Difference between revisions of "Team:Virginia/Awards"

IHP efforts this year have resulted in three diverse deliverables. We collaborated with other teams to create a Resource Hub, currently available here, which will soon be available on the iGEM Foundation site, and will share websites, software, databases, and other ways to assist teams working online. We also reached out to dozens of researchers, bioethicists, and industry leaders to discuss what place social movements have in science, had internal group discussions about how societal influence may cause bias and how to be aware of that bias, and our conclusions as a team were compiled into our Code of Ethical Conduct. We put special consideration into making this document adaptable for other teams and inclusive to the ethical beliefs of different societies, pursuing iGEM’s overall goal of international collaboration. Lastly, speaking with experts helped refine the design of our device, which is now patent-pending as a foundational advance in metabolic engineering.

Without summer access to lab space, a large emphasis of the project was put on experimental planning and computational/mathematical modeling. We built out an extensive modeling pipeline to best inform DNA scaffold design and metabolic flux through the BMC. We developed a promoter model based on our cell kinetics models and evidence from literature to optimize our 14 parts to be used in experimental design. We also successfully investigated the spatial constraints presented by substrate molecules on BMC pore diffusion. Literature-based insight that malonyl-CoA was a limiting factor in the resveratrol metabolic pathway led us to model the diffusion of various substrates through the pore both spatially through PyMol, and metabolically using a custom-built pore-diffusion Matlab model. These models were pivotal in redefining our BMC substrate, and introducing a second scaffold to our inner BMC architecture.

Starting with extensive industry and market research, we were able to calculate the theoretical improvement our device would provide to resveratrol manufacturers. We also reached out to patent lawyers to discuss the importance of preventing prior art disclosure, and attended Cville BioHub meetings to look at future steps for our team. It was clear we needed a provisional patent, so in August, we successfully filed one. We were then able to review our device plans with experts from around the world who work with the same technology. We also talked to the CEO of one of the largest resveratrol distributors in North America, who confirmed the need for a cheaper, sustainable alternative. Finally, we talked to George McArthur, founder of Virginia iGEM and biotech expert, who pointed us to a company that helps startups test their devices in large-scale bioreactors and monitor the results in real time.