Berkeley UC
From 2007.igem.org
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[Image:Berkeley_BactobloodHeader.jpg]] | [[Image:Berkeley_BactobloodHeader.jpg]] | ||
| - | + | '''The global demand and importance for | |
| - | + | cheap, available, and disease free blood substitutes | |
| + | is undisputed. There are currently no red blood cell | ||
| + | substitutes approved for clinical use in the US or | ||
| + | the UK, and whole blood is almost always in short | ||
| + | supply. Underdeveloped countries that need blood | ||
| + | the most simply don’t have the infrastructure to | ||
| + | support donation and storage, in addition a sizeable | ||
| + | fraction of the population are disease carriers.<br><br> | ||
| + | We have developed a red blood cell substitute by modifying the E. coli chassis to make it safer to inject into the human bloodstream, and by adding components for oxygen delivery. A modified lipopolysaccharide significantly (1000-10000x) reduces sepsis activity. Other essential components include heme, hemoglobin, and cytochrome b5 and b5 reductase. Additional chaperone proteins such as sodC and HPI-katG were added to prolong the half-life of the E. coli in the bloodstream.<br>''' | ||
Revision as of 18:47, 13 August 2007
The global demand and importance for
cheap, available, and disease free blood substitutes
is undisputed. There are currently no red blood cell
substitutes approved for clinical use in the US or
the UK, and whole blood is almost always in short
supply. Underdeveloped countries that need blood
the most simply don’t have the infrastructure to
support donation and storage, in addition a sizeable
fraction of the population are disease carriers.
We have developed a red blood cell substitute by modifying the E. coli chassis to make it safer to inject into the human bloodstream, and by adding components for oxygen delivery. A modified lipopolysaccharide significantly (1000-10000x) reduces sepsis activity. Other essential components include heme, hemoglobin, and cytochrome b5 and b5 reductase. Additional chaperone proteins such as sodC and HPI-katG were added to prolong the half-life of the E. coli in the bloodstream.
