Macquarie University iGEM team

We are part of an undergraduate research team at Macquarie University competing in the iGEM competition, competing against 300 teams from universities around the world aiming to solve relevant global issues. We are raising funds for continuous research and to send some of our team members to Boston, USA later in the year.  This would be an invaluable experience for our team members to make international connections with members of the science community and to professionally present our project at an international seminar.

Team Macquarie 2018 is working on a modified strain of E. coli which will produce chlorophyll a through the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway. During the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway, semi-crystalline structures amass when grown in the dark and upon exposure to light form vesicles— a completely isolated environment in the cell. This opens up a whole new avenue for the medical and food industries as these vesicles provide a space to perform otherwise cytotoxic and energetically unfavourable reactions in high efficiency, within the cell. This novel system of artificial compartmentalisation has the capacity to largely impact these industries and have carry-on effects for the wider population.  As such, we will first incorporate these genes into E. coli and aim to produce these Chlorophyll Induced Vesicles (ChIVes) — the first of its kind.

Any funding would help our research as well as allowing another member of our team to gain invaluable experience for their future careers!