Who are we?
The Tuscarora Bioengineering Club was formed in October 2014 at Tuscarora High School. Our group consists of 20 students who are meeting weekly to help protect the threatened oyster populations of the Chesapeake Bay from the deadly protist, dermo. We were recently covered in two Frederick News Post articles:
- "Tuscarora High biology students plan to protect the oysters" by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
- "Frederick students brew homemade genes" by Sylvia Carignan
Why oysters?
Oysters are a major part of the local Chesapeake Bay economy and ecology. They are a source of jobs for many and a major part of our regional cuisine. But they also help clean the waters of the bay. Unfortunately, oyster populations, which were once abundant, are now at an all time low.
What can be done?
There are many causes for the decline of oyster populations and many groups have been working hard to reverse the downward trend. One of the hurdles faced by recovering oyster beds is the threat of disease. Dermo is one such disease, which threatens oysters and is caused by the protist Perkinsus marinus.
How are we helping?
We've devised a plan to protect young oyster beds from P. marinus by creating a cellulose filter that extracts the protist from the water before it can reach and infect the oysters. The filter will be manufactured by the cellulose producing bacterium, Gluconacetobacter xylinus, and a galectin protein will be added to the cellulose to help capture the protist.
London's Imperial College has already helped us by supplying the bacteria, which produces the cellulose. The University of Maryland has agreed to give us the galectin gene that we need to produce the protist trapping galectin.
What's our next step?
We need to raise $4000 by the end of April to register our team with iGEM. This will allow us to get the remaining genetic material we need to assemble and test our P. marinus filter. It will also secure a place for our team in the September 2015 iGEM competition, where we can share our technology with the world.
How can you help?
Please share this page with your family and friends or contribute some money via one of our members on the right. You can also add comments to our member pages. We would really like to hear what you think about our project.
