Team:UT-Tokyo
From 2010.igem.org
We are now tackling on three projects; Allergy, Sudoku and Bioaccumulation. In the Allergy project, we plan to modify E.coli to be used as an allergy cure by applying hyposensitization therapy. The Sudoku project is designed to solve the popular mathematical puzzle Sudoku by using "intellectualized E.coli". In the Bioaccumulation project, our C.elegans will collect a substance.
Allergy
A lot of people are suffering from allergy every year. People sneeze and have trouble in stuffy nose because of house dust or pollen etc. Here, we mainly focus on the pollen allergy that is causing serious problems in many countries. To tackle on this problem, we use hyposensitization therapy which makes our body accustom to antigens by intaking them little by little every day. Our E.coli will constantly produce epitopes in our intestines, and the epitopes will be recognized by antibody. Here, we use epitopes of cedar pollen, but this method can be used in other types of allergy and we hope this method will be useful to cure allergy fundamentally.
Sudoku
Sudoku is a logical game to fill numbers from 1 to 9 inside the 9x9 boxes. The rule is simple: Each number should be used once in the same row, column, and 3x3 block.
In this experiment E.coli having information about the boxes will interact with other yeasts, and by applying a certain selection rule they decide the right numbers.
This process is a kind of parallel computation and it mimics differentiation in development.
Bioaccumulation
Hazardous substances in the soil often become a major problem, especially in the site of factories. The turmoil about transfer of Tsukiji market is fresh in our memory recently. In the present state of affairs, however, there is no effective way to remove hazardous substances in the soil and we must invest a large amount of cost to replace the soil.
We suggest a project, collecting hazardous substances by using “E.coli in the soil” and”C.elegans”. Bio accumulation is done through the process; C.elegans preys on E.coli which collected hazardous substances. C.elegans is controlled its behavior and led to the ground the moment preying on E.coli We can see C.elegans with the naked eye, and the fact makes the collecting of hazardous substances easy. Differing from chemical soil purification, this process can greatly reduce the damage to environment. This conception will become more and more important.