Team:Davidson-Missouri Western

From 2008.igem.org

(Difference between revisions)
Line 1: Line 1:
-
{|align="justify"
+
<font size = "6"><center>
-
|[[Image:Example_logo.png|200px|center|frame]]
+
Davidson College - Missouri Western State University
 +
</center>
 +
<center>
-
Students and faculty from Davidson College and Missouri Western State University are once again collaborating on a project for iGEM.  The 2008 team consists of one biology and one mathematics faculty mentor from each institution and students from both disciplines at both institutions, as well as one student from Hampton University and one from Spellman College. It is truly a multidisciplinary and multi-institution collaboration.  The picture above was taken July 3 on the steps of the Chambers Building on the Davidson College campus, following a week of intense, side-by-side collaboration.
+
iGEM 2008
-
|[[Image:Chambers_TeamPic_070308.jpg|right|thumbnail|500px|The Davidson / Missouri Western synthetic biology team]]
+
</center></font>
-
|-
+
-
|
+
-
|}
+
-
Students and faculty from Davidson College and Missouri Western State University are once again collaborating on a project for iGEM. The 2008 project, continuing in our theme of bacterial computing, focuses on cell-to-cell communication. We are creating a document authentication system using E. coli. The system is modeled after popular hash functions such as MD5. The user enters a document into the system, and the bacteria compute the hash function value. By comparing the hash function value to the published value for the document, the user can validate the authenticity of the document.  
+
[[Image:Chambers_TeamPic_070308.jpg|right|thumbnail|500px|The Davidson / Missouri Western synthetic biology team]][[Image:TeamiGEM2008Logo.jpg|389px]] 
 +
 
 +
'''Team Description'''
 +
 
 +
This team is composed of faculty and undergraduates from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina USA and from Missouri Western State University in Saint Joseph, Missouri USA and includes one student from Spelman College and one student from Hampton University. This is the third year of this iGEM collaboration for the faculty members and the first year for each of the fifteen students. This year, the team worked collaboratively from the two campuses for most of the summer but spent one week visiting each other's campuses, working shoulder-to-shoulder. The above picture was taken in July on the steps of the Chambers Building on the Davidson College campus.
 +
 
 +
'''Project Abstract'''
 +
 
 +
E. nigma: XOR Gates, a Bacterial Hash Function, and Viz-A-Brick
 +
 
 +
Our team designed, modeled, and constructed a bacterial computer that uses XOR logic to compute a cryptographic hash function. Hash functions are used to authenticate the integrity of a document by computing its digital fingerprint, an integer value that can be compared to the publicized value. Our bacterial computers are designed to recognize the presence or absence of two chemical signals via intercellular communication. Mathematical modeling of these computers has shown that our hash functions are difficult to corrupt. We designed and built a number of new parts, and improved and gained experience on existing parts.  We also produced a graphical interface for exploring the Registry of Standard Biological Parts called Viz-A-Brick, and other web-based tools to improve the construction of new parts with BioBrick ends.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
'''Highlights'''
 +
 
 +
'''[[New parts contributed to the Registry]]''' - we designed, built, and contributed 105 new parts to the Registry
 +
 
 +
'''[[Experience gained on new Registry parts]]''' - we measured the function of several of the new parts we designed, and some expectations were met
 +
 
 +
'''[[Improvement of pre-existing Registry parts ]]''' - we redesigned the lac promoter and the lac repressor and measured an improvement in their functions
 +
 
 +
'''[[Online tools that support the design of new biobrick parts]]''' - we created online tools to aid in part design
 +
 
 +
'''[[Viz-A-Brick: A new way to visualize the Registry]]''' - we created a new interface to the Registry that addresses Human Practice issues associatated with navigating the expanding Registry
 +
 
 +
'''[[E. nigma Project]]''' - we designed and constructed several systems for using logic gates to compute hash functions in bacteria
 +
 
 +
<br/>
 +
 
 +
iGEM 2008 powerpoint presentation
 +
 
 +
iGEM 2008 poster

Revision as of 16:49, 28 October 2008

Davidson College - Missouri Western State University

iGEM 2008

The Davidson / Missouri Western synthetic biology team
389px

Team Description

This team is composed of faculty and undergraduates from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina USA and from Missouri Western State University in Saint Joseph, Missouri USA and includes one student from Spelman College and one student from Hampton University. This is the third year of this iGEM collaboration for the faculty members and the first year for each of the fifteen students. This year, the team worked collaboratively from the two campuses for most of the summer but spent one week visiting each other's campuses, working shoulder-to-shoulder. The above picture was taken in July on the steps of the Chambers Building on the Davidson College campus.

Project Abstract

E. nigma: XOR Gates, a Bacterial Hash Function, and Viz-A-Brick

Our team designed, modeled, and constructed a bacterial computer that uses XOR logic to compute a cryptographic hash function. Hash functions are used to authenticate the integrity of a document by computing its digital fingerprint, an integer value that can be compared to the publicized value. Our bacterial computers are designed to recognize the presence or absence of two chemical signals via intercellular communication. Mathematical modeling of these computers has shown that our hash functions are difficult to corrupt. We designed and built a number of new parts, and improved and gained experience on existing parts. We also produced a graphical interface for exploring the Registry of Standard Biological Parts called Viz-A-Brick, and other web-based tools to improve the construction of new parts with BioBrick ends.


Highlights

New parts contributed to the Registry - we designed, built, and contributed 105 new parts to the Registry

Experience gained on new Registry parts - we measured the function of several of the new parts we designed, and some expectations were met

Improvement of pre-existing Registry parts - we redesigned the lac promoter and the lac repressor and measured an improvement in their functions

Online tools that support the design of new biobrick parts - we created online tools to aid in part design

Viz-A-Brick: A new way to visualize the Registry - we created a new interface to the Registry that addresses Human Practice issues associatated with navigating the expanding Registry

E. nigma Project - we designed and constructed several systems for using logic gates to compute hash functions in bacteria


iGEM 2008 powerpoint presentation

iGEM 2008 poster


Objective: Create Ideal Hash Function that Bacteria will Compute

Ideal Hash Function Characteristics

Hash Functions and Biological Systems

Our Models

Analysis of Our Models

Matlab Files

Future Work


Home The Team The Project Parts Submitted to the Registry Modeling Notebook

(Or you can choose different headings. But you must have a team page, a project page, and a notebook page.)

Retrieved from "http://2008.igem.org/Team:Davidson-Missouri_Western"