A team from the University of Alberta (ABOVE) presented an educational tool kit for the rapid assembly of E. coli DNA at this year's International Genetically Engineered Machine competition in Boston.
Paige Hacking, University of Alberta
Mention the Escherichia coli bacterium, or E. coli, and many people immediately get anxious. After all, certain strains of E. coli, typically ingested through undercooked ground beef, have been associated with cases of severe diarrhea, kidney failure and even death. But a group of undergraduate students from the University of Alberta (U of A) is uncovering the other, more useful side of E. coli.
Researchers know there is more to E. coli than meets the eye. Most strains of the bacterium are entirely benign and function as something of a laboratory workhorse. Because E. coli is the best-understood bacterium in the world, it has become an essential model organism for many fields of research, including molecular biology, genetics and biochemistry.
An added advantage is that E. coli is easy and relatively quick to grow in the lab. The U of A undergraduates are demonstrating that the process of assembling E. coli genes can be easier, cheaper and quicker still and are working hard to get the word out about the beneficial side of this bacterium.
In 2009, a team of students from the U of A’s faculties of biological sciences and engineering developed a rapid method for gene assembly that is 100 times faster than any previous procedure. The students took their research discovery to the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston — the world’s premier undergraduate synthetic-biology competition.
Competing against more than 100 other universities, including such heavyweights as Cambridge, Stanford and Harvard, the U of A team was awarded the prize for Best Foundation Advance, one of iGEM’s top honours.
In preparation for the 2010 iGEM, another U of A team spent the past summer building on the earlier breakthrough. This group was much more diverse, drawing on students from 14 departments, including computing science, business and graphic design.
Their idea was to develop an educational tool kit for high school students for the rapid assembly of E. coli DNA using the new gene-assembly method. The goal was to give budding scientists the ability to build their own DNA models while also teaching them about the more beneficial aspects of E. coli bacteria.
Team Alberta member Mike Wilson poses by the group's poster board. The team's presentation received high praise from the judges and interest from biotech companies.
Paige Hacking, University of Alberta
Although the U of A team did not finish among the finalists (top honours this year went to universities from Slovenia, China and Britain), its innovations drew high praise from the judges, as well as keen interest from several biotech representatives who attended the event.
“This competition really made us start thinking about what to do with this technology,” says team member Paige Hacking, 20, a third-year science student. “It’s just a matter of getting it out into the market. We’re not sure of the best way to do this, but we definitely have to look into that more.”
Hacking sees plenty of practical benefits in constructing E. coli DNA quicker and therefore less expensive to build in the lab. She believes that in addition to its important role in developing new pharmaceuticals, E. coli bacteria will become increasingly common in research into new environmental technologies.
“One of the big ones is going to be finding ways to break down oil spills faster and on a larger scale,” says Hacking. “Research using E. coli bacteria can help get us there.”
Hacking, who is considering a career in medicine, found iGEM to be an inspirational experience.
“It’s very cool to see all these international teams,” she says. “It really opens your eyes to the immense possibilities that can arise even from undergraduate work. A lot of it is typical of what a master’s or PhD student might be doing. So while I’m definitely proud of what our team accomplished, I’m also really impressed by the quality of undergraduate research going on around the world.”
