iGEM of UBC

Objective: Create an engineered bacteriophage that eliminates Staphylococcus aureus

To achieve  our objective we have divided the project into 6 tracks that will be pursued in parallel:

1. Biofilm- observe Staphylococcus aureus biofilm growth under lab conditions so we can characterize effectiveness of our engineered phage

2. DspB- extract the Dispersin B gene from A. pleuropneumoniae  so we can integrate into the phage genome

3. Phage- develop standard protocol to manipulate the phage genome in a simple and well-defined manner

4. Quorum- characterize the existing P2 biobrick part

5. Modelling- model the interaction between s. aureus biofilm, phage, and relevant molecules in the system, to supplement our wet lab experiment

6. Human Practices- gather feedback from public opinion of synthetic biology

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100120/full/463288a.html

A very insightful article on the challenges that synthetic biologists have to face. It seems, then, that the “minimal cell” is the way to go. Without the minimal cell, there wouldn’t be any standardization of synthetic biology possible.

Otherwise, cell-free synthetic systems will have to play a huge part in this.

Bioengineers launch first open-source genetic parts production facility

This facility has the potential to really help commoditize the use of synthetic biology in biotechnological development! How could its presence affect the patenting landscape?

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/01/29/0906501107.abstract

This is the direction of biomedical engineering, and synthetic biology can play a role in this too!

Alex Ng and Eric Ma will be presenting at the Microbiology & Immunology seminar series at 4PM, this Friday at LSC3. Come down to make iGEM’s presence known! Socializing over free snacks & drinks (including beer!) will take place after the seminar series. We’ll have some organization to get people down – please meet Amelia in front of the LSC West entrance (facing CHBE) at 3:50PM, and we’ll all storm in together. If you need directions, please contact Amelia at 604-726-0537 on that day. Hank will be saving seats for everybody. We’ll be going out for dinner together after the seminar, so stick around if you have time!

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7279/full/nature08753.html

This is a really cool example of what synthetic biologists do – fresh from Nature!

This is a really good paper to read regarding the building of biological machines. Are our systems truly extensible?

http://www.nature.com/nrm/journal/v10/n6/full/nrm2698.html

Nature Biotechnology featured iGEM and synthetic biology in their most recent issue. There were many articles published in that issue, including opinion pieces on the cost of DNA synthesis, patenting issues, ethics and public policy, and much, much more. This current issue is definitely worth a look to get a feel for the state of synthetic biology now, and I’d strongly recommend those of us who are interested in synthetic biology to take a look at it!

Some points of interest include:

• DNA synthesis costs affecting synthetic biology (linked above)
• Patent issues and the interaction between industry and academia (linked above)
• Whole genome synthesis (a personal favorite!)
• An interview with J. Craig Venter (he’s a big name in synthetic biology)

Enjoy!