Class

Article

College

College of Engineering

Department

English Department

Faculty Mentor

Justin Jones

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Abstract

When under attack the noble hagfish produces a protective slime that rapidly expands in water to clog the gills of their attacker. The protein threads that hold the slime together caught the eye of Dr. Jones’ Lab here at USU.These proteins, alpha and gamma, have properties very similar to spider silk making them a material of interest to the US Navy. While the Jones lab has already genetically engineered a strain of E. coli to produce these filament proteins the process has not been optimized. This group plans to increase protein production by 20% (from 8 g/L to 9.6 g/L) by optimizing the production process. This will reduce cost significantly for the US Navy and the Jones Lab.

Location

Logan, UT

Start Date

4-7-2022 12:00 AM

Included in

Engineering Commons

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Apr 7th, 12:00 AM

The Good From the Ugly: Fermentation Optimization for Hagfish Protein Production

Logan, UT

When under attack the noble hagfish produces a protective slime that rapidly expands in water to clog the gills of their attacker. The protein threads that hold the slime together caught the eye of Dr. Jones’ Lab here at USU.These proteins, alpha and gamma, have properties very similar to spider silk making them a material of interest to the US Navy. While the Jones lab has already genetically engineered a strain of E. coli to produce these filament proteins the process has not been optimized. This group plans to increase protein production by 20% (from 8 g/L to 9.6 g/L) by optimizing the production process. This will reduce cost significantly for the US Navy and the Jones Lab.