Difference between revisions of "Part:BBa K1954001"

Revision as of 14:12, 20 October 2016

This is UCL iGEM 2016's nomination for Best New Composite Part as well as its new BioBrick submission for a Silver Medal (Experimentally validate that at least one new BioBrick Part or Device of your own design and construction works as expected).

For UCL iGEM 2016's entry for the Gold Medal criterion, 'Improve the function OR characterization of a previously existing BioBrick Part or Device', please go to: BBa_K239009.

Lycopene cassette under the control of NarK, an oxidative stress inducible promoter

Lycopene expression under control of NarK promoter to enable cells to grow better under conditions of stress.

Usage and Biology

Lycopene is an antioxidant naturally occuring in tomatoes, giving them their rich red colour. This antioxidant is also known to be lacking in the elderly population, meaning there are higher levels of unregulated oxidative stress. This BioBrick is induced by oxidative stress and produces lycopene as means to 'mop up' the oxidative stress in the environment, in the form of a probiotic.
After choosing our topic of healthy ageing we spoke to various researchers in the area. We especially valued the opportunity to speak to Aubrey De Grey, an author of books such as 'advocate for an indefinite human lifespan' and 'ending ageing'. He is the co-founder of SENS research and is renowned in the field for his research. We were particularly looking forward to discussing the idea of a antioxidant probiotic with him following his interest in the free radical theory of ageing and his positive view that "Ageing is emphatically not an inescapable destiny".
In conversation with Aubrey de grey, it was suggested to us that our lycopene probiotic would need to be controlled. This is because reactive oxide species are useful in important signalling processes which act to protect the cell. Taking on board this advice, we considered a method to control lycopene expression.
To achieve this we decided to look through the registry at existing promoter which would select lycopene expression only in 'high stress' conditions which mimic the imbalance of stress within the cell. Hence, we decided to combine lycopene with a stress sensitive promoter which would only release lycopene when cells are stressed. This promoter was NarK. We are very grateful to Aubrey for his insight and enthusiasm for our project, and also thankful that he took time to speak with our team and influence our project in a positive way.

To watch our conversation see our wiki page: http://2016.igem.org/Team:UCL/HP/Silver/Experts.

Sequence and Features