Team:Imperial

From 2014.igem.org

(Difference between revisions)
 
(67 intermediate revisions not shown)
Line 2: Line 2:
<html>
<html>
-
<!--main content -->
 
<body>
<body>
-
<h2>Our Project</h2>
+
<div class="content-wrapper">
-
<p>Greetings fellow iGEMers! We, Imperial College’s 2014 iGEM team, are pleased to welcome you to our WIP wiki.</p>
+
            <div class="banner">
-
<div class="row">
+
                <ul class="bxslider">
-
<div class="col-sm-6">
+
                  <li>
-
+
                        <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/d/de/IC14-banner-cellulose3.JPG" />
-
+
                    </li>
-
<h3>Background</h3>
+
                    <li>
-
<p>Cellulose is the most abundantly available organic polymer in nature. Plants, bacteria and even select animals (such as marine urochordates) produce it, utilising its properties for support, adhesion, and floatation. </p>
+
                        <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/e/e9/IC14-banner-cellulose1.JPG" />
-
<p>Cellulose is significant in our everyday lives for paper, dietary fibre, and clothing. It is the main ingredient in cotton, linen and any plant-derived material - we are constantly in contact with it!</p>
+
-
<p>Given its properties and prevalence in nature, cellulose finds other uses as a feedstock, in composite materials, as a biomaterial for tissue regeneration and many more.
+
-
<p>Due to its adaptability and ubiquity the full potential of cellulose has yet to be fulfilled. There are still many ways that we can engineer cellulose for novel uses though all research areas desire reduced cost of production and processing.</p>
+
-
<p>Most of the cellulose we currently process comes from plants. Plant cellulose exists naturally in a mixture with other compounds, which requires an energy-intensive purification step to yield the pure cellulose that is useful in many medical and environmental contexts. Bacterial cellulose, on the other hand, grows in a much purer and finer form. Treatment usually consists only of heating with aqueous NaOH. </p>
+
-
+
-
+
-
  </div>
+
-
<div class="col-sm-6">
+
-
<h3>Our Plan</h3>
+
-
<p>This summer, we aim to optimize cellulose production in bacteria, particularly <i>Gluconacetobacter xylinum</i> (previously known as <i>Acetobacter xylinum</i>), a highly-studied native producer of cellulose, and in our very own research-friendly <i>E. coli</i>. This should notably improve cost-efficiency and accessibility for its many potential applications which we will also explore. </p>
+
-
+
-
<a class="twitter-timeline" href="https://twitter.com/imperialigem" data-widget-id="491584474698620928">Tweets by @imperialigem</a>
+
-
<script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script>
+
-
+
-
<h2>Get In Touch</h2>
+
-
<p> Contact us as at <a href="mailto:imperialigem2014@gmail.com">imperialigem2014@gmail.com</a> or send us a tweet</p>
+
-
</div>
+
-
</div>
+
 +
                    </li>
 +
                    <li>
 +
                        <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/e/e2/IC14-banner-pilot.jpg" />
 +
                    </li>
 +
                    <li>
 +
                        <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/8/82/IC14-banner-3.jpg" />
 +
                    </li>
 +
                    <li>
 +
                        <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/9/95/IC14-banner-cellulose2.JPG" />
 +
                    </li>
 +
                   
 +
<li>
 +
                        <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/3/3c/IC14-banner-cellulose4.JPG" />
 +
                    </li>
 +
 +
                </ul>
 +
                <div class="banner-overlay">
 +
                    <div class="centre-box">
 +
                        <h2>Customisable Ultrafiltration Membranes from Bacterial Cellulose</h2>
 +
                    </div>
 +
                </div>
 +
            </div>
 +
            <div class="pure-g">
 +
                <div class="pure-u-1-3">
 +
                    <div class="content content-double">
 +
                        <h2>The Project</h2>
 +
                        <div class="content-text">
 +
                            <p>Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a natural biomaterial that is of interest in many fields due to its high purity compared with plant-derived cellulose. We are optimising BC biosynthesis in <em>Gluconacetobacter xylinus</em>, transferring the system to <em>E. coli</em>, and functionalising the material using proteins in order to expand its properties. </p> <p>BC has seen use in clothing and health foods, but we develop its application to the global issue of water purification. Rising demand for limited freshwater supplies will lead to more than half of the global population suffering severe water stress by 2030. Improved filtration techniques would help relieve this problem.</p><p> The porosity of BC and our synthetic attachment of contaminant-specific binding and catabolic proteins make for a flexible, modular water filter. Our manufactured biomaterial would augment water recycling and reclamation on local and industrial scales, helping to alleviate water stress.</p>
 +
                            <div class="more-box "><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/Project">read more...</a>
 +
                        </div>
 +
                        </div>
 +
                    </div>
 +
                </div>
 +
                <div class="pure-u-2-3">
 +
                    <div class="pure-g">
 +
                        <div class="pure-u-1-2">
 +
                            <div class="content content-single">
 +
                                <img class="bg" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/3/35/IC14-square-cellulose_dye.jpg">
 +
                                <div class="circle-overlay overlay-red">
 +
                                    <div class="overlay-content">
 +
                                        <h2>Implementation</h2>
 +
                                        <h3>Our final idea</h3>
 +
                                        <div class="more-box"><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/Implementation">read more</a>
 +
                                        </div>
 +
                                    </div>
 +
 +
                                </div>
 +
                            </div>
 +
                        </div>
 +
                        <div class="pure-u-1-2">
 +
                            <div class="content content-single">
 +
                                <img class="bg" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/1/11/IC14-square-cellulose_layer.jpg">
 +
                                <div class="circle-overlay overlay-blue">
 +
                                    <div class="overlay-content">
 +
                                        <a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/Results"><h2>Main Achievements</h2></a>
 +
                                        <ul>
 +
                                            <li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/Functionalisation">Functionalised BC using CBD fusions</a></li>
 +
                                            <li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/Gluconacetobacter">Created a library of <em>G. xylinus</em> parts</a></li>
 +
                                            <li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/Parts">Created over 100 constructs</a></li>
 +
                                            <li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/Gluconacetobacter#genome_sequencing">Sequenced two genomes</a></li>
 +
                                            <li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/EColi">Achieved cellulose production in <em>E.coli</em></a></li>
 +
                                        </ul>
 +
                             
 +
                                    </div>
 +
 +
                                </div>
 +
 +
                            </div>
 +
                        </div>
 +
                        <div class="pure-u-1-2">
 +
                            <div class="content content-single">
 +
                                <img class="bg" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/9/96/IC14-square-cellulose_petri_dish.jpg">
 +
                                    <div class="circle-overlay overlay-green">
 +
                                    <div class="overlay-content">
 +
                                        <h2>Water Report</h2>
 +
                                        <h3>The Liquid of Life</h3>
 +
                                        <div class="more-box"><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Imperial/Water_Report">read more</a>
 +
                                        </div>
 +
                                    </div>
 +
 +
                                </div>
 +
 +
                            </div>
 +
                        </div>
 +
                        <div class="pure-u-1-2">
 +
                            <div class="content content-single" id="tweets">
 +
                                <div id="tweets-container">
 +
                                    <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/3/37/IC14-logo-twitter.png">
 +
                                    <h2>Latest Tweet</h2>
 +
                                    <a class="twitter-timeline" data-dnt="true" height="200" width="280" data-link-color="#fff" border-color="#fff" data-tweet-limit="1" data-chrome="transparent nofooter noheader" href="https://twitter.com/imperialigem" data-widget-id="501710215125819392">Tweets by @imperialigem</a>
 +
                                    <script>
 +
                                        ! function (d, s, id) {
 +
                                            var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
 +
                                                p = /^http:/.test(d.location) ? 'http' : 'https';
 +
                                            if (!d.getElementById(id)) {
 +
                                                js = d.createElement(s);
 +
                                                js.id = id;
 +
                                                js.src = p + "://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";
 +
                                                fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
 +
                                            }
 +
                                        }(document, "script", "twitter-wjs");
 +
                                    </script>
 +
                                    <div class="more-box"><a href="http://twitter.com/imperialigem">All tweets @imperialigem</a>
 +
                                    </div>
 +
                                </div>
 +
                            </div>
 +
                        </div>
 +
                    </div>
 +
                </div>
 +
 +
 +
            </div>
 +
        </div>
 +
 +
 +
    </div>
 +
 
</body>
</body>
-
</html>
 
 +
 +
 +
</html>
{{:Team:Imperial/Templates:footer}}
{{:Team:Imperial/Templates:footer}}

Latest revision as of 03:55, 18 October 2014

Imperial iGEM 2014

The Project

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a natural biomaterial that is of interest in many fields due to its high purity compared with plant-derived cellulose. We are optimising BC biosynthesis in Gluconacetobacter xylinus, transferring the system to E. coli, and functionalising the material using proteins in order to expand its properties.

BC has seen use in clothing and health foods, but we develop its application to the global issue of water purification. Rising demand for limited freshwater supplies will lead to more than half of the global population suffering severe water stress by 2030. Improved filtration techniques would help relieve this problem.

The porosity of BC and our synthetic attachment of contaminant-specific binding and catabolic proteins make for a flexible, modular water filter. Our manufactured biomaterial would augment water recycling and reclamation on local and industrial scales, helping to alleviate water stress.

Implementation

Our final idea

Water Report

The Liquid of Life

Latest Tweet