Difference between revisions of "Team:RUM-UPRM/Contribution"

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         <center><h1>New Parts Submission</h1></center>
 
         <center><h1>New Parts Submission</h1></center>
 
<p style=" text-indent:40px; margin-left:7%; margin-right:7%">As part of our project, we submitted the fusion gene <a href="http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K3670000"><i>xplA/B</i></a> as a biobrick in igem’s registry. This part is specific for biodegradation of the nitro-explosive 1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5 triazine, better known as RDX. This compound can be found in various bombs used in wars. Alongside other explosive compounds, RDX has proven to be toxic, and can cause toxic encephalopathy, convulsions, and has a possibility to contribute to cancer. In addition, toxicity to plants has also been reported. To mitigate this abundant problem, the xplA/B fusion gene has been created to fulfill the need of a biodegradable mechanism that can eliminate RDX in nature. </p>
 
<p style=" text-indent:40px; margin-left:7%; margin-right:7%">As part of our project, we submitted the fusion gene <a href="http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K3670000"><i>xplA/B</i></a> as a biobrick in igem’s registry. This part is specific for biodegradation of the nitro-explosive 1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5 triazine, better known as RDX. This compound can be found in various bombs used in wars. Alongside other explosive compounds, RDX has proven to be toxic, and can cause toxic encephalopathy, convulsions, and has a possibility to contribute to cancer. In addition, toxicity to plants has also been reported. To mitigate this abundant problem, the xplA/B fusion gene has been created to fulfill the need of a biodegradable mechanism that can eliminate RDX in nature. </p>
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<p style="text-indent:margin-left:7%; margin-right:7%">Currently, there are not many parts on the Registry associated with detection and biodegradation of RDX. One of the goals of iGEM RUM-UPRM is to keep expanding the Registry with parts, such as xplA/B, to help other teams detect and biodegrade RDX.  In the future, we want to be able to assist other teams in their journey to help in the degradation of other heavy metals and explosives in contaminated waters and soils. </p> </div>
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<p style=" text-indent:40px; margin-left:7%; margin-right:7%">Currently, there are not many parts on the Registry associated with detection and biodegradation of RDX. One of the goals of iGEM RUM-UPRM is to keep expanding the Registry with parts, such as xplA/B, to help other teams detect and biodegrade RDX.  In the future, we want to be able to assist other teams in their journey to help in the degradation of other heavy metals and explosives in contaminated waters and soils. </p> </div>
  
  

Revision as of 16:54, 27 October 2020


RUM-UPRM Wiki Source Code

Attributions and Acknowledgements

New Parts Submission

As part of our project, we submitted the fusion gene xplA/B as a biobrick in igem’s registry. This part is specific for biodegradation of the nitro-explosive 1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5 triazine, better known as RDX. This compound can be found in various bombs used in wars. Alongside other explosive compounds, RDX has proven to be toxic, and can cause toxic encephalopathy, convulsions, and has a possibility to contribute to cancer. In addition, toxicity to plants has also been reported. To mitigate this abundant problem, the xplA/B fusion gene has been created to fulfill the need of a biodegradable mechanism that can eliminate RDX in nature.

Currently, there are not many parts on the Registry associated with detection and biodegradation of RDX. One of the goals of iGEM RUM-UPRM is to keep expanding the Registry with parts, such as xplA/B, to help other teams detect and biodegrade RDX. In the future, we want to be able to assist other teams in their journey to help in the degradation of other heavy metals and explosives in contaminated waters and soils.

Acknowledgements



We would like to thank our Principal Investigators Dr. Patricia Ortiz Bermúdez and Dr. Carlos Ríos Velázquez, for their constant support and feedback throughout our project. They were also judges in the Bioreactor Design for Synthetic Biology Applications Competition. Thank you for always being available and participating in our various activities.

Thanks to our graduate student advisors and instructors Alejandro Mercado Capote and Victor López Ramirez for their feedback on our project. Their feedback helped us improve our genetic circuits and they offered team building and lab workshops for our team. Victor also served as a judge in the Bioreactor Design for Synthetic Biology Applications Competition.

Special Thanks



Special thanks to Agronomist Sol Rosado for always saying yes to offering a conference, giving us the space to expose our project, and for helping us spread science and Synthetic Biology in Puerto Rico.

We would like to thank Dr. Arturo Massol Deyá for his feedback on our project and the suggestion to add RDX as a contaminant we should approach, the information about the Anones Lagoon, and for sharing information about the history and situation of Vieques.

We appreciate Ing. Vanessa Suárez, Ing. Raúl Burgos, and Mike Barandiaran for providing us with information about writing a proposal for the opportunity to go to Vieques and take samples for our project.

Special recognition to the University’s Student Associations SEDS UPRM and AULS RUM for providing workshops in the virtual SynBio week organized.

We would like to thank one of our stakeholders, Dr. Raquel Delgado Valentín for conversing with us about the history of Vieques and for sharing her experiences of the protests.

Thanks to Dr. Rubén Diaz from the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez for feedback and suggestions in the planning of the Design Competition Bioreactor Design for Synthetic Biology Applications.

We would like to recognize the Biology Department of the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez under the direction of Ana Vélez Díaz and Bárbara Sánchez Santos, the Lab Technician in Scientific Investigations, for their support in providing us with a lab space where we will be working for Phase 2.

We would like to thank the constant support and encouragement of different authorities of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. These include Patricia Torres of the Department of Social and Cultural Activities, PRENSA RUM, COHEMIS, the Dean of Students Dr. Jonathan Muñoz Barreto, and the Chancellor of the University Dr. Agustín Rullán Toro.

We would like to give special thanks to the iGEM Ambassadors for Latin America Daniel Domínguez Gómez and Herber Torres for giving us a safety workshop and answering our iGEM competition-related questions.

Lastly, we would like to thank all of our sponsors. Donations from Amgen and Goya were used for the SynBio 101 Summer Camp. The sponsorships of Revive and Restore and Molecular Cloud made it possible for the registration of the team in the Giant Jamboree 2020. Genscript, IDT, and Twist Bioscience provided us with lab materials that will be used in Phase 2 of our project. Finally, Mathworks’ Matlab made it possible for the team to make the mathematical models and Snapgene for the cloning models correspondent to our project.