Revision as of 16:13, 29 October 2008

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iGEM 2008 at USU

The 2008 Utah State University iGEM team consists of a diverse group of individuals. The professors and students have backgrounds in the fields of Biological Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Biology, and Microbiology. The high school students helping with this project are very bright students. They know their way around the lab and have been extraordinarily helpful on this project. Although many of us are from different parts of the country and world we all love Utah State University and Logan Utah. This project was carried out at Utah State University in beautiful Logan, Utah. The Utah State University iGEM team project is focused on creating an efficient system for production and monitoring PHA production in microorganisms. One goal of our research is to develop and optimize a method, using fluorescent proteins, for the detection of maximum product yield of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB, a bioplastic) in recombinant E. coli and in Cupriavidus necator. In order to develop an optimal PHB detection system, we focused on the identification of the most efficient reporter genes, and the best promoter sequences that would allow our reporter to indicate when PHB production was maximized.

The 2008 USU Team

FACULTY ADVISORS:

Dean Scott Hinton: Dean of the College of Engineering, USU
Dr. Charles Miller: Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, USU
Dr. Ronald C. Sims: Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, USU

GRADUATE STUDENTS:

Jun-Ling Huo: PhD student, Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering
Steven Merrigan: MS student, Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, USU
Joseph Camire: MS student, Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, USU

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS:

Trent Mortensen: "iGem spelled b-i-e, iGem"
Libbie Linton: Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, USU
Kirsten Sims: Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, USU
Dan Nelson: Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, USU
Rachel Porter: Department of Biological and Irrigation Engineering, USU

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS:

Garrett Hinton: Sky View High School
Matthew Sims: Logan High School

Dean Hinton	Dr Miller	Dr Sims	Jun-Ling Huo
Joseph Camire	Stephen Merrigan	Libbie Linton	Dan Nelson
Trent Mortensen	Kirsten and Matthew Sims	Garrett Hinton

What we did

Trent Mortensen took an active role in the planning of the project, group coordination, advising professor consultation, laboratory work, ordering of materials, lab maintenance, Wiki preparation, documentation, and presentation preparations throughout the course of the project.

Libbie:

Jun-Ling Huo

Stephen Merrigan is currently working on a MS in Biological Engineering at Utah State, and has a background in Microbiology. During the first few months of the project Stephen did background research on an experiment topic that was not the final 2008 iGEM project. Some of the work he did in the lab included DNA purification. A portion of "the team" tab on the wiki was contributed by Stephen.

Joseph Camire

Daniel Nelson: Daniel is pursuing a degree in Biological Engineering and his current personnel research project is “Omega-3 Fatty Acid Production and Extraction in Schizochytrium limacinum SR21.” He has enjoyed participating in group discussions as project ideas and direction have been determined. In the lab, he has worked with the team to isolate, purify, and analyze the key DNA promoters for the PHB synthesis gene. He hopes that through study of these promoter regions, the team will find a way to increase PHB production and create a general gene expression system to monitor cellular product accumulation. Outside of the lab, he has helped to design the logo for the USU team.

Kirsten Sims

Rachel Porter

Garrett Hinton was part of the final experimental design. Garrett was a huge part of the lab work that has taken place during this experiment. Garrett is a junior at Sky View High School in Logan Utah.

Matthew Sims was a huge part of the lab work that has taken place during this experiment. Matthew is a junior at Logan High School

Where we're from

Utah State University is located in Logan, Utah. Logan is about 85 miles north of Salt Lake City, Utah. The city of Logan is located in the heart of Cache Valley near the on the western slopes of the Bear River Mountains, the northernmost branch of the Wasatch Range. The city has a population of approximately 47,000. Logan was established in 1859 and has a rich heritage and wonderful culture. The city of Logan has been stated to be among the safest cities in America.

Utah State University was founded in 1888 and has evolved from a small, agricultural college to a university that is nationally and internationally recognized for its intellectual and technological leadership. As Utah's land-grant and space-grant institution, the university is led by President Stan L. Albrecht and has 850 faculty who provide education for more than 23,000 undergraduate and graduate students, including 10,000 in its continuing education sites located throughout the state of Utah. USU has more than 200 buildings, 63 of which are devoted to academics. USU also has 3 branch campuses and Extension offices in all of Utah's 29 counties (usu.edu).

Team:Utah State/Team

From 2008.igem.org

Revision as of 16:13, 29 October 2008

Contents

iGEM 2008 at USU

The 2008 USU Team

What we did

Where we're from

@@ Line 91: / Line 91: @@
-Trent:
+Trent Mortensen took an active role in the planning of the project, group coordination, advising professor consultation, laboratory work, ordering of materials, lab maintenance, Wiki preparation, documentation, and presentation preparations throughout the course of the project.
 Libbie:
@@ Line 97: / Line 97: @@
 Jun-Ling Huo
-Stephen Merrigan played a role in researching one of the experiments that was not the final USU iGEM project. Stephen was part of the final experimental design. Stephen also aided in some of the lab wet work.  Stephen made a large contribution to the final outcome of the wiki. Stephen has a background in microbiology.
+Stephen Merrigan is currently working on a MS in Biological Engineering at Utah State, and has a background in Microbiology.  During the first few months of the project Stephen did background research on an experiment topic that was not the final 2008 iGEM project. Some of the work he did in the lab included DNA purification. A portion of "the team" tab on the wiki was contributed by Stephen.
 Joseph Camire