The Rice Synthetic BiOWLogists

What is synthetic biology?  Synthetic biology is an exciting new field of research at the interface of engineering and natural sciences where biological parts are assembled at the genetic level that instruct cells to perform a new set of engineered tasks. The central goals in synthetic biology are the development of well-specified, standard, interchangeable biological parts and computational models that can predict the cellular consequences of genetic architectures built from these parts. The interdisciplinary nature of this field makes this exciting area of research poised to provide great research experiences for undergraduates majoring in disciplines as diverse as Biology, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics. Research in synthetic biology requires the integration of computational design, simulation, and modeling with experimental biochemical, cell biological, and molecular genetic approaches. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How can Rice students participate in this exciting new field?  The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition was started at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (http://parts.mit.edu/igem07/) to provide undergraduates an opportunity to envision and achieve synthetic biology goals.  In this competition, student-led teams are given a library of standardized parts (called BioBricks) and the creative opportunity to design and build any genetically engineered machine that they desire.  Participants in this competition are provided access to a Registry of Standard Biological Parts (>1000), which records and indexes the biological parts used in these competitions.  In addition, participants are asked to support this collaborative resource by depositing novel parts used by their teams in the registry as well as information about the functions and utility of the parts implemented in their genetic circuits. 

How hard is it to build genetic circuits from registry parts?  Because participating teams are required to deposit all construct created, the construction of elaborate circuits can frequently be accomplished in a short period of time using existing components, e.g., gene regulation networks already deposited, and a standardized assembly process.

 

 

What are some examples of recent synthetic biology projects?  In the 2007 iGEM competition, teams competed in five categories, including: i) foundation research (basic science and engineering research), ii. Information processing (genetically controlled control, logic, and memory), iii) energy (biological fuels, feedstocks, and other energy projects), iv) environment (sensing or remediation of environmental state), and v) health and medicine (applied projects with the goal of directly improving the human condition).  Some of the exciting projects in 2007 included the development of Virotrap by team Slovenia (a synthetic biology approach against HIV), the Infector Detector by team Imperial College (a system that detects the presence of biofilm infections on urinary catheters by reporting on the presence of molecules that bacteria use for intercellular communication), and team Rice (a Phage that selects against bacterial resistance).

When is the annual iGEM competition?  The 2007 competition occurred during the first weekend of November and involved teams from 57 schools, including institutions from North America, Europe, and Asia.  Rice was able to support travel to this meeting for all participants, who gave a 20 minute talk, presented a poster on their work, and had an opportunity to hear seminars on the creative projects implemented at other schools.  The 2008 competition will also be during the first weekend in November, and the Rice BiOWLogists are interested in recruiting new members who will participate in this event.

Do I need to be a biology major to participate?  No!  Successful synthetic biology endeavors require the integration of computational design, simulation, and modeling with experimental biochemistry, molecular genetics, and cell biology.  In fact, we believe the recipe for success in synthetic biology endeavors is to have a team that has a mixture of participants from the natural sciences and engineering.  In the spring, students can take Bios 313 (http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~bios311/bios311/bios313/bios313.html) to get experience in Experimental Synthetic Biology.

Where can I get more information?  Check out http://parts.mit.edu/igem07/ for general information on iGEM, and see http://parts.mit.edu/igem07/index.php/Rice for a detailed description of RiceÕs projects.

How do I get involved?  Send an email to Joff Silberg (joff@rice.edu), and he will add you to the iGEM owlspace site.  From this point on you will get announcements about the weekly meetings.

Can I get research credit for participating?  Yes!  Participants can get credit for Independent Research in multiple departments, including Biochemistry and Cell Biology (Bios310; contact joff@rice.edu), Bioengineering (Bios400; contact ksan@rice.edu), and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE500; contact krcox@rice.edu).