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Team:Newcastle/Meetings/24 February 2010
From 2010.igem.org
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Contents |
Formal Meeting 24 February 2010
- Start time: 3.10 pm-5.35 pm
- Room 922
Attendance
- Present: Da (Computer), Harsh, Jannetta, Rachel (Chair), Younus (Minutes), Zoltan, Richard, Steven, Anil, Jen, Matt
- Apologies: Alan, Phil
Updates
- iGEM 2010 Team Newcastle Registered
- Final Date for Jamboree 5-8th Nov?
SHORTLIST SO FAR:
Project ideas – team members assigned to look into this projects
TOP FIVE
- [1] Computing DNA - Rachel, Zoltan, Steven
- [2] Microcracks in Concrete - Harsh, Da, Alan
- [3] BactoNatto, Teeth, Coating spores/BS - Rachel, Younus, Jannetta
- [4] Headlice - Richard, Janetta,Phil
- [5] Linearising DNA - Richard, Phil, Zoltan
Possible other projects
- [A] Diabetes - Da, Younus and Harsh
- [B] French Flag - Steven and Zoltan
- [C] Putting BS into us?/BS against disease or diseased water? - Richard
Sub-project
- [D] MAZef kill switch
DECISION of PROJECT:
- Ideal situation: All decide on one project on Friday – Present idea on Wed
- Likely situation: Choose top 3 projects – Present on Wed 3rd - formal meeting
- If can’t decide on which project – put it to the vote (like last year!)
PRESENTATIONS:
- About 5 minutes, 3-4 slides.
- Work in assigned groups of three
- demonstrate project is viable/explain how it works + problems/issues
- Start looking at a lower level i.e. which genes involved
- Start looking at modelling languages, SPML, environments?
- Use Google Scholar
- Major Weakness of many previous iGEM teams – Modelling is tagged onto Lab work. We should perform modelling-informed lab work
TIMELINE:
For the Summary table for AW & JH:
- Different Individuals holidays should by included
- For personal and practical issues
- To get a picture of when everyone is available
- List of all tasks with hard deadlines highlighted
- T-Shirts/Poster – not a single point
- Misc?
- Team Roster – Finalise who is coming to the Jamboree – twice?
Action Points:
- All members to apply for membership for iGEM 2010 Team Newcastle
- AW & JW to e-mail Jannetta and Phil about Timeline summary
- Visas/Passports – Check whether visas required/If passports in date.
- Zoltan and Harsh –
- British Passport -> don’t need visa but need to fill in online form
- JH, AW and M… already have visas from last years
- Complete Data mining
- Purchase/try Natto!!!!!
Other businesses:
- Harsh’s cheaper/quicker flight to Boston option - Booking has to go through University still. Would be helpful to identify flights
Ideas
[1] Computing DNA
- Kill switch
- Modifying bacteria so that as they evolve they move closer or further away from answering a problem
- Bacteria survive if close to answer [1?], die if further away from answer [0?]
- Hamiltonian Pathway
[2] Microcracks in Concrete
- Spray bacteria into concrete
- spray nutrients, when nutrients run out – forms a polymer/biofilm
- fills cracks by producing e.g. polymer, protein, CaCO3 etc.
- Difficulty – way of detecting cracks - X-rays
- Great wall of China – used rice – still there!
- Worlds strongest Glue – Camylobacter cresentus
- Spider silk – contracts as it dries – could be like reinforced concrete
- Spores germinate when cracks get bigger – start to grow again!
- Applications: Cracks in space shuttles, shoes
- Advantage over normal glue? BS can get to cracks, where normal glue cannot!
- Well-known problem – microcracks will develop into bigger cracks
- Chemical engineer would be required
[3] BactoNatto, Teeth, Coating spores/BS
- S. mutans binding to ... in teeth -> decay teeth
- displace this organism with BS
- 90 day protection?
- Spoon of this - mix into anything?
- MIT 2007 -> didnt manage to transform lactobacillus with specific plasmid
- Would have to use a computer stimulation of teeth
- Chocolate/vanilla/banana flavoured Natto!
- Miracal cure
- with Fluorides, Omega, Vitamins [D], Minerals etc.
[4] Headlice
- Male stomach discs?
- Female symbiotic relationship with bacteria
- How to introduce BS?
- Lice v hard to get rid of
- Bacillus Stringensis?
[5] Linearising DNA
- bacteria with linear chromosomes/plasmids - Agrobacteria?
- Streptomyces ... also has linear DNA
- problem of replication - as it is normally bidirectional
- Richard's two papers
- Flipase/RecA?
[B] French Flag
- spatial and temporal organisation-self organisation
- bacteria grow in a certain pattern without external stimuli - they decide on the basis of local stimuli
- Game of life and Rock, Paper Sissors game by Southampton 2009
- See also Osaka2009
