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Vitamin D deficiency affected more than 15% of the worldwide population from 2000 to 2022. Last year a team of WRA students proposed a CRISPR-based knockout method to produce vitamin D in Bell Peppers emulating a similar study done in tomatoes, which belong to the same Solanaceae family. Our team now has focused on the experimentation of the mentioned methods. We began by extracting the plasmid pHEE401E from the E. coli bacteria through the Qiagen plasmid minipreP. Our team also designed the gRNA targeting the 7-DR2 gene of bell peppers. Using Golden-gate cloning, the gRNA sequence is inserted into the pHEE401E plasmid. Three different bell pepper cultivars are used and grown in the lab to determine the vitamin D level before the CRISPR knockout experiment. Finally, a Vitamin D ELISA kit is used to quantify  vitamin D levels in the fruit of bell peppers.

Nature’s Dose of Sunshine: Engineering Vitamin D in Peppers

School

Western Reserve Academy
Hudson, OH

BioBuilderClub Season

2023-2024 Season

Category

Resources

BBC LT_Pepper Alchemist_Western Reserve Academy_2024

BBC Poster_Pepper Alchemist_Western Reserve Academy_2024

BBC Abstract_Pepper Alchemist_Western Reserve Academy_2024

BioTreks WRA Pepper Alchemists 2024