Team:Groningen/Project/Bandage

From 2014.igem.org

Because it is important for GMOs to be contained to where it is used we had to start by thinking how we could keep our bacteria contained inside the bandage, while still making sure it can perform its functions. We had many discussions about all the parts to make sure they meet our needs

Since we were already sure we were working with Lactococcus lactis our needs were clear from the start.

Very soon we thought of a gel like material to put our bacteria in with a top and bottom membrane to keep everything inside. The top membrane needed to allow for the diffusion of gases to maintain oxygen levels in the wound, while the bottom needed to allow all the peptides and proteins to diffuse outside to kill or hamper our target bacteria while immobilising our bacterium.

Design requirements:

Materials:

The materials should not be toxic to humans or bacteria.

The materials should be permeable to gasses

It should be durable and preferably inexpensive

Since it is a bandage it should not break too easily and it should be flexible.

Appearance

We prefer the bandage to be transparent so that you can look through it and judge whether it should be changed or it can stay on for another day.

Safety

since we use the bandage on a wound we really had to make sure our bacteria stays inside the gel. If the bacteria does not stay in the gel this can make another infection happen.

We will give the bottom layer a pore size where Lactococcus lactis stays finside while the other peptides and proteins diffuse inside and outside the gel.