Team:Columbia NYC
Project Description
Our ultimate goal is to design a template for the establishment of a consortia of engineered bacteria whose individual component can effectively communicate with one another. From an abstract perspective, this collection of biological parts and circuits is essentially a biological computer that can perform algorithms by processing information and generating an output. From a practical perspective, such a system will allow individual cell types to have specific roles that allow for the division of labor, much like the specialization of cells in multi-cellular organisms. However, such a broad goal is quite expansive and not appropriate for the time frame of an iGEM project; as such, we narrowed the scope of the project to focus on establishing such a consortia of bacteria for the organized release of gut-peptides in probiotic cells that will work in tandem with the natural gut-flora to help modulate and regulate hormonal activities in humans - thereby providing a therapeutic system that is adaptive to the environment of the host. In order to design a system with a practical purpose and further refine our goals, the team focused on a design that could potentially combat obesity and diabetes by utilizing the following gut peptides: <p>
- Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1): Enhances the secretion of insulin
- Peptide YY (PYY): Down-regulates appetite
- Ghrelin: Up-regulates appetite