Save the bees, save the World!
Sounds challenging, right ? Every project of our starts with that kind of challenge.
This is me in the middle, and my friends. All of us are biology students at METU, Turkey. (Except the two guy near to me. They are statisticians, we need someone to count the money :P)
It always starts with a problem. What was ours ? Oh, yes, I remembered. Bees are starting to get sicked, get lost and died in worldwide.
Then, it continues with a question. How can we prevent this problem ? We asked that questions 2 years ago, as a part of our project to iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition. We did a project called THE BEE SUBTILIS, catchy, right? We got some results, joined the competition, won some rewards. You know, like science fairs in high schools, but a much larger one.
Real story started after the end of the competition. After 2 years of iGEM experience, I started to realize something. When someone says biotechnology, what do you think ? Mostly medicine, GMO foods and maybe sometimes robotics, right ?
However, I realized something else. In biotechnology, nearly everything is possible, everything is doable. The real question is can ''YOU'' do it ? With some education and imagination, yes we said yes we can. You can create, computers, batteries, filters, light sources, paintings, decorations, basic components, and much much more. It's like playing minecraft, if you know it.
So after this realization, me and 6 of my friends who have the same idea, started a group and established a little company.
So, our first goal is building a prototype for our much more developed Bee Subtilis projects and mass produce it.
So, what is this Bee Subtilis ? How it will save the bees ?
Bees are the most important organisms for the pollination of plants, especially agricultural crops. However due to insecticides, parasitic fungis, bacterias and enviromental changes, they are now showing abnormal behaviours and eventually dies. ( http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0006481 ). This phenomena called as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and really important problem in whole world, but especially in USA and Turkey.
We are designed a project by using synthetic biology, and created a mutualist bacteria that will protect bees against imidacloprid (one of the most common insecticide material) and reinforce bees immune system.
We found an specialized gene sequence named as CYP6G1 from Drosophila melanogaster (Fruit Fly), which is confirmed as giving immunity against imidacloprid to flies. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15245421, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17912692)
We designed a special gene circuit which contains a strong constitutive promoter and CYP6G1 gene. First we will create this gene sequence, then we will transfer this circuit to a mutualist bacteria, which lives at bees gut, Bacillus subtilis.
B. subtilis will synthesis this protein continuously and this protein will give immunity against imidacloprid to bees.
In addition, we also designed another circuit, which improves bees natural immune system, by producing p-coumaric acid. Unfortunately bees couldn't get p-coumaric acid from their food, because of the modern feeding systems, so their immune systems get weaker. We try to stop this event with our project.
We add a kill-switch mechanism to our system, in case of our engineered bacteria escape from bees and spread to the environment. If this happens, our kill-switch mechanism in bacteria starts to work and kill the bacteria. ''Safety first''.
Voila! Now you have the Bee Subtilis and with the help of this we finally summon THE SUPER BEE!!!
In the end, our project will save the bees and all of us can eat more honey. Win-win, right ?
Our goal and what we need
This was our first project, first step to the road, which leads to a world nearly everything is possible. We already have more projects we wanted to do after we make our compony steady. Like, infinite batteries or transportable water cleaners or food freshness detectors, and many more.
We need fundings because these kind of technologies are fairly new to us, the human kind. So, it is little bit expensive (we need mostly laboratory equipments), but with the help of you, our contributors, we are sure that we can succeed.
We can't offer you much, anything than our deeply thanks for now. However, if you wish, you can contact us and if we will succeed we can send you some samples for free.
Final Words
So, thats it. I hope you liked our project. We are waiting for your contributions. You can also help us not only with funds, but by also spreading the word, sharing your thoughts, helping us to improve. We always think, these kind of helps are much more important than funds to us. We appreciate every kind of help you can give.
So, thank you and have a wonderful life.