Team:Utah State

Utah State University is proud to be involved in the 2008 IGEM competition. This will be the first year that USU has participated in the competition. When first hearing about the competition, several of the team members became very excited about joining the "playground" of genetic engineering! The team met several times over pizza to look at what had been done in the past to give them inspiration for their future project. USU is located in Logan UT and is nestled in the beautiful mountains of Cache Valley. For those interested in a great education and are looking for amazing outdoor adventures and recreation, USU is perfect!!

The increasing cost and negative environmental effect of fossil hydrocarbon-derived conventional plastics has escalated the need for economically realistic alternatives. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a class of microbially synthesized, biodegradable thermoplastics that exhibit material properties comparable to those of conventional plastics. The Utah State University IGEM team project is focused on creating an efficient system for monitoring PHA production in recombinant microorganisms.