Team:Cambridge

From 2011.igem.org

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Latest revision as of 01:20, 22 September 2011

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Abstract

We investigated the properties of a novel yet under-researched group of proteins called reflectins.

Reflectins are interesting and unusual because of their self-organising properties, which cause them to produce dynamic structural colour.

We expressed codon-optimised reflectin in E. coli, and investigated the proteins' in vivo and in vitro effects.

Structural Colour

Nature’s colours don’t just come from pigments, but from structure too.

Cephalopods camouflage themselves using intracellular structures made from reflectins.

These are the only known proteinaceous structures to exhibit structural colour. They are inspiring a new class of responsive optical materials.

Impact of iGEM

We wanted to know what effect the iGEM competition has had on its past contestants.

We were also interested in what past participants thought of iGEM and how it shaped their view of synthetic biology.

We got in touch with a number of iGEM alumni and asked them to share their experience.

Tools

We used Gibson Assembly exclusively to build our constructs during the competition. This allowed us to do multi-part assemblies faster and with fewer bugs than if we had used standard techniques.

We contributed to a collection of software tools called Gibthon (initiated by Cambridge iGEM 2010), which aids the design of primers for Gibson assembly.

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 {{Template:Team:Cambridge/CAM_2011_TEMPLATE_HEAD}}
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+<div id='wiki_content'>
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-''Imagine that you could make one material appear to take any colour visible to the human eye. Now imagine you could instantaneously change between those colours, even without the aid of electricity. Using synthetic biology, with the input of cutting edge materials science, we will open up a world of possibilities where reflectance and colour all around us can be changed in the blink of an eye.
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+  .cam-home-box:hover {background: url("/wiki/images/c/c9/CAM_Bactiridescence_White_85.png") repeat scroll 0 0 transparent}
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-Reflectins are the proteins responsible for giving certain squid species their mind-bending camouflage properties. We have challenged ourselves to express, purify and sculpt these proteins into working optical devices that manipulate light. In addition, we will be pushing the boundaries of what is known about this protein in order to test its prospects as the future of devices such as energy-efficient displays, biosensor reporters and tuneable reflectors.''
+/*Title*/
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+  .cam-home-box.cam-home-colour:hover .cam-home-box-title {color: #ee2424;}
+  .cam-home-box.cam-home-survey:hover .cam-home-box-title {color: #3953a4;}
+  .cam-home-box.cam-home-tools:hover .cam-home-box-title {color: #eea900;}
-==''Bact'''iridescence''''' - An Overview==
+  .cam-home-box-title {height:20px; color: #000000;margin-bottom:5px;}
+  .cam-home-box-title p {font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; margin:1px;}
-[[File:CAM_Iridescent.JPG | 400px | thumb | right | Iridescence in the eye of squid ''Loligo vulgaris'' ]]
+  .cam-home-photos {height:140px; background-image: url(/wiki/images/3/37/CAM_black_85.png); padding:5px;}
+  .cam-home-photo {float:left;}
+  .cam-home-photo a {opacity: 1.0 !important;filter:alpha(opacity=100)!important;}
+  .cam-home-photo img {opacity: 0.9; filter:alpha(opacity=90);}
+  .cam-home-photo:hover img {opacity: 1.0; filter:alpha(opacity=100);}
-We have two principle branches to our main project; ''in vivo'' studies, in which we will be investigating the properties of reflectin protein in live bacteria, and ''in vitro'' studies, in which we will be investigating the properties of reflectin protein that has been extracted from E. coli.
+  #cam_home_sponsors {width:600px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;}
+  .cam-sponsor-logo {width:180px;height:180px;margin:10px;float:left;background-image:url(/wiki/images/e/e4/CAM_SPONSOR_LOGOS.png);opacity:.7!important;filter:alpha(opacity=70)!important;}
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+  .cam-logo-6 {background-position: -360px -180px;}
+  </style>
-''In vivo'', we believe that we will be able to engineer the reflectin gene such that it can be expressed in E. coli in a ‘properly folded’ state, something that has never been achieved before. We will then attempt to bind the protein to form an iridescent coating over the surface of the bacteria, creating what we term ‘bactiridescence’. If we could then control the colour changing behaviour of the reflectin, this could be a game-changing step for the future of biosensors.
+<div class='cam-home-row'>
+  <a href='/Team:Cambridge/Project' class='cam-color-exempt'>
+  <div class='cam-home-box cam-home-left cam-home-abstract'>
+      <div class='cam-home-box-title'>
+        <p>Abstract</p>
+      </div>
+    <div class='cam-home-box-content'>
+      <p>We investigated the properties of a novel yet under-researched group of proteins called reflectins.</p>
+      <p>Reflectins are interesting and unusual because of their self-organising properties, which cause them to produce dynamic structural colour.</p>
+      <p>We expressed codon-optimised reflectin in E. coli, and investigated the proteins' in vivo and in vitro effects.</p>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  </a>
-''In vitro'', we are confident that we can use the protein to make thin films with interesting optical behaviour (including colour change when someone breathes on it!) as well as diffraction gratings, which are virtually defect-free. There has already been an account of similar experiments in previous research, but we will be looking to extend it substantially. For example, we would like to create multi-layered thin films, which more accurately imitate the ‘natural’ arrangement of reflectin in squid tissue, and chemically induce colour changes, in ways that haven’t previously been attempted. These advances are necessary if reflectin is ever to be used in a commercial application.
+  <a href='/Team:Cambridge/Project/Background' class='cam-color-exempt'>
+  <div class='cam-home-box cam-home-right cam-home-colour'>
+      <div class='cam-home-box-title'>
+        <p>Structural Colour</p>
+      </div>
+    <div class='cam-home-box-content'>
+      <p>Nature’s colours don’t just come from pigments, but from structure too.</p>
+      <p>Cephalopods camouflage themselves using intracellular structures made from reflectins.</p>
+      <p>These are the only known proteinaceous structures to exhibit structural colour. They are inspiring a new class of responsive optical materials.</p>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  </a>
-In addition, we are keen to expand the field of synthetic biology by making:
+  <div style='clear:both;'></div>
-*Improved software tools. Our new open-source web-based software tool, PyGen, will be used for sequence manipulation and display, also integrating related applications already available on the web (including Gibthon, created by Cambridge iGEM 2010). It is specifically designed to improve on areas in which current researchers find fault with current software; we are conducting extensive research among the international iGEM  community to ensure that it is consumer oriented. The open-source philosophy is deeply ingrained in the spirit of iGEM as well.
+</div>
-*Open-source enzymes.  Currently, many universities struggle to find the funding necessary to participate in the iGEM competition, or synthetic biology in general. Commercial enzymes are often particularly expensive, placing a severe limitation on research. We aim to create a number of ‘BioBrick’ genes which will allow laboratories to ‘grow their own’; this should prove much cheaper than commercial sources.
-==Editing the wiki==
+<div class='cam-home-photos cam-home-row'>
+  <div class='cam-home-photo' style='margin-right:6px;'>
+    <a href='/Team:Cambridge/Project/In_Vitro'>
+      <img src='/wiki/images/6/60/CAM_home_image1.jpg' width='238px' height='140px' alt='Image 1' title='In-Vitro Thin Films of Reflectin'></img>
+    </a>
+  </div>
+  <div class='cam-home-photo' style='margin-right:6px;'>
+    <a href='/Team:Cambridge/Team'>
+      <img src='/wiki/images/3/37/CAM_home_image2.jpg' width='238px' height='140px' alt='Image 2' title='The Team'></img>
+    </a>
+  </div>
+  <div class='cam-home-photo'>
+    <a href='/Team:Cambridge/Project/Microscopy'>
+      <img src='/wiki/images/b/b1/CAM_home_image3.jpg' width='238px' height='140px' alt='Image 3' title='Microscopy'></img>
+    </a>
+  </div>
+  <div style='clear:both;'></div>
+</div>
-To make a new page with all the right formatting, navigate to the page you want to create, click edit (you have to be logged in) and paste the following into the edit box, then work away. (I find [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents this] helpful.)
-<pre>
-{{Template:Team:Cambridge/CAM_2011_TEMPLATE_HEAD}}
-==Page Title==
+<div class='cam-home-row'>
-Your text here
+  <a href='/Team:Cambridge/Society' class='cam-color-exempt'>
+    <div class='cam-home-box cam-home-left cam-home-survey'>
+      <div class='cam-home-box-title'>
+        <p>Impact of iGEM</p>
+      </div>
+      <div class='cam-home-box-content'>
+        <p>We wanted to know what effect the iGEM competition has had on its past contestants.</p>
+        <p>We were also interested in what past participants thought of iGEM and how it shaped their view of synthetic biology.</p>
+        <p>We got in touch with a number of iGEM alumni and asked them to share their experience.</p>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  </a>
+  <a href='/Team:Cambridge/Project/Gibthon' class='cam-color-exempt'>
+    <div class='cam-home-box cam-home-right cam-home-tools'>
+      <div class='cam-home-box-title'>
+        <p>Tools</p>
+      </div>
+      <div class='cam-home-box-content'>
+        <p>We used Gibson Assembly exclusively to build our constructs during the competition. This allowed us to do multi-part assemblies faster and with fewer bugs than if we had used standard techniques.</p>
+        <p>We contributed to a collection of software tools called <i>Gibthon</i> (initiated by Cambridge iGEM 2010), which aids the design of primers for Gibson assembly.</p>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  </a>
+  <div style='clear:both;'></div>
+  </div>
-{{Template:Team:Cambridge/CAM_2011_TEMPLATE_FOOT}}
+  <div id='cam_home_sponsors'>
-</pre>
+    <a href='http://www.cambio.co.uk/' class='cam-sponsor-logo cam-logo-1'></a>
+    <a href='http://www.anachem.co.uk/' class='cam-sponsor-logo cam-logo-2'></a>
+    <a href='http://www.fisher.co.uk/' class='cam-sponsor-logo cam-logo-3'></a>
+    <a href='http://www.clontech.com/' class='cam-sponsor-logo cam-logo-4'></a>
+    <a href='http://www.geneflow.co.uk/' class='cam-sponsor-logo cam-logo-5'></a>
+    <a href='http://www.promega.com/' class='cam-sponsor-logo cam-logo-6'></a>
+  </div>
+</div>
+</html>
 {{Template:Team:Cambridge/CAM_2011_TEMPLATE_FOOT}}