Welcome at our ineractive wikimap,
move to the different rooms to explore our wiki by useing the arrow keys.
The Team
This year, our team consists of 13 students who are dedicating their summer to work on the iGEM project. The numerous late night meetings organised from the beginning of the year 2015 were the perfect opportunity to create an optimal atmosphere to discuss the possible iGEM projects and to boost the team spirit. The team consist of students from 5 different faculties with different backgrounds, perspectives, nationalities and languages. The diversity of the team gives us strength and widens our horizons. We are all bounded by our enthusiasm for science and research and each of us possesses the courage to face big challenges. Additionally, we will be supported by previous iGEM’mers and employees from all levels of the KU Leuven University. The previous KU Leuven teams have set high standards to benchmark ourselves against. We will do our best to carry on this trend in the 2015 iGEM competition!
Explore our Lab
We constructed our plasmid in such matter that we can obtain quantitative information. Also we need to adjust our E. coli strain by knocking out genes. For some proteins, we need specific detection techniques for quantification. Each experimental step requires a theoretical background. This background, the protocols and the results of our experiments can be found in this subsection.
The power of Models
The fascinating properties of pattern creating bacteria may be translated into the language of mathematics. In this subsection we are investigating the equations behind the behaviour of the genetically modified organisms created in the wetlab. We do so using a layered approach. Colony level modeling employs partial differential equations to describe large cell groups which are treated as a continuum. Internal level models describe the interactions that happen within single cells. Finally the hybrid model merges the two approaches into a final description of our pattern forming cells.
Find out our history and timeline
Creating an iGEM project requires hard work in many fields. Obviously research in literature, simulations executed by the modeling team and practical work in the wet lab are necessary. We also want to pass our knowledge to future generations and iGEM teams. Therefore we develop a wiki, communicate our project in the media and teach primary and highschool students more about our project and synthetic biology in general. Above all, we want to organize an ethical debate because by discussion, you get a deeper insight in different opinions. To realise all this in a structured manner, we need a cooperation between all team members and subteams. We want to keep you up to date by sharing our journal and timeline.
Outreach
Our goal is to teach a broad range public more about synthetic biology and our project. Therefore we will visit primary and secondary schools and play educational games. We also want to reach people by using social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Here we also refer to our wiki for more detailed information. We like to discuss our project with other iGEM teams and help other teams by organising meetings and a symposium. In this section, we also take up ethics and safety.
The Project
Patterns are fascinating, from the veins of a leaf to the spots on a zebra, from a single cell to a whole organism. Patterns are found everywhere in nature, but how these are formed is not entirely clear. We, the KU Leuven 2015 iGEM team, decided to work on the fundamental mechanisms behind pattern formation using bacterial cells. The way cells interact to generate a specific pattern has triggered our curiosity and added a new dimension to the way the patterns are looked upon. Our mission is to create different and astonishing biological patterns with engineered bacteria for a better understanding of nature with the prospect of applying the knowledge in industry.
Advisors
We would like to extend our gratitude to our mentors, Katarzyna Malczewska(Kasia- as we fondly call her) and Prof. Johan Robben. From the very beginning Prof. Johan has always been ready to help solve complex issues, share his scientific expertise or direct us to the right person who can help us find the solutions. We could have never imagined someone who can be better than Kasia to be our supervisor. Be it a scientific question or a silly doubt, advice or administration, hot cup of coffee or handy tips, to the sea or to the store or a funny story, she is always ready for all our endeavours. We would fail in our duty if we forget to mention our advisors who have helped during various stages of our project, with special mentions to Oscar Torres, for helping with the gene knock outs, Veerle De Wever, for sharing all her past experiences and all the ex-iGEM’mers, for attending our pizza meetings and giving their valuable opinions.
Symposium
We want to meet up with other iGEM teams to discuss and help each other. Also we organised a symposium open for different iGEM teams. Read more