Stony Brook's 2015 iGEM Team
Donation protected
Since January 2003, the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation has been striving to educate and provide science and research opportunities for the next generation of scientists. The potential behind synthetic biology is immense. We have seen advances in a wide range of fields, and as a team we feel that we are fully capable of contributing towards the progress of synthetic biology. We are excited to be a part of a competition this year that aims to further our understanding of synthetic biology and perhaps make our own discoveries and contributions.
Last year, Stony Brook's iGEM team won a bronze medal in the Health and Medicine tract. They designed a circuit that targets gram negative bacteria in a unique way. Due to the increase in antibiotic resistant strains prevalent in our society, they worked to propose a mechanism that targets these pathogens using a new approach. They laid the foundation for a new drug pathway that can utilize specific peptides and quorum sensing (cell-to-cell communication) to cause cell death in pathogenic cells such as the well-studied Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
This year, our team aims to raise the bar and bring new ideas to the table. We are hoping to do this by treating Type II diabetes without the use of insulin. Our goal is to transform our E. coli cells to produce a string of proteins and a protease. The protease would cut the medical proteins so they can be exported from the cell into our microcapsule. From there the medical proteins would diffuse out of the microcapsule into the kidney turning off the function of two genes in the body therefore stopping the re-absorption of glucose and lowering blood sugar levels.
As a group of motivated undergraduate students, we aspire to contribute to the scientific community. In order to do this, we ask of you to aid in our research efforts through donations of any amount! We are working hard to fundraise money that will directly go towards buying the necessary equipment and materials needed to complete the project! We thank you in advance for any contribution you make and please remember that your donation of any amount will tremendously help our team! Thank you!
P.S - To learn more about our team visit our facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/iGEMatstonybrook?fref=ts
Last year, Stony Brook's iGEM team won a bronze medal in the Health and Medicine tract. They designed a circuit that targets gram negative bacteria in a unique way. Due to the increase in antibiotic resistant strains prevalent in our society, they worked to propose a mechanism that targets these pathogens using a new approach. They laid the foundation for a new drug pathway that can utilize specific peptides and quorum sensing (cell-to-cell communication) to cause cell death in pathogenic cells such as the well-studied Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
This year, our team aims to raise the bar and bring new ideas to the table. We are hoping to do this by treating Type II diabetes without the use of insulin. Our goal is to transform our E. coli cells to produce a string of proteins and a protease. The protease would cut the medical proteins so they can be exported from the cell into our microcapsule. From there the medical proteins would diffuse out of the microcapsule into the kidney turning off the function of two genes in the body therefore stopping the re-absorption of glucose and lowering blood sugar levels.
As a group of motivated undergraduate students, we aspire to contribute to the scientific community. In order to do this, we ask of you to aid in our research efforts through donations of any amount! We are working hard to fundraise money that will directly go towards buying the necessary equipment and materials needed to complete the project! We thank you in advance for any contribution you make and please remember that your donation of any amount will tremendously help our team! Thank you!
P.S - To learn more about our team visit our facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/iGEMatstonybrook?fref=ts
Organizer
Kelly Eckartt
Organizer
Stony Brook, NY
