Team:Alberta

From 2011.igem.org

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<p>Team Alberta's aim is to aide in the solution of a global
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<p>Team Alberta's aim is to aid in the solution of a global
problem, the fuel crisis, by thinking locally. In Alberta, our main
problem, the fuel crisis, by thinking locally. In Alberta, our main
industrial practices lay within the oil and gas sector; however, we
industrial practices lay within the oil and gas sector; however, we

Latest revision as of 02:51, 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 aid 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