Leading a successful iGEM team.

The International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition allows undergraduate teams to develop projects in synthetic biology within the context of a large, international Jamboree. Organizing and managing a successful iGEM team is an exercise in advanced agile project development. While many of the principles applicable to such teams are derived from management of agile software teams, iGEM presents several unique challenges.

The bacterial nanorecorder: engineering E. coli to function as a chemical recording device.

Synthetic biology is an emerging branch of molecular biology that uses synthetic genetic constructs to create man-made cells or organisms that are capable of performing novel and/or useful applications. Using a synthetic chemically sensitive genetic toggle switch to activate appropriate fluorescent protein indicators (GFP, RFP) and a cell division inhibitor (minC), we have created a novel E. coli strain that can be used as a highly specific, yet simple and inexpensive chemical recording device.

Transcriptional response of E. coli upon FimH-mediated fimbrial adhesion.

Functionalities which may be genetically programmed into a bacterium are limited by its range of possible activities and its sensory capabilities. Therefore, enhancing the bacterial sensory repertoire is a crucial step for expanded utility in potential biomedical, industrial or environmental applications. Using microarray and qRT-PCR analyses, we have investigated transcription in E.

Computational systems biology in drug discovery and development: methods and applications.

Computational systems biology is an emerging field in biological simulation that attempts to model or simulate intra- and intercellular events using data gathered from genomic, proteomic or metabolomic experiments. The need to model complex temporal and spatiotemporal processes at many different scales has led to the emergence of numerous techniques, including systems of differential equations, Petri nets, cellular automata simulators, agent-based models and pi calculus. This review provides a brief summary and an assessment of most of these approaches.

Computational systems biology in cancer: modeling methods and applications.

In recent years it has become clear that carcinogenesis is a complex process, both at the molecular and cellular levels. Understanding the origins, growth and spread of cancer, therefore requires an integrated or system-wide approach. Computational systems biology is an emerging sub-discipline in systems biology that utilizes the wealth of data from genomic, proteomic and metabolomic studies to build computer simulations of intra and intercellular processes.

Novel Caenorhabditis elegans unc-119 axon outgrowth defects correlate with behavioral phenotypes that are partially rescued by nonneural unc-119.

UNC-119 function is necessary for the correct development of the Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system. Worms mutant for unc-119 exhibit nervous system structural defects, including supernumerary axon branches, defasciculated nerve fibers, and choice point errors. Axons of both mechanosensory (ALM) and chemo- sensory (ASI) neurons have elongation defects within the nerve ring.