Team:York/Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We have received advice and guidance throughout the competition, from a number of people. Without their support, our project would not have been possible. We would particularly like to thank the following people:

University of York

  • Our supervisors, Dr James Chong, Dr Gavin Thomas, Dr Alison Parkin and Professor Maggie Smith, who were invaluable to our project. They dedicated a significant amount of their time to help us, offering their expertise and experience in synthetic biology. They guided us on the feasibility of our project, contributed ideas, helped us to obtain all the materials we needed and supported us in obtaining sponsorships. They also gave input and feedback on our presentation.
  • Our advisors, Sophie Rugg, Rachael Evans, Henry Nicholls, Joseph Tresise, Erin Cullen and Robyn Whiting, who helped us troubleshoot many lab problems, providing much needed advice on various protocols. Special thanks go out to Sophie Rugg, as her guidance has proven invaluable. Our advisors also gave input and feedback on our presentation. In addition, they contributed considerably to the Outreach aspect of our project, including developing a YouTube video.
  • The Teaching Lab staff, Nicola Charlton, Dr Jen Dyson, Nikki Begg, Sam Farrell and Andrea Bowen, for providing the space, equipment and technical guidance for our lab work.
  • Dr Adrian Harrrison, for his help and allocation of financial support with the Outreach aspect of our project. He gave input and feedback on our promotional leaflets and involved us with University of York Open days and a University of York Outreach event with Fulford School.
  • Professor Norman Maitland and Dr Peter O’Toole, for their help with microscopy and flow cytometry. They provided expert advice and allowed us to use their equipment and reagents.
  • Dr Daniela Barilla, for providing us with various imaging reagents.
  • Dr Pedro Aguiar, for the time he has given in helping us develop a protocol for our NMR experiments, and for running the experiments with us.
  • Emma Rand, for her assistance with statistical analysis.
  • Dr Jamie Wood and Kazuki Iizuka for teaching us how to model our constructs.
  • Daniel Upton for his advice in developing our polyphosphate assay.
  • Phil Roberts (Graphic Design Officer), for producing our team banner.
  • The staff at Biology Supplies and Goods Services,Louise Lindgren, Andrew Collingwood and Martin Hardgrave, for their help in booking various travel arrangements, the Giant Jamboree registration and for managing our orders.

External Support

  • Dr Jay Keasling, Eva Pan and Richard Harris at the Joint BioEnergy Institute and University of California, Berkeley, for sending us the plasmids pBC9 and pBC29 from the E.coli parent strain CA38, and pKDM12 from the E.coli parent strain TOP10.
  • Anthony and Margaret Hammersley, the Churchwardens who allowed us to use St Helen’s Church, York, as a venue to carry out our ‘Strawberry DNA extraction’ Outreach event.
  • Maria Pickard, from Age UK York Day Clubs, who let us come to a Day Club in Clifton, to have a discussion on genetic engineering.
  • The Rev’d Dr David Efird, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, at the University of York. We joined his Christian discussion group to discuss the ethics of GM.
  • Lesley Rudolf, Year 3 Teacher at Badger Hill Primary School, for allowing us to hold our Outreach workshop with her Year 3 class.
  • Jayne Brotherton, President of the Sutton Women’s Institute, for allowing us to give a talk on 'The Ethics of Genetic Modification', and a discussion with the group, afterwards.
  • Thomas Sheldon-Baker at NYS Corporate, for booking our flights to the Giant Jamboree.

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