Team:UC Davis

From 2009.igem.org

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side-effects are,
side-effects are,
but not limited to abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea and vomiting (14).
but not limited to abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea and vomiting (14).
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One of
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our teammate’s friends is currently suffering from this illness, which
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motivated us to look into Celiac Disease as the focus of our project.
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Currently, the only accepted treatment for this disorder is adhering to
Currently, the only accepted treatment for this disorder is adhering to
a
a

Revision as of 21:56, 20 October 2009

Homepage_UCdavis

     

              It is estimated that about one in every 133 Americans suffer from an autoimmune disorder called Celiac Disease (14, 11). Celiac Disease is a condition where the small intestines of an affected individual cannot properly digest gliadin, a protein present in gluten. When consumed, gliadin induces immune system responses, whose side-effects are, but not limited to abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea and vomiting (14). Currently, the only accepted treatment for this disorder is adhering to a gluten-free diet (14, 12). This can be very difficult as great varieties of food contain gluten. This inspired us to imagine an alternatives treatment base on a probiotic organism that could survive and take residence in the stomach where it would secrete an enzyme that can degrade gliadin.
           Then the design elements of this organism should be able to satisfy at least two main criteria. First, it should be able to survive ONLY in the stomach and, secondly, secrete an enzyme that can degrade gliadin. We envision that these parts would not only be useful for our purpose probiotic, but could be useful to number of other projects.
           We have decided to focus our summer project on building two key elements required for our “dream bug”. Therefore, our project has been split into two tasks:
                1. Produce an inducible secretion system
                 2. Construct a biological pH sensor limiting this secretion system to the stomach

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

      UC Davis iGEM team is sponsored by:
     
Special thanks to Suzy Fenton,Wayne Fenton, Jeanne Joe-Fenton and Wayne Fenton Jr.
Also we thank Charles H. Halsted for reviewing our material regarding celiac disease.

                                         

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