Princeton
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==Overview== | ==Overview== | ||
| - | = | + | =[[Princeton/Project Description | <center>An RNAi-Enhanced Logic Circuit: Cancer-Specific Detection and Destruction]] = |
| - | The [[Princeton/People | Princeton University iGEM 2007 team]], consisting of 10 undergraduate students, 2 high school students, and 8 instructors, envisions a paradigm shift in the way | + | The [[Princeton/People | Princeton University iGEM 2007 team]], consisting of 10 undergraduate students, 2 high school students, and 8 instructors, envisions a paradigm shift in the way one can target cancer and destroy the resulting cancerous cells. |
| - | Using standard engineering practices, we have designed, and are in the process of implementing, a new system that utilizes RNA interference (RNAi) | + | Using standard engineering practices, we have designed, and are in the process of implementing, a new system that utilizes RNA interference (RNAi) to detect and destroy cancer cells in a tissue-specific manner. We are interfacing RNAi components together with promoter and repressor elements to form logic circuits, which allow the use of multiple criteria to, in a unique and highly specific manner, target cancerous cells. As a measure of safety, we utilize mutant lentiviral integrase to deliver our construct into the cell as a non-integrated plasmid, preventing any disruptive effects that could be attributed to pseudorandom integration by the lentivirus. This also ensures that the daughter cells will not inherit the cancer-detecting circuitry, thus preventing unintended proliferation of our construct and allow for more extensive and comprehensive cancer treatments. |
We are in the process of constructing our system, component by component, to throughly test each element and, where possible, revise the implementation of our constructs to improve effectiveness. [[Princeton/lab | Lab work]], including [[Princeton/lab/experimentation | experimentation]], [[Princeton/lab/bioinformatics | bioinformatics]], and [[Princeton/lab/simulation | simulations]], and [[Princeton/literature | literature]] have been used as feedback mechanisms to improve the implementation of the designed systems. | We are in the process of constructing our system, component by component, to throughly test each element and, where possible, revise the implementation of our constructs to improve effectiveness. [[Princeton/lab | Lab work]], including [[Princeton/lab/experimentation | experimentation]], [[Princeton/lab/bioinformatics | bioinformatics]], and [[Princeton/lab/simulation | simulations]], and [[Princeton/literature | literature]] have been used as feedback mechanisms to improve the implementation of the designed systems. | ||
Revision as of 02:20, 27 October 2007
Overview
An RNAi-Enhanced Logic Circuit: Cancer-Specific Detection and Destruction
The Princeton University iGEM 2007 team, consisting of 10 undergraduate students, 2 high school students, and 8 instructors, envisions a paradigm shift in the way one can target cancer and destroy the resulting cancerous cells.
Using standard engineering practices, we have designed, and are in the process of implementing, a new system that utilizes RNA interference (RNAi) to detect and destroy cancer cells in a tissue-specific manner. We are interfacing RNAi components together with promoter and repressor elements to form logic circuits, which allow the use of multiple criteria to, in a unique and highly specific manner, target cancerous cells. As a measure of safety, we utilize mutant lentiviral integrase to deliver our construct into the cell as a non-integrated plasmid, preventing any disruptive effects that could be attributed to pseudorandom integration by the lentivirus. This also ensures that the daughter cells will not inherit the cancer-detecting circuitry, thus preventing unintended proliferation of our construct and allow for more extensive and comprehensive cancer treatments.
We are in the process of constructing our system, component by component, to throughly test each element and, where possible, revise the implementation of our constructs to improve effectiveness. Lab work, including experimentation, bioinformatics, and simulations, and literature have been used as feedback mechanisms to improve the implementation of the designed systems.
Please see the extended overview for more information.
