Team:Freiburg Bioware

In the last years the number of people affected by cancer increased significantly. About 25% cases of death are caused by malign tumors. Even though the industry is putting great efforts into developing effective strategies against cancer, innovative methods to fight tumors are needed. This year’s aim of Freiburg Bioware team 2010 is to create a universal virus construction kit which can be designed by submitted BioBricks. Our goal is to knockout the natural tropism of adeno-associated virus particles and to specifically target tumor cells by genetic engineering of the viral surface. The recombinant viruses will contain different genes coding for enzymes which convert harmless drugs into toxic molecules in targeted cell and kill the tumor cells. This approach will be a great advance in improving the growing field of personalized medicine.