Hey everyone here's the latest update from our lab team!!!!

The team is currently doing the 3A Assembly which consists of  assembling 2 biobrick parts together. In this assembly different enzymes are used for creating different flanking sequences. All the 3parts are present in different antibiotic resistant plasmids resulting in small and effective protocol.3A assembly for S0x will take place in 3 stages. Here,  the ligated parts of previous assembly will be implemented as part A always.

In stage 1 part A= promoter, part B= SQR gene and pSB1K3 plasmid backbone.

In succeeding stage the ligated part(promoter+SQR) will act as part A, RBS as part B and pSB1T3 as plasmid backbone.

Last stage will contain promter+SQR+RBS as part A , Cys1 gene as part B and pSB1A3 plasmid backbone.

Out of the 3 levels of this assembly, they have successfully completed the first level for SOx coli where they ligated the promoter and SQR gene and transformed this plasmid to the E coli strain. The team is now testing the clone obtained at the end of the first level to ensure that the ligation took place properly and it is not the original plasmid that's getting transformed. The team plans to perform these levels thrice to ensure accurate results.


In case of the NOx coli, the team has  managed to successfully carry out ligation and is working on transformation of the plasmid. 

Also, efforts are being made  on isolating Linearised Plasmid Backbone from different biobricks given in the kit. As you can imagine, there is steady progress going on in our lab and hopefully by the time you need the next update we should have more good news to report!!!!

-Aashika Sekar & Rishabh Mathur

Familiarizing with iGEM

For those who aren't aware about iGEM, don't worry !!

The iGEM Foundation

The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation is dedicated to education and competition, advancement of synthetic biology, and the development of open community and collaboration. In 2012, iGEM spun out of MIT and became an independent nonprofit organization located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The iGEM Foundation fosters scientific research and education through organizing and operating the iGEM Competition, the premier student synthetic biology competition. It also fosters scientific research and education by establishing and operating the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, a community collection of biological components. The organization promotes the advancement of science and education by developing an open community of students and practitioners in schools, laboratories, research institutes, and industry. The iGEM community has a long history of involving students and the public in the development of the new field of synthetic biology.

What is the iGEM Competition?

The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) is the premiere undergraduate Synthetic Biology competition. Student teams are given a kit of biological parts at the beginning of the summer from theRegistry of Standard Biological Parts. Working at their own schools over the summer, they use these parts and new parts of their own design to build biological systems and operate them in living cells. This project design and competition format is an exceptionally motivating and effective teaching method. In 2011 iGEM expanded to include a High School Division and an Entrepreneurship Division in 2012.

-Aashika Sekar & Rishabh Mathur

iGEM Team IIT Delhi 2014 Brochure

                        


-Aashika Sekar & Rishabh Mathur

Our Idea

The basic idea behind our project is to combat the ill effects of SOx and NOx pollution. We are currently working to develop a tabletop design which will enable us to reduce the concentration of these oxides in the exhaust gases. We are planning to use genetically engineered E.Coli which has the ability to reduce NOx into ammonia and SOx into sulphur. These bacteria will be immobilized on polymer beads with a positive zeta potential, placed in a bioreactor. Thus, when the exhaust gases pass through the bioreactor the oxides of nitrogen and sulphur will be reduced by the bacteria and consequently, the concentration of these oxides in the exiting gas will be lower.

-Aashika Sekar & Rishabh Mathur