Difference between revisions of "Team:Lethbridge"
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Revision as of 03:55, 19 September 2015
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.
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.
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.
