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Team:York
From 2014.igem.org
Hello there! We're the 2014 iGEM team for the University of York, UK. In just 50 years, the University has become one of the top in the UK. We think this is because of its passion and dedication towards each of its subjects; something we share! Our team is made up of 20 undergraduates from a range of disciplines, as well as our two supervisors.
Our progect EcoCADMUS ( E. coli CAdmium DecontaMination Universal System)aims to target the global issue of wastewaters from industry and mineral processing being contaminated by metals and sulfates. We have focused our project on the removal of sulfates and cadnium, one of the most commonly encountered toxic heavy metals in contaminated water which is known to cause severe damage to aquatic biodiversity and to humans. The University of York iGEM team has developed a new approach to remove cadmium and sulfates from wastewater using genetically engineered Escherichia coli. Our circuit is activated by a cadmium inducible promoter and is divided into two interconnected mechanisms:
- increasing sulphate uptake and its targeting into cysteine production by engineering the cysteine biosynthesis pathway;
- increasing cadmium uptake and targeting of the free-cysteine into metal binding proteins (phytochelatins) for metal chelation/stabilization inside and outside cell.
