Team:UC Davis/Projects

var crosstalkContent = "<br/><p class='header'>THE PROBLEM</p><div>In synthetic biology, the issue of crosstalk acts as a substantial barrier against developing fully-controlled biological systems.  Much like in the development of electrical systems where crosstalk causes harmful interference and unpredictable behavior, crosstalk prevents us from completely understanding how our biological constructs function, and quite often can affect the efficacy of these systems.  As such, it is clear that a method to computationally predict crosstalk in a given biological system would be a valuable scientific resource, and would effectively help minimize the negative effects of crosstalk.  This is where our computational tool, CPOTATo, comes in.</div><br/>Crosstalk can be attributed to several aspects of biological systems, one of which is the interaction between proteins from the synthetic circuit and proteins from the host organism.  CPOTATo takes advantage of this fact in an attempt to predict protein combinations that may cause crosstalk in various biological systems.<br/><br/>The primary reason for the crosstalk between proteins is usually the homology between them.  Consider the following abstract example:  In the chassis' system, Protein A naturally interacts with Protein B; however, Protein C, a protein produced by the synthetic circuit we wish to implant, is very homologous to Protein A.  Since Protein A and Protein C are very similar, there is a certain degree of probability that Protein C will interact with Protein B.  Therefore, unless Protein C's original purpose was to interact with Protein B, this is an undesirable interaction that may lead to unpredictable crosstalk.<br/><br/><p class='header'>APPROACH</p>";