New Parts
We have created and successfully measured 24 basic parts and 6 composite parts , which have been documented on the Part's Registry page. Detailed documentations are available on our wiki page for Parts. Parts.
Knowledge learned from literature
After reviewing the literature, we finally identified three kinds of antibodies, including anti-GM1,anti-GAD, and anti-MBP.For each of these antibodies, there is strong evidence that they are associated with subtypes of ASD.Detailed documentations are available on our wiki page for Inspiration.
1. Mostafa GA, Al-Ayadhi LY. Increased serum levels of anti-ganglioside M1 auto-antibodies in autistic children: relation to the disease severity. J Neuroinflammation. 2011 Apr 25;8:39.
2. Aslan C, Konuşkan B, Şener B, Ünal F. Comparison of serum anti-neuronal antibody levels in patients having autism spectrum disorder with and without regression. Turk J Pediatr. 2021;63(5):780-789. doi: 10.24953/turkjped.2021.05.006. PMID: 34738360.
3. Mostafa GA, Al-Ayadhi LY. A lack of association between hyperserotonemia and the increased frequency of serum anti-myelin basic protein auto-antibodies in autistic children. J Neuroinflammation. 2011 Jun 22;8:71. doi: 10.1186/1742-2094-8-71. PMID: 21696608; PMCID: PMC3142225.
Handbooks
A HP guide
The theme of our team is autism this year, so members of our HP group planned a series of activities closely related to the theme.We gained a lot of experience and lessons in the process of planning, implementing and feedback.We have concluded our experiences in this guide in the hope that we can provide other iGEM teams with better ideas and help promote the sustainable development of iGEM and the construction of synthetic biology. If you want to know more, please click here to get our HP guide.
PDF preview
You can download the PDF by clicking "Download" in the upper right corner after it opened.PDF: A HP Guide👈
Science popularization brochure
We firmly believe that everyone involved in scientific research should take social responsibility, and it is our mission to educate the public about synthetic biology and autism.As a result,we choose to create a brochure that includes as much information about synthetic biology as possible. With the assistance of our team tutor, Professor Liu, we completed the whole process from writing, revising to proofreading. Under the guidance of our science communication teachers, we used the brochure in several activities, all of which achieved good feedback.
PDF preview
You can download the PDF by clicking "Download" in the upper right corner after it opened.PDF: Lab Equipment Usage Handbook👈
To venture into new domains using existing modeling methods
To our knowledge, there are currently no teams worldwide working on the research and development of small-molecule drugs targeting antibodies. We have taken an innovative approach in this field, utilizing some existing models and methods, such as homology modeling, molecular docking, and associated tools. Additionally, we have provided data files and structures that we have constructed ourselves, offering support for future research and improvements. Detailed documentations are available on our wiki page for Model.
Upon hearing our design of the online platform, our advisors indicated that we could take a step further as they had already compiled a handbook for teams that chose the focus on the gut in last year's competition. Therefore, we contacted more iGEM teams around our country to form the Gut Alliance, and together, we developed a website that is accessible on both computers and mobile phones. In this way, gut-related iGEM teams from all around the globe will be able to access our platform to share their problems and help others with theirs.
Learn with Us program
1. The design of three terminators led to homologous recombination when the plasmid was being transferred into L168, resulting in the loss of the suicide switch or target gene. The results of the agarose gel electrophoresis showed two bands, further confirming this.
2. According to Professor Liu's suggestion, the arabinose operon should be added to induce the expression of the suicide gene. However, the suicide gene was not added.
3. Nisin has an inhibitory effect on the growth of Lactobacillus, so it is not possible to determine whether the nisRK switch has been induced solely by detecting the transcription level.
4. The expression of hemA may be toxic to Lactobacillus, so the bacteria may mutate hemA to protect themselves, resulting in its inability to be expressed normally.According to our attempts, we can limit the cultivation temperature to 35 degrees Celsius to reduce harmful effects.
