"

From 2014.igem.org

Home

Team

Official Team Profile

Project

Parts

Modeling

Notebook

Safety

Attributions

Trimethylaminuria

Another subproject that we are working on has to do with a rare genetic disease caused by the lack of production of the enzyme Flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 due to a mutation in the gene with the same name known as trimethylaminuria, or fish-odor syndrome. This disease results in the excretion of an unpleasant smelling compound known as trimethylamine..

We found that the bacteria Ruegeria pomeroyi produces an enzyme called Trimethylamine monooxygenase, which has the ability to convert trimethylamine into trimethylamine-oxide, a compound that is odor-less. Our goal is to clone this gene into C. striatum, since that is naturally present on our skin, and develop a cosmetic cream containing this product. Using this cream would allow people suffering from fish-odor syndrome to suppress the symptoms related to it.