Team:NCKU Tainan/Implementation
Pushing the boundaries of human achievement
Humans possess five basic senses - sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell. These five senses are our connection to the world around us, as these are what that enables us to perceive and interact with our environment. Thus, if anything interferes with our senses, our interaction with the world becomes limited. While people can still live on with a sensory disability, any disturbances or loss of our senses will impact our lives profoundly. Even the slightest bit of interference to our senses, like having our nose blocked when coming down with the flu, is enough to make us uncomfortable. Imagine how we will feel if we lose one of our senses permanently.
Our most important sense is our eyesight, as 80% of what we perceive comes through our sense of sight. Despite its importance however, we all tend to take our vision for granted. Many eye diseases often occur unexpectedly, and often with unnoticeable symptoms like glaucoma - which means by the time people realize something is dangerously wrong with their eyesight, they are most likely to be halfway of being blind.
The eyes are one of the most sensitive organs of the body and thus are very vulnerable to damage. Not only that, the complexity of the eyes' structure is far more than that of the world's most advanced camera. Due to the complexity and sensitivity of the eyes, the speed of innovation and development of eye care and treatment has not been accelerating as fast as other kinds of diseases - even in iGEM. This is a huge obstacle to tackle, but not enough to deter iGEM NCKU-Tainan from developing new treatments for eye diseases.
Of the many ocular diseases humans are prone to, iGEM NCKU-Tainan decides to first focus on glaucoma, an ocular disease that causes irreversible damage to the optic nerve. A leading cause of irreversible blindness, glaucoma affects millions of people worldwide and causes heavy burden on healthcare systems. To solve this problem, iGEM NCKU-Tainan 2020 developed a revolutionary solution which consists of: Eye kNOw and Eye Screen. Eye kNOw is a pair of contact lenses that contain engineered bacteria producing nitric oxide in response to IOP fluctuation, while Eye Screen is an affordable and portable detection device that utilizes ultrasound to measure IOP and identify the high-risk groups.
More than just a concept
Humans possess five basic senses - sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell. These five senses are our connection to the world around us, as these are what that enables us to perceive and interact with our environment. Thus, if anything interferes with our senses, our interaction with the world becomes limited. While people can still live on with a sensory disability, any disturbances or loss of our senses will impact our lives profoundly. Even the slightest bit of interference to our senses, like having our nose blocked when coming down with the flu, is enough to make us uncomfortable. Imagine how we will feel if we lose one of our senses permanently.
Our most important sense is our eyesight, as 80% of what we perceive comes through our sense of sight. Despite its importance however, we all tend to take our vision for granted. Many eye diseases often occur unexpectedly, and often with unnoticeable symptoms like glaucoma - which means by the time people realize something is dangerously wrong with their eyesight, they are most likely to be halfway of being blind.
The eyes are one of the most sensitive organs of the body and thus are very vulnerable to damage. Not only that, the complexity of the eyes' structure is far more than that of the world's most advanced camera. Due to the complexity and sensitivity of the eyes, the speed of innovation and development of eye care and treatment has not been accelerating as fast as other kinds of diseases - even in iGEM. This is a huge obstacle to tackle, but not enough to deter iGEM NCKU-Tainan from developing new treatments for eye diseases.
Of the many ocular diseases humans are prone to, iGEM NCKU-Tainan decides to first focus on glaucoma, an ocular disease that causes irreversible damage to the optic nerve. A leading cause of irreversible blindness, glaucoma affects millions of people worldwide and causes heavy burden on healthcare systems. To solve this problem, iGEM NCKU-Tainan 2020 developed a revolutionary solution which consists of: Eye kNOw and Eye Screen. Eye kNOw is a pair of contact lenses that contain engineered bacteria producing nitric oxide in response to IOP fluctuation, while Eye Screen is an affordable and portable detection device that utilizes ultrasound to measure IOP and identify the high-risk groups.
Envisioning the future of ocular treatment
Humans possess five basic senses - sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell. These five senses are our connection to the world around us, as these are what that enables us to perceive and interact with our environment. Thus, if anything interferes with our senses, our interaction with the world becomes limited. While people can still live on with a sensory disability, any disturbances or loss of our senses will impact our lives profoundly. Even the slightest bit of interference to our senses, like having our nose blocked when coming down with the flu, is enough to make us uncomfortable. Imagine how we will feel if we lose one of our senses permanently.
Our most important sense is our eyesight, as 80% of what we perceive comes through our sense of sight. Despite its importance however, we all tend to take our vision for granted. Many eye diseases often occur unexpectedly, and often with unnoticeable symptoms like glaucoma - which means by the time people realize something is dangerously wrong with their eyesight, they are most likely to be halfway of being blind.
The eyes are one of the most sensitive organs of the body and thus are very vulnerable to damage. Not only that, the complexity of the eyes' structure is far more than that of the world's most advanced camera. Due to the complexity and sensitivity of the eyes, the speed of innovation and development of eye care and treatment has not been accelerating as fast as other kinds of diseases - even in iGEM. This is a huge obstacle to tackle, but not enough to deter iGEM NCKU-Tainan from developing new treatments for eye diseases.
Of the many ocular diseases humans are prone to, iGEM NCKU-Tainan decides to first focus on glaucoma, an ocular disease that causes irreversible damage to the optic nerve. A leading cause of irreversible blindness, glaucoma affects millions of people worldwide and causes heavy burden on healthcare systems. To solve this problem, iGEM NCKU-Tainan 2020 developed a revolutionary solution which consists of: Eye kNOw and Eye Screen. Eye kNOw is a pair of contact lenses that contain engineered bacteria producing nitric oxide in response to IOP fluctuation, while Eye Screen is an affordable and portable detection device that utilizes ultrasound to measure IOP and identify the high-risk groups.
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References
- DeBenedictis EP, Liu J, Keten S. Adhesion mechanisms of curli subunit CsgA to abiotic surfaces. Science Advances. 2016;2(11):e1600998.
- Brombacher E, Baratto A, Dorel C, Landini P. Gene Expression Regulation by the Curli Activator CsgD Protein: Modulation of Cellulose Biosynthesis and Control of Negative Determinants for Microbial Adhesion. Journal of Bacteriology. 2006;188(6):2027-2037.
