middle schools to tell the students a little bit about our project and what iGEM is.');
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