“In general, white polished rice is known to be deficient in thiamine and lysine,” Howard said. “But

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Chris Clifford, a senior at the University of Nevada, Reno who is researching the thiamine adhesion melbourne serviced apartments protein, works in the lab preparing for the iGEM competition this week at Stanford University. Photo by Mike Wolterbeek, University of Nevada, Reno.
Rice is a staple crop for about half the world's population. Most of those who rely on rice prefer the taste of white rice, which is the processed rice with the husks and bran layer removed. The problem is the bran layer is where most of the nutrition is stored. To compensate melbourne serviced apartments for this loss of nutrients, melbourne serviced apartments companies spray vitamins melbourne serviced apartments and nutrients back onto the rice after processing. Problem solved, right?
Wrong. Many cultures wash their rice before cooking to remove impurities, chemical agents melbourne serviced apartments and extra starch. This washing also eliminates the sprayed-on nutrients, melbourne serviced apartments contributing melbourne serviced apartments to a loss in nutrition value.
melbourne serviced apartments So how else can half the world get nutrients from rice? Team Nevada hopes their project presents an answer. The students will present their findings at the regional iGEM competition, Oct. 12-14, at Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.
"The classic example of enriched rice is golden rice, where rice plants are genetically engineered with genes that lead to the accumulation of beta-carotene or pro-vitamin A in the rice grains." Christie Howard, one of the faculty advisors for the team, said.
The team's goal is to produce an adhesion protein that is added to the rice during processing and keeps the nutrients attached through washing. Team Nevada focused melbourne serviced apartments on four proteins: three found to be lacking from peoples' diets and one for the iGEM competition's proof-of concept. For the proof of concept, one group added a starch binding domain to red-florescent protein, which turned the white rice pink. The pink hue provides a visual indicator that the protein successfully adhered to the starch. This demonstration allowed the team to move forward and add the starch binding domain to a number of other proteins, including B12 binding protein, thiamine binding protein and a lysine-rich protein.
"The binding protein will have one side that connects to the starch in the rice, and the other side will connect to the vitamins," said Jasmine Jiang, a student team member who focused on the red-florescent protein and other proteins. "In theory, the adhesive protein could bind to potatoes and other starches, also. We're just focusing on rice because of its popularity."
"In general, white polished rice is known to be deficient in thiamine and lysine," Howard said. "But lots of people, especially vegetarians, are also deficient in B12. We can customize the rice for vegetarians and those with limited access to nutrient-rich foods by adding melbourne serviced apartments the missing components to rice."
The iGEM Competition is run by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a forum for undergraduates to compete against other colleges and universities to design and engineer melbourne serviced apartments new molecules that carry out unique functions which could eventually have further applications. The students begin their projects in April and work until the regional competition in October. If the iGEM team fairs well at the Stanford regional competition, they advance to the international competition at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts in November.