Team:WashU

From 2011.igem.org

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Latest revision as of 04:07, 8 February 2012

Washington University in St. Louis 2011

The 2011 WashU iGEM team is researching the capability of baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to produce the compounds β-carotene and β-ionone. By manipulating the enzymatic pathways associated with the compounds and incorporating them into yeast, we hope to find an efficient means of infusing vitamin A, a derivative of β-carotene, into food items. Our research may ultimately stimulate the advancement and production of healthy food supplements similar to "golden rice".

β-ionone, derived from β-carotene, is an aromatic compound characterized by a rose scent and is a contributing ingredient for many perfumes. Production of β-ionone in a widely-available organism has the potential to improve the efficiency of obtaining this fragrance for the perfume industry.

Our team has been vigorously working throughout the months of June, July and August and we hope that our research will be put to good use!

The Project's 5 major components

1) Using PCR to attach a restriction site and yeast plasmid homology to our four unique cassettes (selective markers).

2) Using PCR to attach a restriction site and yeast plasmid homology to the genes involved in our enzymatic pathway.

3) Performing a restriction digest and ligation process to connect the genes and cassettes together such that we get Homology---Gene---Restriction + Restriction---cassette---Homology.

4) Transforming our final gene/cassette product into yeast. Then through yeast mating and sporulation, we hope to successfully create transgenic yeast that can produce β-carotene and β-ionone.

5) Using assays, we ultimately test for the production of β-carotene and β-ionone and the efficiency of this pathway.

For a more detailed overview of our experimental plan, please see our modeling page here.

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 {{WashUHeader2011}}
-== Interested in Applying to WashU iGEM 2012? ==
-'''The 2012 application can be found [https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHlZcUlISUx1Qml3Mk9kOW5wb19XbWc6MQ here]'''
-The WashU iGEM program consists of weekly planning meetings during the spring semester, ten weeks of full-time research at WashU during the summer, and concludes with presentations at the iGEM regional conference as well as WashU's research symposium. Feel free to email washu.igem@gmail.com if you have any questions about this unique research opportunity!
-Info Sessions will be held on the following days:
-*Wednesday, January 25th, 4:00pm McDonnell 312
-*Monday, January 30th, 5:00pm McDonnell 312
-The application is due '''February 4th''' at midnight! Good luck!
 == Washington University in St. Louis 2011 ==