Team:Hamilton McMaster/blog/2015-08-17
A Fledgling's Guide to Syn Bio
Welcome to the mGEM blog! My name is Fei Fei (pronounced Fay or [fej]), and this post marks the very beginning of our new blog series. As a first year student joining iGEM for the first time, I find myself amazed at how much I’ve learned this past school year. 2015 is also the first year that McMaster has officially entered a team into the iGEM competition, and what better way to commemorate such a great first year than to share what we’ve learned with all of you?
Thus commences this blog series: A Fledgling’s Guide to Syn Bio. The series will have around 15 entries, updated weekly and written by me and fellow first year mGEM student Max. The premise of each entry will be a synthetic biology or microbiology lab procedure involved in the construction of recombinant DNA and genetically modified bacteria, from the perspective of a first year science student with minimal lab experience. Throughout the next couple of months Max and I will share the notes and lab tips that helped us survive (and avoid panic!) when we were delegated tasks in our lab. We hope this series will give you insight into what it’s like to be a part of our team, help you learn the basics of synbio lab procedures, and allow us continue our learning with your advice and feedback! Please feel free to start a conversation in the comments, or give us your thoughts directly by contacting meor Maxthrough our emails.
Finally, this blog assumes knowledge on the basics of the theory behind synbio, cloning, and making recombinant DNA, and will focus on explanations of lab procedures only. We will use pictures and lab data from mGEM as examples to help you better understand the protocols. Please check back next week for our first official post on basic lab prep. If you’re the curious impatient type, fear not! We’ve included a flow chart below outlining the lab procedures we will be covering in this series.
