Judging/Variance/Lethbridge CCS

Request
Dear iGEM judges, I am writing on behalf of the Lethbridge CCS team to request permission to submit non-BioBrick parts to the registry. We are a high school team, investigating the possibility of ligase-independent cloning (LIC) as a standard method for preparing new BioBricks. The LIC method uses a non-BioBrick plasmid as a starting point; in this plasmid, the standard MCS is replaced by a LIC-specific overhang sequence. In order to prepare a new BioBrick, the standard prefix & suffix are included in the primers used to amplify a gene of interest, which is then inserted into the LIC plasmid. Thus, BioBricks are generated by our technique (and we hope to submit several), but a non-BioBrick plasmid is required as an initial step. We believe that the LIC method has great potential as an easily adopted, readily automated method of BioBrick preparation, and ask your permission to submit our non-standard plasmid to the Registry. In the spirit of iGEM, we will of course be sharing our experiences and protocols for use of this plasmid. Thanks very much for your consideration. Marc Slingerland Lethbridge CCS team

Response
Dear Marc,

It seems like your non-BioBrick plasmid could be added to the registry with sufficient documentation, and that the needed testing and evaluation are integral to your team's project. This would be a special function plasmid, and might evolve to a new standard, which sounds like it is your goal. So it would be perfectly appropriate to submit that part. However, just in case their are unanticipated problems with that new plasmid, we recommend that you also submit the individual components of your device (the LIC-specific overhang sequence and any other components) on standard biobrick vectors as separate parts for the registry.

Sincerely,

iGEM judging team