Achievements

Bronze medal requirements

• Register the team
• Successfully complete and submit a project summary form
• Create a Wiki which includes all the details of the project
• Present a presentation and a poster at the iGEM Jamboree
• Enter information detailing at least one new standard BioBrick Part or Device in the Registry of Parts
• Data was entered for 11 new biobrick parts
• Submit DNA for at least one new BioBrick Part or Device to the Registry of Parts
• We designed and submitted DNA for three new biobrick parts

• Cytoplasmic maltose binding protein (malESS)

• IbpAb/ fxsA fusion promoter
• CpxP Promoter

We also built the following new constructs:

• ibpAB reporter BBa_K339011
• CpxR reporter BBa_K339007
• DegP reporter BBa_K339008
• MalE generator BBa_K339004
• MalE31 generator BBa_K339005
• CpxR Promoter with RFP Reporter and Arabinose Inducible MalE31 BBa_K339009

All of these parts were verified via restriction digests and PCR, and then finally sequenced.

Silver medal Requirements

Demonstrate that one of your parts works as expected

• Through our characterization data, we showed that several of our parts worked as expected. Click here for more information.

  The CpxR reporter was found to report on misfolding protein. We characterized this promoter with varying concentrations of folding and misfolding proteins produced which we assumed is correlated to arabinose concentrations due to the use of AraC promoter. We also tested this promoter with NlpE, an outer membrane lipoprotein that literature has found activates the Cpx pathway. Finally, we tested this promoter in varying temperature to produce a heat shock response.

Characterize the operation of at least one new BioBrick Part or Device and enter this information on the Parts or Device page via the Registry of Parts

• Both MalE and MalE31 also worked as expected, malE folding in the periplasm and malE31 showing a misfolding response. This was indicated through testing with a reporter from another lab (Raivio) (for more info click here) as well as tetsing with our cpxR reporter click here.
• We characterized the cpxR reporter, malE31, MalE and IbpAB. See characterization data here.

Gold Medal requirements

Characterize or improve an existing BioBrick Part or Device and enter this information back on the Registry.

• we entered new DNA as well as new sequences for malE and malE31.
• we entered characterization data for the CpxR promoter.

Help another iGEM team by, for example, characterizing a part, debugging a construct, or modeling or simulating their system.

• We tested out a part for Lethbridge. We characterized it for possible misfolding in the cytoplasm. Results can be found here.
• We also attended a regional workshop as well as a mock iGEM event with the University of Alberta as well as the University of Lethbridge. Here we helped each their out with our projects by practicing our presentations for each other, giving suggestions, future directions as well as troubleshooting
• Finally our team filled out surveys for the following teams:
• This year we chose to approach ethics by making a podscasts covering a few different ethical issues pertaining to synthetic biology. We felt tat this would be a novel way to increase awareness about the field of synthetic biology while having a discussion of important issues. We felt that this would be a much more accessible way for the public to gain a better understanding of what the real fears in synthetic biology is as well as to dispel some of the misleading impressions given by media sources.