IllinoisSyntheticBiowetlab

Illinois Wet Lab 2010
Welcome to the Illinois Wet Lab page! We will work here on campus during the summer in a research labratory under the guidance of our advisors Courtney Evans(IGB), Dr. Chris Rao (Chemical Engineering), Dr. Manaster (BioEngineering), and Dr. Jin (Food Science and Human Nutrition).

This year, the Illinois Wet Lab Team will be creating a synthetic organism that reduces environmental metallic ions! For more information, please visit our wiki page.

What We Do: How Synthetic Biology is Done
The simplest biological component that synthetic biologists use is the “part”. This is a defined sequence of DNA that encodes certain information and as a result performs a defined function. This could be a gene regulatory function, such as a promoter of gene expression, a ribosome-binding site to direct protein translation, or an open reading frame coding for a particular protein. Many different parts can be combined into a “device”. Multiple devices can be hooked together thereby creating “systems” or “modules” capable of complex behaviors. Device “A” responds to the presence of a chemical “a” by expressing the gene “A2”, which in turn acts binding to a DNA promoter region (part “B1” in the device “B”) thereby inducing transcription of the gene B2.

The list of possible functions encoded in individual parts is unlimited, simply reflecting the diversity of biology.

Among those we can mention: sequences to which activators or repressors (proteins that regulate the activity of DNA polymerases in a positive or negative manner) bind within organisms added to a given protein localize them to particular regions within the cell proteins interact with specific partners By combining many different systems (or modules), complex behaviors can be engineered. Moreover, an even higher level of complexity can be achieved by utilizing different cell types (each one with different embedded synthetic modules).
 * Parts that regulate gene expression (promoters or enhancers, which are DNA
 * Different enzymes responsible for catalyzing a myriad of chemical reactions
 * Localization signals, which are generally short amino acid segments that when
 * Interaction modules, which are protein domains (or smaller motifs) that help
 * Etc, etc, etc…

--UCSF

    Jamboree Judging Criteria The requirements to earn a Gold Medal, in addition to the Silver Medal requirements, are any one OR more of the following:


 * 1) Characterize or improve an existing BioBrick Part or Device that was distributed via the 2008 iGEM BioBrick Parts collection, and enter this information back on the Registry.
 * 2) Help another iGEM team by, for example, charactering a part, debugging a construct, or modeling or simulating their system.
 * 3) Develop and document a new technical standard that supports the (i) design of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (ii) construction of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (iii) characterization of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (iv) analysis, modeling, and simulation of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (v) sharing BioBrick Parts or Devices, either via physical DNA or as information via the internet.
 * 4) Outline and detail a new approach to an issue of Human Practice in synthetic biology as it relates to your project, such as safety, security, ethics, or ownership, sharing, and innovation.