Project and website description
Welcome to the Wiki of the iGEM Team TU Darmstadt 2021!
The international genetically engineered machine competition (iGEM) is a worldwide contest in the field of synthetic biology. The aim of the competition is to provide a platform where teams from all over the world can organize and present their own project with an interdisciplinary team of students.
Our Project
This year, our project focussed on creating a self-protecting biofilm based on Bacillus subtilis “sleeper cells”. We created a modular system in which cells can detect pathogens that infiltrate the biofilm (a layer of microorganisms on a surface). When that happens a phage (virus) is triggered, which then attacks and kills the detected pathogen.
Research and Planning
We created small research groups to work on different parts of the project:
- The “Pathogen Sensing” group created our sensing system, which enables our biofilm to detect pathogens.
- The “Bacteriophages” group planned the release of the phages once pathogens are detected.
- The “Biofilm” group planned a biofilm made of multiple strains of one microorganism.
- The “Biosafety” group dealt with the safety aspects of our project, like making sure that our genetically modified organism is safe and will not be able to survive outside the biofilm.
You can read more about the results of each part in the subpages under the “Project” header.
In addition to the theoretical planning, our group spent a few weeks in the lab testing some parts of our project. The methods they used are summarized on the “Experiments” subpage.
Modeling
In addition to the research groups, part of the team came together in the modeling group, which was split into two smaller teams:
- The “Genetic Circuit” group worked on developing a mathematical model that describes how many proteins are expressed in response to specific marker molecules.
- The “Phoenix” group worked on designing software that simplifies the development of metabolic-dependent bacterial populations.
Human Practices
An important part of the project was our Human Practices team, who:
- Talked to experts on ethics and policies about possible issues in our project.
- Developed educational projects for elementary and high school students, including a survey about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and science communication.
You can read more about their work on the “Human Practices” subpages.
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