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Team:MoWestern Davidson/conclusion
From 2009.igem.org
Contents |
Laying the Foundation for an Innovative Project
Our iGEM team worked across disciplinary and institutional boundaries to conceive of an innovative approach to the use of bacterial cells to evaluate the satisfiability, or SAT, problem. We designed a unique system for the project and carried out a number of mathematical analyses in support of the design. We designed and built parts that enabled us to demonstrate the basic molecular mechanism for the project, frameshift suppression. The important milestone that we have achieved is that we have laid the foundation for a very innovative approach to the use of bacterial computers that can evaluate an important class of logical problems.
Parts Contributed to the Registry
Our team contributed 66 parts to the Registry this year. The methods by which we constructed basic parts included direct synthesis by DNA oligonucleotides, site directed mutagenesis of existing parts, and PCR amplification from genomic sources. Our new basic parts that should prove to be of general use, including 5 base suppressor tRNAs and cognate reporter genes to test their function. We also constructed a number of intermediate from combinations of new and existing parts and several devices designed to test frameshift suppression.
Training of Undergraduate Researchers
An imporant goal of our iGEM team was to enable us as undergraduate students to have a valuable education experience. By taking ownership of the conception, design, construction, and presentation of our project, we learned valuable lessons about conducting scientific research. We learned to work as a team on significant challenges, to communicate across disciplines and distance, to troublshoot experimental methods, and to communicate our progress in diverse ways.
Exploration of BioMath Connections
Our iGEM is mentored by faculty with backgrounds in both Biology and Mathematics and is composed of students from each of these disciplines. From the beginning of the year, we sought to explore BioMath Connections in the choice of a project and in the way we pursued it. We have found synthetic biology and the iGEM experience to be a very effective way to carry out this type of multidisciplinary research. Mathematical modeling of the satsifiability problem in general and of our specific approach to carrying out SAT problems in bacterial cells informed our biological designs. We also made significant connections between mathematics and biology in the design and construction of physical models of our frameshift suppressor tRNA molecules.
Human Factors
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Presentations to a Broader Audience
During 2009, our iGEM team members have presented their project and synthetic biology in general at the following local, regional, and national venues.
Truman State University Mathematical Biology Seminar, January 2009
Mathematical Association of America Missouri Section, April 2009
Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) workshop, July 2009
Missouri Western Summer Research Institute Symposium, July 2009
Davidson Research Initiative Symposium, September 2009
Association of College and University Biology Educators (ACUBE), October 2009
Foundation for the Carolinas, October 2009
Undergraduate Research Conference at the Interface Between Biology and Mathematics, October 2009
Upcoming presentations include:
Missouri Western Computer Science, Math, and Physics Colloquium, November 2009
National Academies Keck Future Initiatives (NAKFI) Conference on Synthetic Biology, November 2009
National Joint Meetings of the American Mathematics Society, Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, January 2010
Directions for Future Research
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