Beyond the Bench

iGEM provides participants with a massive amount of bio-parts, making it possible for myriad combinations to occur. It’s easy if we could only use standard parts verified by iGEM organization. However, when we seek for innovation or uniqueness, not every school, not every team has the same chance of getting what they need from this huge synthetic biology network. We made the following improvements.
1) The new quorum-sensing possibility. The paradigm of quorum sensing is to use AHL or its homologues as signal molecule. Though this has been used by lots of teams, we found that these signal molecules have interference on each other. Therefore, the signal pathway could not work precisely as iGEM teams design. We looked for a new signal molecule that can also facilitate quorum sensing. From one paper published on nature, we constructed a gene into a new bio-part, using pc-HSL as the signal. The signal won’t be disturbed by analogues, so we have a better control over the system. This would also help other teams if they want to have a new look on cell-cell communication.
Among all the issues, we particularly care about bio-safety. This year we have been developing a novel quorum sensing system. Since it has yet not been tested by other teams, we paid extreme attention to its origin and we handled it very carefully. Firstly, the new RPAI/RPAR system comes from Rhodopseudomonas palustris. We referred to iGEM risk group list and found Rhodopseudomonas palustris listed in the Low Risk Group. Next, we consulted professor Liqun Zhang in agro-techknowlegy department in regards of the construction of a quorum sensing system. We especially asked about the risk factors of creating a new system in E.coli. Then, we counseled professor Qijun Chen from biological department about clone technology, in order not to create uncontrollable factors when we transfer a pathway from one strain to another. We also asked for advice from professor Wenfeng Chen, who is an expert on anaerobic bacteria. After making sure that Rhodopseudomonas palustris would not survive and multiply indefinitely, we finally consider this year's project as safe. Thanks to all three professors we've consulted.
2) The sharing network. Take our team for example; we don’t really have a mature platform for undergraduate to carry out a synthetic biology project on our own. When we reached out for help, be it asking for a plasmid or asking for details in a paper, we got almost no response from other famous lab or authors. This is understandable, because if every iGEM team relies on outside help, the iGEM part bank loses its function and the efficiency would be terribly low. We invited other teams from different universities to build a sub-network, trying to either mutually help each other, or gather requests to make a louder sound. If possible, this would organize questions from many teams together and ask for professional advice, rather than contacting outside sporadically. Moreover, once this network begin to work, it would narrow the disparity between strong teams and average teams, since the information and solutions are shared for everyone.