{% extends "layout.html" %}
{% block title %}Proposed Implementation{% endblock %}
{% block lead %}This page describes our vision of how CyanoSpectre will be implemented by end users to benefit society.{% endblock %}
{% block page_content %}
CyanoSpectre centers around the reverse engineering of a phagemid that, when expressed in an E. coli chassis, would result in the synthesis of ghost phages – phage capsids devoid of any genetic material. While an empty viral capsid might not seem particularly useful by itself, our intent is that the ghost phage will be a vehicle that can be customized by end users (synthetic biologists and future iGEMers) for their own needs.
Making the design customizable and expressible
During the design of the ghost phagemid, we elected to use a MoClo strategy when building the phagemid to allow the user to customize expression of each of phagemid component to suit their needs. If the user desires to fine-tune any component, they can swap the selected promoter, RBS, or terminator sequence. In preparation for this customization, we elected to use a set of T7 promoters with varying strengths to allow for tunable expression under the control of a single regulator, T7 RNA polymerase. In addition, the final phagemid assembly contains dummy sequences, which can be replaced with additional coding sequences as needed by the user based on their needs (Figure 1).