Brown:iGEM proposal

From 2006.igem.org

Brown iGEM Team 2006
International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition

Introduction This summer a cross-disciplinary team of Brown students will enter the MIT based iGEM competition. The challenge is to design and implement a genetically engineered machine using tools from biology, engineering, physics and mathematics.

A new field; Synthetic Biology

Science is constantly in a state of flux and the lines between biology, math, physics and chemistry are continually being redrawn. In the last decade, the life sciences revolution has continued to grow, but a new type of biology is on the horizon, a biology that not only understands how DNA holds the information to construct biological machines; but a biology that calls on other fields and is able to model, design and synthesize these machines from A’s C’s T’s and G’s. This is the new field of Synthetic Biology.

The iGEM competition: where engineering meets biology

"Can simple biological systems be built from standard, interchangeable parts and operated in living cells? Or, is biology simply too complicated to be engineered in this way?(1)"

The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) is designed to answer this question. The challenge is to design and implement a machine capable of performing an engineered task, but in this case, the machines are transcribed from DNA sequences and the parts are RNA, proteins and cells. This interdisciplinary project bridges fields from biology through engineering and computer science and demonstrates how the future of science continues to cross disciplines.

High-profile international competition

"Started in 2003, MIT students created biological oscillators coupled to fluorescent reporters. The summer of 2004 brought the first Synthetic Biology Competition. Student teams from five schools (Princeton, MIT, Caltech, UT Austin, and Boston University) and competed to build cellular state machines and counters. The teams gathered in early November to compare their results. The most graphic project was "photographic biofilm" that could capture an image.

In the summer of 2005, student teams from thirteen schools (Berkeley, Caltech, Cambridge UK, Davidson, ETH Zurich, Harvard, MIT, Oklahoma, Penn State, Princeton, Toronto, UCSF, and UT Austin) participated in the 2005 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. Later, during the first weekend of November, over 150 of these students, instructors, and PIs came together to share and celebrate their work.

The iGEM 2005 student projects displayed the designs of chemotaxis regulation systems, cell-cell genetic communications systems, cellular/biological wires, thermometers, biological sketch pads (drawing systems), cellular relay races, a digital counter, and many more.

At the core of these activities is the notion of a standard biological part that is well specified and able to be paired with other parts into subassemblies and whole systems. Once the parameters of these parts are determined and standardized, simulation and design of genetic systems will become easier and more reliable." [Knight 2005]

Student led research at Brown The main competition takes place over the summer with students spending their time designing novel engineered parts, modeling biochemical reactions and then implementing these designs in the lab. Here at Brown we already have support and offers of lab space from Gary Wessel in MCB, Marc Tatar in EEB and offers from a number of faculty ranging from engineering, computer science and physics to join a multidisciplinary cross-campus faculty advisory board. This mentoring board will meet each week in order for students to report progress and to discuss ideas. The project gives students the opportunity to become directly involved with research at Brown. Previous entries in the iGEM competition have been published in Nature. [Engineering E.Coli to see light, 2005]

$40 000 to fund student stipends, reagents and DNA synthesis
Break down: $28,000 8 undergraduate summer support stipends: $3500 x 8
$4,000 DNA Synthesis costs
$7,000 Lab reagents
$1,000 Travel costs to MIT events, invited talk expenses
Total
$40,000

The future of iGEM We hope that in coming years the Brown iGEM team can continue to grow, taking on new students and continuing research in synthetic biology. We hope to find industry sponsorship to support the competition.

Cross campus faculty support and mentoring
Gary Wessel - Professor of Biology
Marc Tatar - Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
David Targan - Dean for Science Programs
Karen Marie Haberstroh - Assistant Professor of Engineering
Jim Valles - Professor of Physics
Sorin Istrail - Professor of Computer Science
Marjorie Thompson - Associate Dean of Biological Sciences

Potential support (TBC)
Nicola Neretti, Assistant Professor of Physics
Alex Brodsky, Assistant Proffesor in MCB, Ship Street

'References' 1)Tom Knight 2005, iGEM: International Genetically Engineered Machine competitionshttp://icampus.mit.edu/projects/iGem.shtml
2)Chris Voigt 2005, Synthetic biology: Engineering Escherichia coli to see light, Nature 438, 441-442 (24 November 2005)