Virginia/Projects

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===Introduction===
===Introduction===
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coming soon!
 
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== 2007 VGEM Team Projects ==
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''Motivation''
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The following two projects represent a small fraction of the plethora of project ideas that we brainstormed during the spring semester and early summer.  Many of our initial project ideas were either too expensive or depended on knowledge that does not exist yet.  Therefore, only a small percentage of these were deemed plausible near the beginning of the summer, but most eventually met similar roadblocks.  Of our final six project designs, we chose to focus on [https://2007.igem.org/Virginia/Projects/1 '''Butanol Biosynthesis'''] for biofuel and on [https://2007.igem.org/Virginia/Projects/2 '''Bacterial Melanogenesis'''], a medically-oriented project.  We will present both at the iGEM Jamboree in November.  It is our wish that the 2008 VGEM Team will investigate the [http://www.openwetware.org/wiki/IGEM:VGEM/2007/Projects four other designed projects] in more detail and hopefully implement our theory into working biological systems.
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Economic, environmental and geopolitical factors have played a significant role in driving forward current research in biofuel production.  Biomass, including fast-growing feedstock plants such as grasses and industrial or agricultural waste products such as corn stalks, can be converted to liquid transportation fuel by microbial metabolic pathways.  Although the concept of deriving fuel from biomass was first proposed in the 1970s, only recent technological advances promise to exploit this abundant, renewable and sustainable source of hydrocarbons that can be domestically produced (Stephanopoulos 2007).
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There are many potential biologically-produced fuels including methane, ethanol, butanol and hydrogen.  Subsidized ethanol, fermented by yeast, is currently blended into most gasoline fuel in the US.  DuPont and BP have recently announced that they will collaborate in the implementation of butanol biofuel this year in the UK via sugar beet fermentation (McCormick 2006). Other companies, such as Synthetic Genomics, are attempting to develop microorganisms capable of producing hydrogen gas for fuel, which has as many disadvantages as advantages.

Revision as of 22:47, 15 September 2007

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HOME PROJECT INTRO APPROACH PROCEDURES RESULTS [http://partsregistry.org/cgi/partsdb/pgroup.cgi?pgroup=iGEM2007&group=Virginia BIOBRICKS] [http://openwetware.org/wiki/IGEM:VGEM/2007/Notebook eNOTEBOOK] [http://www.seas.virginia.edu/VGEM/ WEBSITE]

Harvesting Biomass and Light to Power Butanol Biosynthesis

Introduction

Motivation

Economic, environmental and geopolitical factors have played a significant role in driving forward current research in biofuel production. Biomass, including fast-growing feedstock plants such as grasses and industrial or agricultural waste products such as corn stalks, can be converted to liquid transportation fuel by microbial metabolic pathways. Although the concept of deriving fuel from biomass was first proposed in the 1970s, only recent technological advances promise to exploit this abundant, renewable and sustainable source of hydrocarbons that can be domestically produced (Stephanopoulos 2007).

There are many potential biologically-produced fuels including methane, ethanol, butanol and hydrogen. Subsidized ethanol, fermented by yeast, is currently blended into most gasoline fuel in the US. DuPont and BP have recently announced that they will collaborate in the implementation of butanol biofuel this year in the UK via sugar beet fermentation (McCormick 2006). Other companies, such as Synthetic Genomics, are attempting to develop microorganisms capable of producing hydrogen gas for fuel, which has as many disadvantages as advantages.

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