Design of a gene gun
Scientific progress in biological science has brought about the emergence of genetic engineering. With the rising popularity of genetics in this technological era, the use of gene gun has become increasingly important. The gene gun provides a delivery method of introducing new genetic material in...
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| Format: | Final Year Project |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2009
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10356/16239 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Scientific progress in biological science has brought about the emergence of genetic
engineering. With the rising popularity of genetics in this technological era, the use
of gene gun has become increasingly important. The gene gun provides a delivery
method of introducing new genetic material into cells.
In this project, a design optimization study for a gene gun design was carried out by
integrating the gene gun simulation model with optimization algorithm. Before
carrying out design optimization, the mathematical model of the gene gun was first
studied in detail to understand its working concept, the simulation process and
most importantly, the mathematical concept used for the program simulation.
During the simulation, the range of the gene gun parameters was determined after
several numerical trials. This was to ensure that the parameters in analysis fall
within the geometrical constraints of the gene gun. The results of the parametric
study were plotted and the effects of the various design parameters on the gene
gun performance were then studied. From the study of the parameters, the length
of Chamber A, L3, length of Chamber B, L5, diameter of piston rod, D3 and diameter
of Chamber A and B, D4 were found to have the most significant effect on the
performance of the gene gun.
Thereafter, these selected significant variables were integrated into the
optimization program so that optimization search for the optimal pellet velocity,
Vpellet could be done. The results of the optimization show that the final pellet
velocity is about 260mm/s after several optimization searches. This value is 1.6
times more than the initial pellet velocity, indicating that the performance of the
gene gun had improved.
It is evident from the findings that the use of gene gun simulation model together
with the optimization algorithm allows the proper selection of design parameters to
achieve an overall optimum performance of a gene gun. |
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