iGEM Research Abstract (2017) Awards: Gold Medal; Best New Basic Part; Best Applied Design

1. iGEM Project 2017: Sugar Crush – Probiotic-based Sugar Retrieval System
- iGEM Gold Medal
- 2 Special Prizes: Best Applied Design, Best Gene Basic Part
- 5 Nominations: Best Integrated Human Practices, Best Education & Public Engagement, Best
New Composite Part
Our project “Sugar Crush” is a probiotic-based sugar retrieval system currently prototyped on E.coli,
with an aim to facilitate the prevention of sugar-related diseases(e.g. diabetes, stroke) by reducing
human sugar absorption through biological competition. The project contains 4 parts primarily: a
glucose transporter, a suicide circuit, a probiotic (Lactobacillus) transforming vector based on
BioBrick, and an acid-resistant pill. Sugar Crush has been through procedures of experimenting,
modeling, prototype testing (pills), market analysis, and expert consultancies (e.g. FDA, enterprises
like Chung-Mei Pharma).
Mechanism:
Sugar Crush is intended to alleviate the negative effects from sugar overdose. Users take our
probiotic-containing pills before meal. When glucose is later present in intestine, our bacteria will
absorb them in a 1.2x faster rate comparing to intestine cells, thus reducing human sugar
absorption via glucose competition. Once environmental glucose diminishes below a threshold, a
suicide circuit lyses bacterium itself lest excessive absorption harming human body, and will
subsequently be excreted along with food residue.
Technical Notes:
Our system is driven by facilitated sodium/glucose cotransporter cloned from Salmonella regarding
its glucose affinity. The suicide circuit is assembled from four BioBrick parts designed by previous
iGEMers (glucose responsive promoter Pcar, repressor circuit PhlF, suicide switch consisting of lysis
protein and nuclease NucA)
- Project website: http://2017.igem.org/Team:Mingdao
- Poster: https://www.slideshare.net/ssuserc5f298/sugar-crush-igem-project-poster-2017
Awards
Description
Additional Info