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*Equipment: Expensive micropipetters are replaced with precision droppers, which can accurately dispense small volumes of solutions. | *Equipment: Expensive micropipetters are replaced with precision droppers, which can accurately dispense small volumes of solutions. | ||
*Easily Shipped: We will utilize lyophilized competent cells so that cold temperatures are not necessary. | *Easily Shipped: We will utilize lyophilized competent cells so that cold temperatures are not necessary. | ||
| - | *Inexpensive: Based on our [[Team:Alberta/ | + | *Inexpensive: Based on our [[Team:Alberta/human_practices/distribution_analysis|distribution analysis]] the kit will be inexpensive to produce and can be sold at costs that are lower than currently used high school biology labs.</p> |
<p> | <p> | ||
'''[picture of kit buddi]''' | '''[picture of kit buddi]''' | ||
Revision as of 23:24, 26 October 2010
GENOMIKON
The Idea
GENOMIKON evolved from a team objective to bring synthetic biology to high school students. This proved to be a tall task as a high school environment has many limitations that don't apply to university research labs.
To work GENOMIKON must be:
- Require very little expensive equipment (autoclaves, centrifuges, -70C freezers)
- Fast
- Efficient
- Easily shipped
- Inexpensive
The limitations imposed by the high school requirements forced our team to design a new standard for the assembly and production of DNA parts, BioBytes 2.0. The BioByte 2.0 standard solved most of the problems.
BioBytes 2.0 is:
- Fast: Parts can be added to a growing construct in 7 minutes.
- Efficient: It has been modeled to be 96% efficient. We have also used BioBytes 2.0 to create plasmids that have been transformed successfully into E. coli.
- Equipment: It does not require centrifugation or any other expensive equipment inherently.
The other limitations were solved by using innovative protocols and products:
- Equipment: Expensive micropipetters are replaced with precision droppers, which can accurately dispense small volumes of solutions.
- Easily Shipped: We will utilize lyophilized competent cells so that cold temperatures are not necessary.
- Inexpensive: Based on our distribution analysis the kit will be inexpensive to produce and can be sold at costs that are lower than currently used high school biology labs.
[picture of kit buddi]
SafetyGENOMIKON was designed with safety in mind and as such it has many safety features built in.
- A common lab strain of E. coli DH5α is used. This strain has been used safely in labs around the world and was designed to be safe.
- Proper safety equipment is not required but will be recommended to further decrease the risks of contamination.
- The kit will teach safety education to the students.
When we tested our kit with high school students from the Edmonton area it had a warm reception. They had great things to say about the educational aspect and the scientific aspect of the kit. They did give us some useful feedback. An in-depth look at this component can be seen on real world trials.
