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Esther

Support student-driven research on phage therapy, an alternative to antibiotics.

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Esther

Esther

Esther

Esther

Esther

Support student-driven research on phage therapy, an alternative to antibiotics.

Support student-driven research on phage therapy, an alternative to antibiotics.

Support student-driven research on phage therapy, an alternative to antibiotics.

Support student-driven research on phage therapy, an alternative to antibiotics.

iGEM Stockholm 2019
iGEM Stockholm 2019
iGEM Stockholm 2019
iGEM Stockholm 2019
1 Campaign |
Stockholm, Sweden
$1,308 USD $1,308 USD 44 backers
48% of $2,726 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Bacterial infections are mostly treated with a prescription of medicines called antibiotics. However, harmful bacteria can change and resist to these antibiotics. The infection is harder to treat as antibiotics become less effective. Antibiotic resistance is an increasing threat to global health. The UK government predicts that a continued rise in drug resistance bacteria would lead to 10 million people dying every year by 2050. Treatable illnesses, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, blood poisoning or minor infections could become lethal. 

We are a team of 17 students with 13 different nationalities taking part in the international Genetically Engineered Machine competition hosted by the MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Boston. By combining our skills in microbiology, engineering and design, we are happy to represent the City of Stockholm at the iGEM Giant Jamboree. The annual iGEM competition challenges students to design, create and implement a project about synthetic biology. This year we have decided to address the issue of antibiotic resistance. 

Research has found an alternative treatment for bacterial infections called Phage Therapy. Bacteriophages are viruses found in the environment that evolve along with their bacterial prey. They only target bacteria, not our own cells and are therefore good candidates for bacterial infection treatments.  Phages have two distinct lif​cycles, the lytic cycle - where they are active -and the lysogenic cycle - where they are dormant. Current phage therapies uses virulent phages that are maintained in the lytic cycle. They attach to bacteria, inject their DNA, and replicates inside the host cell until the burst of the bacteria. 

Unfortunately, phages encounter many chemical and physical barriers on their way to the site of infection. At the end, only a small number of survival phages reach the bacterial infection showing high variance in efficacy. That’s why, current treatment are not therapeutically viable yet. 

This is when our team comes in the picture. Our team is working with temperate bacteriophages that can reach both the active and dormant states. The second life cycle of phages is the lysogenic cycle. In that case, the phage lay dormant in the bacteria. We are creating a molecular switch that can control the two life cycles of a phage. We can direct the phage into the lysogenic cycle if we want it dormant on the way to the site of infection. Once the phage has reached its target, we can force it to enter the lytic cycle and thus kill the harmful bacteria. By inserting the phage in a harmless carrier bacteria we would make sure it travels through the body without being damaged. 

Our project is named after the great female scientist Esther Lederberg who first discovered the first temperate phage - the Lambda phage - and greatly contributed to science progress in synthetic biology. And we believe this tribute will resonate with a more general recognition of women in science. With our project Esther we want to contribute in making phage therapy a safe and more sustainable treatment to help save millions of lives.

In order to have enough resources to finish our project in time and present it at the Giant Jamboree in Boston, we still need a 30,000 SEK extra fundings for:

- Scientific Material: to cover the order of genetic sequences, primers and enzymes - 18,000 SEK

- Human Practices Material: to cover the expenses of communication tools (video, documentary, flyers, posters) - 7,000 SEK

- Team Promotion: to cover the purchase of iGEM Stockholm merchandise (hoodies, stickers) for the Giant Jamboree - 3,250 SEK

- Indiegogo Platform Fees - 1,750 SEK

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Choose your Perk

The Influencer

Currency Conversion $5 USD
Kr 50 SEK
We value every support and therefore we will thank all the backers personnally on our social media.
Included Items
  • Social Media Acknowledgment
3 claimed

The Enthusiast

Currency Conversion $9 USD
Kr 100 SEK
You will receive the official stickers of our team and our project Esther. A home-designed postcard of our project will be send to you with a project description on the back.
Included Items
  • Social Media Acknowledgment
  • Stickers & Postcard
Estimated Shipping
October 2019
8 claimed
Ships to European Union

The Globetrotter

Currency Conversion $23 USD
Kr 250 SEK
The Globetrotter will receive the official iGEM Stockholm totebag.
Included Items
  • Social Media Acknowledgment
  • Stickers & Postcard
  • Official Totebag
Estimated Shipping
October 2019
15 out of 100 of claimed
Ships to European Union

The Art Conoisseur

Currency Conversion $45 USD
Kr 500 SEK
Discover all the art creations of our Synthetic Biology Art Exhibition in a home designed newspaper.
Included Items
  • Social Media Acknowledgment
  • Stickers & Postcard
  • Official Totebag
  • Art Exhibition Newspaper
Estimated Shipping
October 2019
4 out of 20 of claimed
Ships to European Union

The Super Fan

Currency Conversion $91 USD
Kr 1,000 SEK
Be one of our proud supporters by wearing the official team t-shirt!
Included Items
  • Social Media Acknowledgment
  • Stickers & Postcard
  • Official Totebag
  • Art Exhibition Newspaper
  • Official Team T-shirt
Estimated Shipping
October 2019
6 claimed
Ships to European Union

The Biologist

Currency Conversion $227 USD
Kr 2,500 SEK
Take your first steps as microbiologist by receiving a strawberry DNA extraction kit. We provide everything you need (except the strawberry...).
Included Items
  • Social Media Acknowledgment
  • Stickers & Postcard
  • Official Totebag
  • Art Exhibition Newspaper
  • Official Team T-shirt
  • DNA Extraction Lab-Kit
Estimated Shipping
October 2019
0 claimed
Ships to European Union

The Professor

Currency Conversion $454 USD
Kr 5,000 SEK
Our team will animate a private workshop about "Antibiotic Resistance and Alternatives to Antibiotics being explored" to the audience of your choice.
Included Items
  • Social Media Acknowledgment
  • Stickers & Postcard
  • Official Totebag
  • Art Exhibition Newspaper
  • Official Team T-shirt
  • DNA Extraction Lab-Kit
  • VIP Workshop
Estimated Shipping
October 2019
0 claimed
Ships to European Union
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