Team:TrinityCollegeDublin/Conclusions
Conclusions
iGEM was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for all of us in Trinity College Dublin's first ever team. While there were many difficulties, hardships and set-backs along the way it was all worth the effort in the end. Almost the entire team went into the project with no lab experience except for a few practical sessions assigned as part of course curriculum. Over the course of the summer, that situation was more than remedied. All gained an immense amount of practice in essential molecular genetics techniques and got an early inside look into the day-to-day operation of a research lab. We collaborated with our supervisors and other academics such as Chris Paddon and the non-profit Zagaya in order to contribute in the fight against malaria. We designed and constructed a plasmid to perform a function we desired: to introduce an alternative pathway for the synthesis of precursors to the antimalarial drug artemisinin. Not only so, we succeeded in verifying the activity of one of our essential constructs through a specifically tailored assay involving GC/MS.
Thorough reviews and research into the human practices regarding the various aspects of malaria and how it affects people were conducted. A digital project was conceived and executed - iGEM Academy - a means to bring all iGEM resources on YouTube together into one place, so that new teams like ourselves and established teams alike can easily find what they are looking for. We engaged with the general public and ran a tutorial for young children to spark their interest in science. In the collaborative spirit of iGEM, we also engaged with other teams such as Cork iGEM and helped verify parts from their project.
The iGEM competition was a taste of independence for us. There was no curriculum to follow and no exercise agendas to fulfill (and no angry lecturers to motivate us) - there was only our own desire for science. We look forward to the future, each one knowing that who we are today is the result of our own individual journeys through life and that iGEM will forever be part of that journey for all of us.
Thorough reviews and research into the human practices regarding the various aspects of malaria and how it affects people were conducted. A digital project was conceived and executed - iGEM Academy - a means to bring all iGEM resources on YouTube together into one place, so that new teams like ourselves and established teams alike can easily find what they are looking for. We engaged with the general public and ran a tutorial for young children to spark their interest in science. In the collaborative spirit of iGEM, we also engaged with other teams such as Cork iGEM and helped verify parts from their project.
The iGEM competition was a taste of independence for us. There was no curriculum to follow and no exercise agendas to fulfill (and no angry lecturers to motivate us) - there was only our own desire for science. We look forward to the future, each one knowing that who we are today is the result of our own individual journeys through life and that iGEM will forever be part of that journey for all of us.