iGEM 2020 — Team St_Andrews

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/8/8b/HQ_page_logo.jpg)](https://2020.igem.org)

# Team:St Andrews/Notebook

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/f7/T--St_Andrews--shinescreen_logo.svg)](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews)

* Project

  [Contribution](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Contribution)[Description](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Description)[Design](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Design)[Engineering](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Engineering)[Notebook](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Notebook)[Implementation](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Implementation)[Results](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Results)[Graphic Design](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Graphic_Design)
* Team

  [Team](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Team)[Attributions](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Attributions)[Collaborations](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Collaborations)[Partnership](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Partnership)
* [Modelling](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Model)
* Human Practices

  [Human Practices](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Human_Practices)[Sustainability](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Sustainable)
* Parts

  [Part Collection](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Part_Collection)[Parts](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Parts)[Improve](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Improve)
* [Entrepreneurship](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Entrepreneurship)
* [Safety](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Safety)
* [Judging Form](https://igem.org/2020_Judging_Form?id=3634)

Shinescreen: A Novel,Entirely Reef-Safe Probiotic Sunscreen.

# Notebook

---

# **February**

|  |
| --- |
| [February 2020 - General](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/fc/T--St_Andrews--General_02.pdf) |

# **March**

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/d/d7/T--St_Andrews--Team_photo.jpg)

Image: Team Photo

|  |
| --- |
| [March 2020 - General](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/b/b4/T--St_Andrews--General_03.pdf) |

# **April**

|  |
| --- |
| [April 2020 - General](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/1d/T--St_Andrews--General_04.pdf) |

# **May**

|  |
| --- |
| [May 20th 2020 - Human Practices](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/4/48/T--St_Andrews--Human_Practices_2005.pdf) |
| [May 25th 2020 - Human Practices](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/e/e2/T--St_Andrews--Human_Practices_2505.pdf) |
| [May 25th 2020 - Research](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/9/98/T--St_Andrews--Research_2505.pdf) |
| [May 26th 2020 - Human Practices](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/2/27/T--St_Andrews--Human_Practices_2605.pdf) |
| [May 26th 2020 - Modelling](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/d/d1/T--St_Andrews--Modelling_2605.pdf) |
| [May 27th 2020 - Gene Circuit](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/4/40/T--St_Andrews--Gene_Circuit_2705.pdf) |
| [May 28th 2020 - Modelling](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/8/81/T--St_Andrews--Modelling_2805.pdf) |
| [May 29th 2020 - Modelling](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/5c/T--St_Andrews--Modelling_2905.pdf) |
| [May 30th 2020 - Gene Circuit](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/0/0b/T--St_Andrews--Gene_Circuit_3005.pdf) |
| [May 31st 2020 - Modelling](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/b/b2/T--St_Andrews--Modelling_3105.pdf) |

# **June**

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/ff/T--St_Andrews--March_meetup_ping.PNG)
![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/9/94/T--St_Andrews--March_Nottingham.PNG)
![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/2/25/T--St_Andrews--March_Shine_snippet_modelling.PNG)
![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/3/3e/T--St_Andrews--March_Team_snippet.PNG)
![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/9/96/T--St_Andrews--March_Team_Snippet2.PNG)

|  |
| --- |
| [June 1st 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/b/bc/T--St_Andrews--0106.pdf) |
| [June 2nd 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/9/96/T--St_Andrews--0206.pdf) |
| [June 3rd 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/14/T--St_Andrews--0306.pdf) |
| [June 4th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/4/49/T--St_Andrews--0406.pdf) |
| [June 5th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/8/84/T--St_Andrews--0506.pdf) |
| [June 6th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/a/aa/T--St_Andrews--0606.pdf) |
| [June 7th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/12/T--St_Andrews--0706.pdf) |
| [June 8th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/12/T--St_Andrews--0806.pdf) |
| [June 9th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/55/T--St_Andrews--0906.pdf) |
| [June 10th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/11/T--St_Andrews--1006.pdf) |
| [June 11th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/1e/T--St_Andrews--1106.pdf) |
| [June 12th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/8/82/T--St_Andrews--1206.pdf) |
| [June 13th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/b/bd/T--St_Andrews--1306.pdf) |
| [June 14th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/0/06/T--St_Andrews--1406.pdf) |
| [June 15th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/d/d6/T--St_Andrews--1506.pdf) |
| [June 16th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/7/7d/T--St_Andrews--1606.pdf) |
| [June 17th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/1d/T--St_Andrews--1706.pdf) |
| [June 18th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/a/a7/T--St_Andrews--1806.pdf) |
| [June 19th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/e/e7/T--St_Andrews--1906.pdf) |
| [June 20th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/0/02/T--St_Andrews--2006.pdf) |
| [June 21st 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/0/03/T--St_Andrews--2106.pdf) |
| [June 22nd 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/d/dc/T--St_Andrews--2206.pdf) |
| [June 23rd 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/d/df/T--St_Andrews--2306.pdf) |
| [June 24th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/c/ca/T--St_Andrews--2406.pdf) |
| [June 25th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/1b/T--St_Andrews--2506.pdf) |
| [June 26th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/6/6d/T--St_Andrews--2606.pdf) |
| [June 27th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/c/c4/T--St_Andrews--2706.pdf) |
| [June 28th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/5d/T--St_Andrews--2806.pdf) |
| [June 29th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/0/03/T--St_Andrews--2906.pdf) |
| [June 29th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/0/03/T--St_Andrews--2906.pdf) |
| [June 30th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/7/7b/T--St_Andrews--3006.pdf) |

# **July**

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/0/05/T--St_Andrews--July.png)

|  |
| --- |
| [July 1st 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/54/T--St_Andrews--0107.pdf) |
| [July 2nd 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/2/27/T--St_Andrews--0207.pdf) |
| [July 3rd 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/3/37/T--St_Andrews--0307.pdf) |
| [July 4th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/7/76/T--St_Andrews--0407.pdf) |
| [July 6th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/1a/T--St_Andrews--0607.pdf) |
| [July 7th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/6/66/T--St_Andrews--0707.pdf) |
| [July 8th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/4/4f/T--St_Andrews--0807.pdf) |
| [July 9th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/9/97/T--St_Andrews--0907.pdf) |
| [July 10th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/4/43/T--St_Andrews--1007.pdf) |
| [July 13th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/4/46/T--St_Andrews--1307.pdf) |
| [July 14th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/7/74/T--St_Andrews--1407.pdf) |
| [July 15th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/10/T--St_Andrews--1507.pdf) |
| [July 16th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/d/da/T--St_Andrews--1607.pdf) |
| [July 17th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/2/2e/T--St_Andrews--1707.pdf) |
| [July 18th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/e/e9/T--St_Andrews--1807.pdf) |
| [July 20th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/5e/T--St_Andrews--2007.pdf) |
| [July 21st 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/1d/T--St_Andrews--2107.pdf) |
| [July 22nd 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/a/a5/T--St_Andrews--2207.pdf) |
| [July 23rd 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/d/d5/T--St_Andrews--2307.pdf) |
| [July 24th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/13/T--St_Andrews--2407.pdf) |
| [July 25th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/3/3a/T--St_Andrews--2507.pdf) |
| [July 27th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/59/T--St_Andrews--2707.pdf) |
| [July 28th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/b/b5/T--St_Andrews--2807.pdf) |
| [July 29th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/1/1e/T--St_Andrews--2907.pdf) |
| [July 30th 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/2/26/T--St_Andrews--3007.pdf) |
| [July 31st 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/6/6a/T--St_Andrews--3107.pdf) |

# **August**

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/4/40/T--St_Andrews--August_Notebook.png)

|  |
| --- |
| [August 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/9/90/T--St_Andrews--August.pdf) |

# **September**

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/a/a3/T--St_Andrews--iGEM-30920.PNG)

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/e/e4/T--St_Andrews--ManchesterMarketResearch.png)

|  |
| --- |
| [September 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/4/48/T--St_Andrews--September--Month.pdf) |

# **October**

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/a/ad/T--St_Andrews--October.png)

|  |
| --- |
| [October 2020](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/52/T--St_Andrews--10.pdf) |

Honeycomb Grid Layout

* ![]()

  [Project](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Description)
* ![]()

  [Team](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Team)
* ![]()

  [Modelling](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Model)
* ![]()

  [Human Practices](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Human_Practices)
* ![]()

  [Parts](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Parts)
* ![]()

  [Entrepreneurship](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Entrepreneurship)
* ![]()

  [Safety](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Safety)

---

##### Email: igem@st-andrews.ac.uk

---

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/f7/T--St_Andrews--shinescreen_logo.svg)](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews)
![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/fd/T--St_Andrews--pufferfish.png)

---

##### Our Sponsors

---

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/e/ec/T--St_Andrews--wellcome.png)](https://wellcome.ac.uk/)
[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/3/3d/T--St_Andrews--benchling.png)](https://www.benchling.com/)
[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/2/20/T--St_Andrews--SnapGene.png)](https://www.snapgene.com/)[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/55/T--St_Andrews--BBSRC.png)](https://bbsrc.ukri.org/)[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/f4/T--St_Andrews--EPSRC.png)](https://epsrc.ukri.org/)

---

##### University of St Andrews

---

School of Biology

School of Chemistry

School of Computer Science

School of Economics

School of Mathematics and Statistics

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/c/c4/T--St_Andrews--st_andrews.png)](https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/)

---

##### Shinescreen

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/8/8b/HQ_page_logo.jpg)](https://2020.igem.org)

# Team:St Andrews/Engineering

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/f7/T--St_Andrews--shinescreen_logo.svg)](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews)

* Project

  [Contribution](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Contribution)[Description](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Description)[Design](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Design)[Engineering](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Engineering)[Notebook](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Notebook)[Implementation](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Implementation)[Results](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Results)[Graphic Design](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Graphic_Design)
* Team

  [Team](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Team)[Attributions](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Attributions)[Collaborations](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Collaborations)[Partnership](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Partnership)
* [Modelling](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Model)
* Human Practices

  [Human Practices](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Human_Practices)[Sustainability](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Sustainable)
* Parts

  [Part Collection](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Part_Collection)[Parts](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Parts)[Improve](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Improve)
* [Entrepreneurship](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Entrepreneurship)
* [Safety](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Safety)
* [Judging Form](https://igem.org/2020_Judging_Form?id=3634)

Shinescreen: A Novel,Entirely Reef-Safe Probiotic Sunscreen.

# Engineering Success

---

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/b/b0/T--St_Andrews--background3.jpeg)

Honeycomb Grid Layout

* ![]()

  [Project](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Description)
* ![]()

  [Team](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Team)
* ![]()

  [Modelling](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Model)
* ![]()

  [Human Practices](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Human_Practices)
* ![]()

  [Parts](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Parts)
* ![]()

  [Entrepreneurship](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Entrepreneurship)
* ![]()

  [Safety](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Safety)

---

##### Email: igem@st-andrews.ac.uk

---

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/f7/T--St_Andrews--shinescreen_logo.svg)](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews)
![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/fd/T--St_Andrews--pufferfish.png)

---

##### Our Sponsors

---

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/e/ec/T--St_Andrews--wellcome.png)](https://wellcome.ac.uk/)
[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/3/3d/T--St_Andrews--benchling.png)](https://www.benchling.com/)
[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/2/20/T--St_Andrews--SnapGene.png)](https://www.snapgene.com/)[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/55/T--St_Andrews--BBSRC.png)](https://bbsrc.ukri.org/)[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/f4/T--St_Andrews--EPSRC.png)](https://epsrc.ukri.org/)

---

##### University of St Andrews

---

School of Biology

School of Chemistry

School of Computer Science

School of Economics

School of Mathematics and Statistics

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/c/c4/T--St_Andrews--st_andrews.png)](https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/)

---

##### Shinescreen

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/8/8b/HQ_page_logo.jpg)](https://2020.igem.org)

# Team:St Andrews/Experiments

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/8/8b/HQ_page_logo.jpg)](https://2020.igem.org)

# Team:St Andrews/Results

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/f7/T--St_Andrews--shinescreen_logo.svg)](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews)

* Project

  [Contribution](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Contribution)[Description](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Description)[Design](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Design)[Engineering](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Engineering)[Notebook](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Notebook)[Implementation](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Implementation)[Results](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Results)[Graphic Design](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Graphic_Design)
* Team

  [Team](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Team)[Attributions](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Attributions)[Collaborations](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Collaborations)[Partnership](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Partnership)
* [Modelling](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Model)
* Human Practices

  [Human Practices](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Human_Practices)[Sustainability](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Sustainable)
* Parts

  [Part Collection](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Part_Collection)[Parts](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Parts)[Improve](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Improve)
* [Entrepreneurship](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Entrepreneurship)
* [Safety](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Safety)
* [Judging Form](https://igem.org/2020_Judging_Form?id=3634)

Shinescreen: A Novel,Entirely Reef-Safe Probiotic Sunscreen.

# Results

---

# **HUMAN PRACTICES**

## **Stakeholder Interviews**

Through the course of our project, we made sure to meet with an abundance of stakeholders, experts, and the
public. We wanted to make sure our scientific developments closely aligned with the needs of experts, latest
science, and trends in the sunscreen market.

Results and Findings:

* Identified possible risks of the release of E. coli into the environment, during the meetings with Dr Nicola
  Allison and Prof Leslie Firbank
* Invited Prof Firbank as one of the panellists of the Synthetic Biology Forum
* The meeting with Dr Hennige and Dr Tagliati informed us on the existence of other chemicals, in addition to
  UV filters, which are harmful to marine life
* Idea of gene circuit optimisation – suggestion of Dr Helder Ferreira
* Discovered the possible benefit of permanent integration of bacteria in the interview
  with a Professor in Dermatology
* Gained insight into the industry by the interview with Cornelia Schürch and Louisa Laing

Discussion:

The stakeholder meetings had valuable impact throughout the full length of the project. The recommendations of
the stakeholders were widely integrated in our modelling of the gene circuit as they encouraged us to design a
killswitch, which minimises any potential risks for the environment, and to create a complex
evolutionary-mutation model. Following the Dr Ferreira suggestion, we optimised the gene circuit to increase the
efficiency of expression. The meeting with Dr Tagliati encouraged our team to develop the Coralware app, which
unlike the existing apps is focused on environmental impact. The meetings with Professor in Dermatology, Lousa Liang and
Cornelia Schürch had significant impact on the future perspective of the project.

## **Twitter Sentiment**

The aims of the Twitter sentiment analysis were the assessment of most recent prevailing opinion towards GMO and
identification of the words GMO is associated with. The analysis was conducted with a perspective of
implementation in market research, education and outreach of the project, as well as, serving as an up-to-date
source of information regarding the impression of GMO in the society.

Results and Findings:

* Basic Data Analysis identified top 10 most liked and most retweeted tweets – two dominant topics – global
  nutrition (negative sentiments toward GMO) and scientific discoveries (positive sentiment towards GMO).
* Method 1 showed the mean (0.03977) and the median (0.008657) of the score, calculated by the first method,
  when rounded to the integer value were equal to 0.
* Method 2 showed higher percentage of positive sentiments (24.15%) compared to the negative (15.21%).
* Method 3 produced wordclouds and tables with the most frequent words, contributing to the second aim.

Discussion:

The two aims were successfully achieved. Regarding the impression of GMO the three methods showed similar results
of the prevalence of neutral sentiments towards GMO. The findings about GMO associated topics were widely
integrated in the entrepreneurial aspect and human practices. Therefore, scientific significance was added as
another possible focus of advertisement of the potential product. This information supplemented the
recommendation of one of our stakeholders – Louisa Lang, that the emphasis of the sunscreen should not be on
GMO, but on the environmentally-friendly aspect. Besides, in many tweets the adjective ‘natural’ was used as
opposite to GMO and in such tweets the former was believed to be better. Therefore, we regarded this as an
evidence of the meaning of the term GMO being unclear for some people and related this information to the
reports from the synthetic biology forum we organised, as well as, the survey results.

## **Survey**

The survey served to collect information about people’s perceptions of a potential new probiotic sunscreen which
is genetically engineered and contains live harmless bacteria. The initial concept of the survey in terms of
comparing responses from different locations was altered due to insufficient data but the final results were
still very valuable. The version of the survey was different in China due to the change in the platformed used
and the results were analysed separately.

Results and Findings:

* High level of environmental awareness within the participants was demonstrated
* 83.58% of the people said they use sunscreen while being at the beach; 69.57% in China
* Controversial opinion about GMO safety
* Consistency and price most important when buying sunscreen; Type and Brand in China
* Half of the participants were positive towards the use of our potentil sunscreen but expressed safety
  concerns

Discussion:

The results provided information on the variety of the demands of the market in different locations which could
be used in the market research and confirmed the importance of killswitch incorporation in the design of the
gene circuit.

## **Forum**

At the end of August 2020 our team hosted an online Synthetic Biology Forum on the provocative topic “Will GMOs
shape the future of humanity”. Five experts from different realms of science discussed this topic and lots of
other questions related to their individual research, synthetic biology and iGEM.

Achievements:

* More than 2300 reached viewers on social media
* Gathered scientists from different fields
* Raised awareness towards synthetic biology and genetically modified organisms
* High level of engagement of the participants in the Zoom meeting

Results and Findings:

* 90 % of the participants said they were more interested in GMO after the forum compared to before
* 50% of the participants said they would use GMO as cosmetics or therapeutics, while the rest 50% said it
  depended on the case

Discussion:

The Synthetic Biology Forum had great success and the topic attracted the attention of the public to synthetic
biology. The results of the feedback survey showed that the participants enjoyed the interactive event and it
did influence their knowledge and opinion towards GMO. Moreover, we collected more information on the relation
between informational scientific events and change in the opinion of potential customers, which was then
implemented in the business potential strategies for the future of the product.

## **Coralware App**

Achievements:

* App software development

Results and Findings:

* Current apps do not give enough details regarding environmental impact of the cosmetics ingredients
* Creation of a database of common sunscreen ingredients
* Classification of the chemicals contained in cosmetics according to their toxicity

Discussion:

The Coralware app was inspired by one of our stakeholders Dr Tagliati and it was another way of raising
awareness of current research on ecotoxicity and allowing the potential customers to make their own decisions
based on clear, nonbiased information.

## **Education**

Achievements:

* Creation of lab-based video of the simplified process of soil sample analysis and the biological principles
  behind it

Discussion:

Developed understanding among primary school students of the complex processes involved in the soil analysis. In
addition, we hope we contributed to increasing the interest of students in Biology.

# **COLLABORATION**

Collaboration with other teams was an essential part of the human practices. Our team hosted the UK iGEM teams
meet-up and collaborated with teams from China, Australia and the UK. With the Manchester and Hainan team we
worked together extensively, which resulted in a mutually beneficial partnership.

## **Collaboration**

Achievements:

* All UK iGEM teams joined the meet-up with the overall number of participants 65
* Hosted a workshop at Paris meetup due to collaboration with Bettencourt

Results and Findings:

* Recruitment of larger number of participants in the survey
* Learning more on coral conservation on the Symposium, organised by the UNSW team

## **Partnerships with the Manchester and Hainan teams**

Achievements:

* Conduct several stakeholder interviews with Manchester
* Able to meet with a dermatologist and Mewburn Ellis patent attorneys at Manchester's invitation
* Received a certificate for participation in Market Research Seminar by the Manchester team

Results and Findings:

* Additional data about public opinion from the surveys of the Manchester team
* Safety assessment of the potential ingredients of ‘Shinescreen’ in the wetlab of Hainan team – no
  ingredients were found to be toxic

Discussion:

The UK iGEM teams meet-up was of a great importance for the further collaboration between the teams. We met the
Manchester team and led many aspects of the human practices campaign together which made us work more
efficiently and reach stakeholders that we would not be able to discover alone. The other long-term
collaboration which turned out into a partnership was with the Hainan team. The wetlab experiment of Hainan
served as a starting point in the creation preliminary list of environmentally friendly ingredients for our
sunscreen.

# **ENTREPRENEURIAL**

We have conducted a series of stakeholder interviews to explore our busines responsibilities, conducted market
research, consulted with several IP experts to explore patenting, and successfully pitched our idea. Currently,
we are at a stage where we are making a business development plan are in the process of setting up a company.

Achievements:

* Made useful connections for future business opportunities with IP lawyers, the St Andrews technology
  transfer centre, researchers, medical experts, and companies in the sunscreen industry.
* Won the St Andrews Enterprise week Pitch event with our business proposition. Won £980 to cover our lab
  costs in phase II.
* Conducted market and SWOT analyses for our unique value proposition based on direct and indirect market
  research
* Gained extensive knowledge on intellectual property protection.

Results and Findings:

* Found a unique market opportunity and value proposition for our sunscreen
* Found unmet consumer demands which Shinescreen could meet in different regions across the globe
* Discovered consumer hesitations about our product due to its GMO properties

Discussion:

Overall, we developed a more cohesive understanding of the Suncare market and the unique position our product
could fill in this market. Our human practices greatly influenced our entrepreneurship during our project, and
the market opportunities we found through our entrepreneurial work can influence the direction we pursue with
our phase II wetlab work.

# **MODELLING**

## **Gene circuit and Biosafety**

To pursue the prospect of ‘Shinescreen’, The St Andrews iGEM Team of 2020 has harnessed a failproof dual plasmid
circuit design, consisting of two components. The first component is called ‘shinogen’ and is responsible for
the synthesis of shinorine. In terms of biosafety in order to study the evolutionary stability of the
killswitch, we devised an evolutionary mutation algorithm we called the ‘Genetic Algorithm’ to test the
resistance of the second component thanogen specifically to point mutations across n generations.

Achievements:

* Failproof dual plasmid gene circuit deign

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/d/d5/T--St_Andrews--Results_1.png)

*Figure 1. Finalised Gene Circuit*

* Maximising ‘shinogen’ efficiency by knockout of pentose phosphate pathway genes and codon optimisation of
  pre-existing non-native parts by IDT codon optimisation tool
* Creating killswitch mechanism – ‘thanogen’, Incorporation of UV sensing system and glucose regulatory
  activation
* Optimisation of BioBrick RFC [10] and [1000] by in-silico site-directed mutagenesis
* Added information on existing parts in the Standard Biological Parts Registry based on literature review

Results and Findings:

* The ccdAB operator/promoter (BBa\_K3634013) was predicted to have 5 binding sites for ccdA2 controlling
  expression of Lon protease, later replaced by mf-Lon as Lon protease is already native to E. coli
* Predicted that an RBS existed after the ccdAB promoter region
* Fully neutralise leaky protein expression of mf-Lon protease by additional weak RBS
* All constructs of the plasmid after digestion with the selected endonucleases were found *in silico* to
  have been suitably fragmented to prevent HGT of active parts:

![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/fb/T--St_Andrews--Results_2.png)

*Figure 2. Molecular weights of pSB3E1-AN (lanes 1,2,3,4), undigested (lane1), digested with R.CviJI (lane2), RFC[10] illegal endonucleases (lane3) and RFC[1000] illegal endonucleases (lane4). Molecular weights of pSB3B1-DOPH (lanes 6,7,8,9), undigested*

* Showed that thanogen which is more resistant to evolutionary drift with transient point mutations in one of
  the single toxin/antitoxin non-functionalising the killswitch than the just a ccdA/ccdB system alone.
* The present thanogen showed greatest sensitivity in the ccdA-ccdB binding and protease activity, likely on
  account of the higher likelihood of mutations occurring within the CDS, which comprise the longest number of
  nucleotides
* The design of the killswitch ensures that the default state of the cell is cell death: dysfunction in
  protease, ccdB and endonuclease must arise before cell stasis/death occur but most drift resulted in a
  compromise to cell life.

Discussion:

Through human practices activities, it became clear that the biosafety of our product was a key concern. Escape
into the marine environment or permanent integration into the skin microbiome are the two considerable
possibilities that we wish to avoid, both in terms of escape of the bacteria themselves or escape of the genes
in our circuit by horizontal transfer. We decided on a two-plasmid design, splitting the shinorine producing
genes between both plasmids. We also split the components of the kill switch between the plasmids in such a way
that loss of one plasmid results in cell death. This minimises the risk of our genes being horizontally
transferred into the native microflora, as uptake of either plasmid without the other will be detrimental.

By updating the description of pre-existing parts we would facilitate future users to have better understanding
of the system. We have also contributed to the second phase of the project in 2021, where the dual plasmid
design would be implemented.

The modular nature of our gene circuit will allow future transfer of components such as the kill switch and
elements of the shinogen to different probiotic cosmetics and therapeutic products. In-vitro testing in 2021
will assess and inform the modelling assumptions made this year and allow for promoter and RBS optimisation to
maximise the efficiency of our genetic system.

## **Macroscopic Modelling**

In order to investigate the behaviour of our chassis organism once applied on the skin we worked on macromodelling.

Achievements:

* Creation of ‘Macroscopic Skin Model’ – spatio-temporal model which determines how several relevant macroscopic variables evolve on the skin after application

Honeycomb Grid Layout

* ![]()

  [Project](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Description)
* ![]()

  [Team](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Team)
* ![]()

  [Modelling](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Model)
* ![]()

  [Human Practices](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Human_Practices)
* ![]()

  [Parts](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Parts)
* ![]()

  [Entrepreneurship](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Entrepreneurship)
* ![]()

  [Safety](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews/Safety)

---

##### Email: igem@st-andrews.ac.uk

---

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/f7/T--St_Andrews--shinescreen_logo.svg)](https://2020.igem.org/Team%3ASt_Andrews)
![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/fd/T--St_Andrews--pufferfish.png)

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##### Our Sponsors

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[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/e/ec/T--St_Andrews--wellcome.png)](https://wellcome.ac.uk/)
[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/3/3d/T--St_Andrews--benchling.png)](https://www.benchling.com/)
[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/2/20/T--St_Andrews--SnapGene.png)](https://www.snapgene.com/)[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/5/55/T--St_Andrews--BBSRC.png)](https://bbsrc.ukri.org/)[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/f/f4/T--St_Andrews--EPSRC.png)](https://epsrc.ukri.org/)

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##### University of St Andrews

---

School of Biology

School of Chemistry

School of Computer Science

School of Economics

School of Mathematics and Statistics

[![](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2020/c/c4/T--St_Andrews--st_andrews.png)](https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/)

---

##### Shinescreen