Team:Alberta

From 2011.igem.org

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             <li>Development of a rapid, systematic method to construct genes for <i>N. crassa</i>
             <li>Development of a rapid, systematic method to construct genes for <i>N. crassa</i>
             <li>Development and utilization of <i> N. crassa </i>as a suitable synthetic biology chassis</li>
             <li>Development and utilization of <i> N. crassa </i>as a suitable synthetic biology chassis</li>
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             <li> Creation of x parts for use in future synthetic biology projects </li>
+
             <li>Creation of 7 parts for use in future synthetic biology projects </li>
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             <li> Design of a self-contained bioreactor apparatus and the determination of our fuel as an economically viable biodiesel </li>  
+
             <li>Design of a self-contained bioreactor apparatus </li>
 +
<li>Determination of our fuel as an economically viable biodiesel</li>
         </ol>
         </ol>

Revision as of 01:02, 29 September 2011

  • The Plan
    How do you get fuel from waste? Learn about Team Alberta's progression from by-product biomass to a viable biodiesel.

    Click here to read more...

  • The Procedure
    New organisms require new techniques. Learn how Team Alberta progressed from an idea to a reality and the steps required to get there.

    Click here to read more...

  • The Product
    Biodiesel is a viable fuel. See our fuel in action and learn about Team Alberta's plans to make biodiesel production and usage even easier.

    Click here to read more...

  • The Potential
    Home production and commercial production are viable options for our biodiesel production methods. See Team Alberta's plan to make a small laboratory process into small scale bio-production and large scale.

    Click here to read more...

WELCOME

Team Alberta's aim is to aide in the solution of a global problem, the fuel crisis, by thinking locally. In Alberta, our main industrial practices lay within the oil and gas sector; however, we also have a thriving agricultural and forestry-based industry. The industrial processes associated with these industries produce biomass by-products of little economic value. The aim of our project is to convert these by-products into a useful and economically viable fuel, biodiesel.


Previous research has been largely focused on engineering organisms to metabolize cellulose, a highly inefficient approach with very little yield. Here is where our approach differs. Why engineer a new organism to perform a function nature has perfected in another species? Why not just make this organism even better?


We have selected the filamentous, ascomycete fungus Neurospora crassa, which is a natural cellulose metabolizer, with the aim of creating an organism to efficiently make biodiesel. Our fuel will be made by up-regulating fatty acid synthesis and inhibiting beta-oxidation, effectively causing the over-production of fatty acids within N. crassa. From here we will efficiently esterify the fatty acids into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), producing a viable fuel.


Ingenuity Sustainability Cost Efficiency
LEARN
ACHIEVE
  1. Development of a rapid, systematic method to construct genes for N. crassa
  2. Development and utilization of N. crassa as a suitable synthetic biology chassis
  3. Creation of 7 parts for use in future synthetic biology projects
  4. Design of a self-contained bioreactor apparatus
  5. Determination of our fuel as an economically viable biodiesel
INTERACT