Endy:Evolutionary stability project

This page will help coordinate the experimental/computational work being undertaken to improve the evolutionary stability of engineered biological systems. Read here for more background.

Project Outline

 * 1) Evaluate and select several counter-selectable markers.
 * 2) Evaluate a method for reliable long-term cell growth in E.Coli. These include:
 * 3) *Chemostat
 * 4) *Batch dilutions
 * 5) Measure mutation rate of counter-selectable marker in long-term culture.
 * 6) Develop an codon optimization algorithm for specifying a new DNA seq for the counter-selectable marker
 * 7) *Background research on the mechanisms by which cell spontaneiously mutate, the start of this can be found here.
 * 8) Synthesize counter-selectable marker with "stabilized" sequence
 * 9) Measure the mutation rate of the new marker.

Useful Resources

 * E.Coli book chapter 18 (Mutagenesis)
 * Schaaper, R. M. and R. L. Dunn (1991). "Spontaneous mutation in the Escherichia coli lacI gene." Genetics 129(2): 317-26.
 * Jasonk 21:40, 15 March 2006 (EST):Example of a characterization of the "mutation spectra" for a gene.