Team:Birkbeck
Birkbeck iGEM
The Owligos are the first-ever team entered into the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition by Birkbeck, University of London. We’re a varied group of students who reflect the diversity and unique character of our institution: many of us have chosen science as a second career, having already spent some time in full-time work. For most of us, this has meant making our way through a degree while continuing to work full-time. Hopefully this kind of dedication will help us successfully navigate our way through our iGEM project.
Project Aim
Our project aims to create a new diagnostic solution that will be low-tech and cost-effective enough to allow its usage in deprived and remote communities. We’re attempting to engineer a bacteriophage lambda chassis to change its host affinity, while simultaneously adding a marker that will facilitate easy detection of a target bacterial pathogen in patient samples.
To demonstrate this approach as a proof of concept for the competition, we plan to change this affinity between different strains of E.coli; however, ultimately we hope to demonstrate that this principle could also be applied to alter the phage’s host range to other bacterial species. We could then provide a modular system capable of diagnosing a range of diseases. Of course, we haven’t chosen a simple goal. But as Birkbeck pioneers, we are determined to prove ourselves by making our project a success. We can’t wait to present the results of our work at the Giant Jamboree in September!
Media
Vet Interviews
In the context of our project, a microscope would be useful for x, y z.
Bringing this cheap microscope technology to rural communities would also be extremely useful for practitioners working in the field, as described by these 4 vets: Dr Imran, Dr Muhammad Jawad Khan, Dr Anaheim and Dr Nabin Poran working in the field in Pakistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Nepal respectively. All these vets work on behalf of The Brooke, an international animal welfare organisation dedicated to improving the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules in some of the world's poorest communities. Please see their website for more details.
Dr Imran, Pakistan
If playback is not functional your browser either does not support HTML5 or cannot handle MediaWiki open video formats. Please consider upgrading your browser, installing the appropriate plugin or switching to a Firefox or Chrome install.
Dr Muhammad Jawad Khan, Pakistan
If playback is not functional your browser either does not support HTML5 or cannot handle MediaWiki open video formats. Please consider upgrading your browser, installing the appropriate plugin or switching to a Firefox or Chrome install.
Dr Anaheim, Ethiopia
If playback is not functional your browser either does not support HTML5 or cannot handle MediaWiki open video formats. Please consider upgrading your browser, installing the appropriate plugin or switching to a Firefox or Chrome install.
Dr Nabin Poran, Nepal
If playback is not functional your browser either does not support HTML5 or cannot handle MediaWiki open video formats. Please consider upgrading your browser, installing the appropriate plugin or switching to a Firefox or Chrome install.