Team:Northwestern
From 2014.igem.org
most of the existing genetic engineering has been done with E.Coli
but what if we could work in more organisms?
The goal of our project was to explore and compare the different transcriptional and translational rates of known model organisms such as E. coli to various non-model strains, with all processes taking place in cell free systems. This is in the hopes that by compiling a list of well-characterized parts such as promoters and RBSs, the information could be used to further the field of synthetic biology through environmental, health, and industrial applications by eliminating the need to modify E. Coli to meet particular environmental settings
The possibilities through synthetic biology are endless, but oftentimes the foundational scientific methods are not fully optimized or explored. Each project operates fairly autonomously, pulling on the work of others to aid research, yet sometimes plowing ahead to solve the problem at hand without the contributions from predecessors. The most categorized and recognized promoters are the Anderson Promoters. However, the rank classification for these promoters are based on the relative strength of maximum fluorescence and nothing else.
We aim/aimed to categorize the function of a number of promoters based on absolute maximum fluorescence and the time it took to reach that point. For industrial applications a quicker response time can minimize reaction time which could lead to economic benefit *other reasons why our project is so awesome*. The goal of our project was to explore and compare the different transcriptional and translational rates of known model organisms such as E. coli to various non-model strains, with all processes taking place in cell free systems. *talk about cell free system* Additionally, instead of testing all possible combinations of promoters, RBSs, and organisms, we tested a select number and then used predictive modeling to assess which combination yielded the strongest glow/signal/fluorescence. This is in the hopes that by compiling a list of well-characterized parts such as promoters and RBSs, the information could be used to further the field of synthetic biology through environmental, health, and industrial applications by minimizing the need to extensively modify E. Coli to meet particular environmental factors.