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Team:uOttawa
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Revision as of 23:38, 18 October 2009
uOttawa IGEM2009
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uOttawa IGEM2009
The Project
'With more and easier access to high-calorie
foods the worldwide prevalence of obesity has
been on the rise in the past quarter century. In
Canada alone, the average rate of obesity has
doubled from 1979 to 2004, and approximately
23% of Canadian adults are obese (As estimated
by Statistics Canada). Obesity is typically
associated with many adverse health conditions
and puts an enormous strain on the public
healthcare system. Our goal is to engineer a
strain of Lacobacillus to express the enzymes
required for the synthesis of cellulose from glucose
in an attempt to reduce the caloric intake
of obese individuals. Cellulose is a polymer of
linked D-glucose units that cannot be digested
by humans. Lactobacillus is a strain of bacteria,
which is commonly used to make yogurt,
cheese, beer and other fermented foods, and
is in fact part of the natural human gut fl ora.
The idea would be to have an obese individual
ingest yogurt containing our engineered strain
of bacteria as a probiotic. That way after they
have consumed their meal, a portion of the
glucose from the meal would be converted into
cellulose in the intestines, effectively reducing
their caloric intake.
The team
We are a team consisting of 1 scientific advisors and 14 undergraduate students from the University of Ottawa. This is the second year that the University of Ottawa has recruited a team to participate in the iGem competition. Our team members have a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise. Feel free to take a look at our team page to find out more about us.
Tech museum on the 5th of May
