Team:Valencia UPV/Overview

Valencia UPV iGEM 2015

Overview

The huge progress achieve during the last years in biological sciences, has created an enormous amount of information. Thus, nowadays the storage and processing of information has become a real challenge. Recently some biological storage solutions has been proposed. However, since biological systems only admit as much outputs as inputs they received, the processing issue has not been solved yet. Therefore, the creation of a biological multiplexor is a must and will improve the information processing.

In order to solve this issue we have design a circuit capable to produce 2n outputs, where n is the number of inputs. The circuit has been design for plant implementation and it is fed by optogenetic control elements (only two kind of light pulses at different time points). This is AladDNA, a device capable of storage information and process it very efficiently in order to make it accessible to even the most remote places.

The feasibility of this idea was tested by in silico modeling of the circuit showing a great operative capability. The system has a high resolution power between products with ratios from 100 to 105a.u. between each one.

Once the modeling was complete and the circuit was validated, each of the control elements were tested with transient expression in Nicotiana. The light switches implementation was measured with luciferase assay using one toggle switch control by red/far red lights and a blue toggle switch control by violet/cyan pulses. The second toggle switch was designed by us so in order to get our backs we also tested a blue light inductor. The recombinases check point was prove with very good results. Many seedling were also transform transiently to have an idea of the desired implementation chassis. The final winner of the competition was spinach!

In the decision of the compounds to produce we did a research of the most needed biological products in areas of difficult accession. Then we decided to produce a vaccine against rotavirus, the first cause of diarrhea in low income countries. Lactoferrin, a component of human immune system able to reduce the pneumonia the first cause of deaths in undeveloped countries. Interferon, a drug usually use for hepatitis treatment which is still a matter of public health concern. And finally, cholera vaccine, a drug needed mostly after natural disasters.

In order to make decoding of the information as user-friendly as possible and to assure that our project can reach most isolated places, we design a device that allows to grow seeds anywhere anytime. It consists in a small bioreactor able to irradiate seeds with the required inputs of lights in order to produce the desired compound.

However, the development of this ambitious project in a summer is an impossible objective. So we decided to create a virtual laboratory in Minecraft. Here we can develop our project as well as any other project performed ever. It is not only a tool to recreate a laboratory, you can actually construct your pieces in a termocycler, transform your constructions, pick colonies and much more. This time we have developed the challenge of construct a cholera vaccine before your live is over by the disease. So take your constructions, and prepare yourself for what is going to happen!