Team:UNAM-CU
Welcome to iGEM 2015!
Your team has been approved and you are ready to start the iGEM season!
Our project:
The main goal of our project is to modify a bacteria in order to make it capable of sensing the level of glucose in the nearby area, produce a quantity of insuline according to the glucose levels and take that insuline to the outer side. In a right context, the abilities of this (or these) bacteria would allow body cells to take advantage of the glucose overriding hyperglycemia.
In recent years, bacteria modified by means of biotechnology are used as the main system to obtain artificial insuline, which is possible to administrate to people who can't produce insuline by themselves, like people with type 2 diabetes. One of the main disadvantages of that production system is the constant patient's need for injections with specific dosis. The dosis might change through time due to the patient's diet and metabolism.
The correct folding of insulin requires an oxidative environment that allows the formation of two disulfide bonds between the two different polypeptide chains that build the insulin structure as well as a third disulphide bond within a single chain, a reason why it becomes harder for biotechnologists to produce it in large quantities.
Under those circumstances, and because we want to use E. coli to build a circuit, we decided to use the SHuffle strain of E. coli, characterized by its capability to grow having an oxidative cytoplasmic environment, allowing the creation of functional disulphide bonds in many proteins.
Using mathematical modeling, we expect to be able to theorize the interaction between the different factors implicated in our system, such as the glucose levels in blood resulting from a response to the insulin generated by the bacteria.
In summary, the final result that is expected from our investigation is the possibility to stablish an useful alternative for insuline dependant people, allowing them to maintain more suitable glucose levels, improving their health and quality of life.
Before you start:
Please read the following pages:
Styling your wiki
You may style this page as you like or you can simply leave the style as it is. You can easily keep the styling and edit the content of these default wiki pages with your project information and completely fulfill the requirement to document your project.
While you may not win Best Wiki with this styling, your team is still eligible for all other awards. This default wiki meets the requirements, it improves navigability and ease of use for visitors, and you should not feel it is necessary to style beyond what has been provided.
Editing your wiki
On this page you can document your project, introduce your team members, document your progress and share your iGEM experience with the rest of the world!
See tips on how to edit your wiki on the Template Documentation page.
Templates
This year we have created templates for teams to use freely. More information on how to use and edit the templates can be found on the Template Documentation page.
Tips
This wiki will be your team’s first interaction with the rest of the world, so here are a few tips to help you get started:
- State your accomplishments! Tell people what you have achieved from the start.
- Be clear about what you are doing and how you plan to do this.
- You have a global audience! Consider the different backgrounds that your users come from.
- Make sure information is easy to find; nothing should be more than 3 clicks away.
- Avoid using very small fonts and low contrast colors; information should be easy to read.
- Start documenting your project as early as possible; don’t leave anything to the last minute before the Wiki Freeze. For a complete list of deadlines visit the iGEM 2015 calendar
- Have lots of fun!
Inspiration
You can also view other team wikis for inspiration! Here are some examples:
- 2014 SDU Denmark
- 2014 Aalto-Helsinki
- 2014 LMU-Munich
- 2014 Michigan
- 2014 ITESM-Guadalajara
- 2014 SCU-China
Uploading pictures and files
You can upload your pictures and files to the iGEM 2015 server. Remember to keep all your pictures and files within your team's namespace or at least include your team's name in the file name.
When you upload, set the "Destination Filename" to Team:YourOfficialTeamName/NameOfFile.jpg. (If you don't do this, someone else might upload a different file with the same "Destination Filename", and your file would be erased!)