Team:LaVerne-Leos/Collaborations

Team:LaVerne-Leos 2015.igem.org





For this year's competition we collaborated with Stanford-Brown, Yale University, and Santa Clara University. For all of the schools we completed surveys that they were distributing.


Stanford-Brown iGEM:


The Stanford-Brown iGEM team was looking into bacterial transformations. Their survey involved having us answer questions regarding our transformation efficiency, and the problems that occurred over the summer. By working with them to complete the survey we are helping Stanford-Brown create a novel method of transformations. If their transformation protocol indeed increases efficiency, then their technique will help future iGEM teams save time and allow them to get further into their projects over the course of the summer.



Yale iGEM:

The main chassis for iGEM tends to be E.Coli, as well as S. Cerevisiae for the eukaryote model. As iGEM continues to expand, more and more teams are beginning to use non-model strains in their work. Both Yale and our team were using non-model strains during this summer. Our work revolved around cyanobacteria, as did Yale's. By working with them to complete their survey, they are building a catalog to help future iGEMers be able to have more materials going into a summer with a non-model organism. Expanding the catalogs available will give more opportunity for iGEM teams to have novel ideas in new organisms that may have desirable characteristics.



Santa Clara iGEM:

Santa Clara University's iGEM team focused on a survey outside of the lab. They were getting in contact with teams to see if they were able to use their school's resources, or off campus resources, to help complete their project. We worked with a few departments on campus to help our project get off the ground, and so sharing our experiences can help guide other iGEM teams. Every iGEM team should have some sort of outside resource to help them compete their project, whether it involves math modeling or website design. Without the help of others to build the project many problems will arise, and we believe Santa Clara University is doing their best to showcase the benefits of using outside resources during the summer.