Team:UniGE-Geneva/Software

Unige iGEM 2019

Inspiration

The replacement of animal testing by alternative in vitro methods is now being encouraged by the World Health Organization and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, replacing animal models is a big challenge for laboratories because current in vitro cell cultures poorly reflect the physiological organization of tissues. This has led to low success rates for drugs because a high proportion (~98%) of those that appear efficacious in vitro do not succeed during in vivo trials. Therefore, we believe there is an urgent need to improve in vitro drug testing to better simulate the in vivo physiology of animal models.

Project

We would like to create a drug-testing toolbox that is capable of measuring the effects of multiple interdependent biological activities with physiological relevance. By mimicking physiological conditions that occur in vivo, our goal is to improve in vitro drug testing to reduce the reliance on animal experimentation, as well as increase the efficiency and accuracy of drug screening. For this aim, we will use novel cell co-culture formats, including cancer and hepatocyte cell lines. Importantly, our co-culture formats aim to improve upon several aspects of existing spheroid cultures.

Content

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Software

Best Software Tool Special Prize

Regardless of the topic, iGEM projects often create or adapt computational tools to move the project forward. Because they are born out of a direct practical need, these software tools (or new computational methods) can be surprisingly useful for other teams. Without necessarily being big or complex, they can make the crucial difference to a project's success. This award tries to find and honor such "nuggets" of computational work.

To compete for the Best Software Tool prize, please describe your work on this page and also fill out the description on the judging form.

To be eligible, your software has to be documented and made available under an OSI approved open source license. You must also delete the alert box on the top of this page to be eligible for this prize.

Inspiration

Here are a few examples from previous teams: