OUR PROJECT
The world is currently facing a future where antibiotics no longer work and basic infections cannot be treated. This is because the bacteria have had lots of exposure to antibiotics, allowing them time to evolve genes which can help them survive in the presence of these drugs. We therefore want to tackle this problem of the 'super bugs' found in our hospitals, otherwise known as the ESKAPE pathogens. We will do this by developing a spray which will contain phages. Phages are viruses which specifically attack bacteria, whilst being harmless to us. They work by entering the bacteria's cell and hijacking its replication system, forcing the cell to make proteins which the phage finds useful for itself. We are editing a phage to produce a protein which works in the same way as a pair of scissors. When that phage enters the cell, these 'scissors' (technical term 'CRISPR-cas') will cut up the genes which are giving the bacteria resistance to antibiotics. We then add another phage to ensure this system is maintainable. By using this spray, we hope to re-sensitise these dangerous antibiotic resistant bacteria to the drugs again, allowing conventional antiobiotics to work. This would mean we would no longer need to develop costly new antibiotics, and avoid the coming doom of a world where a UTI is a death sentence. Neat eh?! The iGEM competition:
We are the overgraduate team from Edinburgh taking part in the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition. iGEM is aimed at giving high school, undergraduate and postgraduate students the opportunity to carry out their own synthetic biology research and present it in MIT in Boston, every October. Only well-supported teams make it to the top, in the Giant Jamboree at MIT next October. We aim to support as many iGEM teams as we can and do please contact us for any collaborative ideas! FIND US ON TWITTER
http://twitter.com/EdinburghOG2017
