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Welcome

We are Arizona State University's first iGEM team, working over the summer for the 2011 International Genetically Engineered Machine competition. Our Wiki will be updated as our project progresses, so check back often.

What
 is
 iGEM?


The International 
Genetically 
Engineered 
Machine
 (iGEM) 
competition
 is 
the 
premiere
 undergraduate
 synthetic 
biology
competition, 
encouraging 
students 
around 
the 
world 
to 
develop
 novel 
applications
 for
 genetic 
engineering. The
 competition 
has 
grown 
from 
5 
universities 
in 
2004
 to 
over 
160 
universities 
in 
2011 
worldwide. 
This 
year 
iGEM 
will 
be
holding 
a 
regional
 competition
 for 
the 
Americas 
at 
the 
Institute 
for 
Biological 
Engineering 
in 
Indianapolis, 
where
 a
 portion 
of
 contestant 
universities
 will 
move 
on 
to 
the 
World
 Championship.
 The
 World 
Championship 
will 
be
 held 
at 
the
 Massachusetts 
Institute 
of 
Technology
 in 
November
2011.
 Projects
 are 
judged 
by 
their
 innovation 
and 
application 
of 
gene
 networks 
to 
form 
products 
with 
novel
 functions.
 Examples 
of
 past 
projects 
include
 a 
H.
 pylori
 vaccination
 candidate,
 bacteria
 that 
solve 
sudoku 
puzzles,
 heavy
 metal 
detection 
using 
E.
coli, 
and 
a 
waterborne 
parasite
 detection 
system. 
As
 ASU's 
inaugural 
team
 we 
plan 
to 
focus 
on 
NDM‐1 
acquired 
antibiotic 
resistance 
and 
the 
CRISPR‐Cas 
pathway.


Global
 Challenge


The 
WHO 
and
 CDC 
consider
 antibiotic
 resistance 
to 
be 
one 
of 
the 
most 
pressing 
global
 health
 threats,
 compromising
 the
 effectiveness
 of 
our 
most 
important 
tool
 in
 fighting 
bacterial 
infection. 
NDM‐1 
allows 
bacteria
 to
 be 
resistant 
to 
a
 broad 
range
 of 
commonly
 used
 antibiotics 
and 
has
 spread 
rapidly
 from
 India
 and 
Pakistan
 through out 
the 
world.
 Alternative
 solutions 
must 
be
 promptly 
and 
intelligently 
employed
 to 
counter
 this 
threat.


Bacterial 
Immunity


CRISPR 
functions
 as 
a 
bacterial 
immune
 system 
by 
incorporating
 and 
targeting 
foreign 
genetic
 elements. 
The
 modularity
 of 
this 
system 
presents 
the 
opportunity 
for 
unique 
applications.
 Our
 innovative
 solution 
uses 
CRISPR 
to 
silence 
the 
NDM‐1 
gene,
 consequently 
developing 
a 
new
 method 
that 
can 
be 
utilized 
for 
many 
novel 
gene 
manipulations 
in 
bacteria. 
This 
project 
combats
 an 
important 
global 
issue 
with 
cutting‐edge
 science.
 As
 Arizona 
State 
University’s
 first 
iGEM
 team,
 we 
have 
chosen 
an 
ambitious 
project 
that 
has 
great 
potential 
to 
advance 
the 
field
 of 
synthetic biology, 
bringing
 an
 international
 spotlight 
to 
ASU 
and 
the 
Phoenix
 community.



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