Please delete as completed.
Project Overview feedback from todays session:

1) Bold important sentences/words
2) Why are we giving stats on Turkey? Stick to the European union, large well known places! Add references - from the registry page.
3) Manufacturing considerations - why is this below our solution? Should we make it more like specs? Would this link better?
4) Results - If no data exists - say that as the wiki is being frozen we haven't added the data but will have it in time for the Jamboree.
5) Have a conclusion of the page at the end - couple of lines.
6) Remove !'s in learn mores
7) Write this, then we will decide the order.

The Problem

The inspiration behind The E.ncapsulator was the inherent difficulty in delivering protein pharmaceuticals to the gut. Due to the delicate nature of proteins and the highly acidic environment present in the stomach, protein molecules are readily broken down - making oral drug delivery of protein pharmaceuticals very difficult .
There are several diseases that are treated using oral delivery of peptides. Among these are: Malnutrition (world hunger) and Phenylketonuria (PKU), a disease associated with mental retardation due to insufficient ability to metabolize phenylalanine.

Some statistics

In this project, one of our applications is on synthesising phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH), an enzyme responsible for metabolism of phenylalanine in PKU patients. Furthermore, we propose to synthesise cellulase and deliver it as a possible solution to malnutrition. In practice, The E.ncapsulator system is a generic drug production and delivery platform. This means that potentially, we are capable of solving any problem that tackles the delivery of polypeptides to the small intestine.

Our Solution

The E.ncapsulator is a novel protein manufacture and delivery platform designed to overcome these difficulties. In order to learn more about each module of the system and what its doing, hover over the different parts of the image below:

Project specifications

• Synthesis: The system is generic and potentially able to manufacture any type of polypeptide.
• Purification: In The E.ncapsulator, polypeptide synthesis (Module 1) and encapsulation of the cells(Module 2) occur in the same place. This dual production and delivery platform means that there is no need for expensive downstream purification processes.
• Storage: Freeze drying in the encapsulation phase and secondary encapsulation allow for storage of The E.ncapsulator.
• Quality Control: If one cell fails to produce the polypeptide of interest, it will have minimal impact on the whole system. In that if one cell fails to produce any protein it will have a minimal impact on the whole system.
• Safety: In order to reduce risks associated with our product, we have chosen a GRAS (generally recognized as safe) chassis. Furthermore, all the genetic material is destroyed prior ingestion to prevent any risks of horizontal gene transfer after colonisation by the bacteria.

Major Results

References

[1] World Hunger
[2] Phenylketonuria in the USA
[3] ESPKU (European statistics)
[4] More PKU statistics (browse per country)