Our story – founding iGEM Stockholm

Our journey started in January 2015, when 18 students from two universities and 12 countries banded together to combine biomedicine with bioengineering. Right from the start, we knew that if we combined the engineering of KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, with the biomedicine of the Karolinska Institute, we could do something truly unique. Since then, the power of diversity has been the core of our team.

We found four excellent supervisors, two from each university. At this point, we still had no lab and no money, and iGEM was still an unknown concept in Stockholm. We only knew that we wanted to work on the problem of detecting disease biomarkers at an early stage.

We started raising support. We met with university faculty, advisors, student union officials and company representatives. We pitched iGEM, synthetic biology and our project to students and professors. We held workshops at high schools and got in touch with media to raise awareness of synthetic biology outside academia. Our efforts paid off, and we managed to secure the registration fee from KI and a lab space and equipment from KTH. To bring the team to Boston we kept pitching to companies and university faculties over the summer and also started a fundraising campaign. Our project was also featured on the front page of Karolinska Institutets website!

After securing the lab and registration fee, we could finally start developing the project. In April, we decided to work with protein biomarkers and to use intrinsic bacterial signal cascades for signal amplification. We spent the rest of April and May meeting on evenings and weekends to research different possibilities. Throughout the summer, we adapted the scope to our results and kept evolving the project. Our hypotheses, experiments and parts are described on the rest of this wiki.

From early on we knew that we wanted to collaborate with other teams around the world. During the spring we got in touch with as many teams as we could. Our first partner teams were Uppsala, Aalto-Helsinki and Pasteur Paris. We organized a Nordic meet-up with Uppsala for 60 students from eight teams, iGEM chairman Randy Rettberg honored us by attending the conference. With Aalto-Helsinki and Pasteur Paris we have discussed the need for digital collaboration platforms for iGEM. Later we got in touch with even more teams. We designed a membrane protein Biobrick with BGU Israel, wrote for the Amoy newsletter, collaborated with Zurich on characterization, sent materials to Freiburg and gave modeling tutorials to CGU Taiwan. Getting to know these teams has been a pleasure and we are looking forward to meeting even more great teams in Boston!

iGEM Stockholm will be back next year. We've built an organization that will last, and the alumni of this year’s team are determined to make sure that next year’s team will take of with a running start. We have founded an association and have started planning how to headhunt project leaders that will carry the torch. Our year has been an amazing experience. Thanks to everyone that has made this possible!

Felix Richter

Studies Biomedicine M.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Felix

What are your plans after university?

Revolutionizing the world!^[REF]

Why did you join iGEM?

Same Same but Different! That is what iGEM can offer you… use the same parts but make something different. Who can’t resist?!

Let’s say you had to choose two celebrities to be your parents, who do you choose and why?

Helen Mirren, because she is incredible actress and incredibly British! And Andre Agassi, because he was one of the best tennis player in the world and he has quite a story to tell.

Katrine Horne Iversen

Studies Bioentrepreneurship M.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Katrine

What are your plans after university?

I have one year left on my master, but I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do after that. I love working with projects such as iGEM where you work on potential solutions for current and future problems and needs. I can imagine myself either working in a consulting company or potentially work in start-up/smaller companies within Life Science.

Why did you join iGem?

At my previous university, my class mates attended iGEM and it looked like a lot of fun as I like working in teams. I was surprised that Stockholm was not that active within the iGEM society. I think it is a great opportunity for me to use academic skills on a real-life case.

Your pet gains the ability to speak, what does he tell us about you?

Hmm, I actually have no idea, probably something like “I hate it when you rub my tummy”, or “give me more food”.

Naz Karadağ

Studies Biomedicine M.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Naz

What are your plans after university?

Considering a PhD but I’m not sure yet.

Why did you join iGEM?

It seemed like an interesting student initiative project. I wanted to help in a way.

Pick a song that describes your work ethic in the lab. Explain why:

Oops I did it again, because you always try to do your best, do everything exactly as the protocol says, yet somehow things might go wrong.

Utsa Karmakar

Studies Toxicology M.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Utsa

What are your plans after university?

I want to do PhD, that’s for sure. Eventually, it will end up in doing research and serving society as a medical doctor in parallel, I guess.

Why did you join iGEM?

While doing my medicine courses, I thought I would join research world as it seemed more interesting to me than just treating patients. That’s why I joined the toxicology master program. iGEM was a great opportunity to have close connection with the research world on synthetic biology and a nice way to spend the beautiful Swedish summer with new people. Not to forget about the giant Jamboree in Boston, USA.

What food item/meal describes your life, and why?

Vat, dal and aluvate (typical bengali style rice, lentil and spicy mashed potato). It might not sound mouth watering or interesting but if you are on luxurious meal for a week, you will crave this cheap, simple and healthy meal!

Radosław Góra

Studies Toxicology M.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Radek

What are your plans after university?

I would like to continue my career in the scientific field as a PhD student, though I’m still unsure whether it will be an experimental research or something more connected computational biology. For the moment I’m working with biostatistics and I’m keen to continue doing this further on.

Why did you join iGEM?

I thought it would be a great idea to join the team of passionate, ambitious and enthusiastic students who are eager to sacrifice their summertime to do collaborative work aiming for life improvement. Also, the opportunity to go to Boston and meet the teams coming from all over the world seemed very appealing.

Your pet gains the ability to speak, what does he tell us about you?

“I’m gonna look for some food cause I’m really hungry. I haven’t eaten for 10 minutes now… omg this lazy guy is still in his bed watching movies on youtube. Look at his room, underwear in every corner, open books thrown on the floor, dirty dishes still there… this guy should really invest in cleaning personnel if he’s incapable of doing such a basic stuff… I’m really hungry. Wake up…! He fell asleep again… is he in lethargy or what…the same story again. Let’s go and sit on his face, that’s the only thing that can help improve my hopeless situation with this lazy freak.”

Carmen Gallo Álvarez

Studies Bioentrepreneurship M.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Carmen

What are your plans after university?

I hope to come back to my country soonish (although I said that 5 years ago already), and work in the Biotech sector. I get quite amazed by the stuff that are done in the field of green Biotechnology so I will probably try and make some company in the field believe that “amazed people” are good assets to have!

Why did you join iGEM?

Winter days in Stockholm are looooong and dark, you need to look for things that keep you inside and warm…I knew some bacteria had to be incubated at 37º which is quite a standard temperature in Spain, so I decided to give it a chance and feel like at home every time I am near the incubator! …And I actually do really hope to be some-little-how contributing to the scientific world :)

The zombie apocolypse breaks out-where do you go first?

Let me quickly see the Mediterranean Sea once more, and once my friends and I get infected I assume we will not be allowed in the labs anymore, so we can spend some solid amount of time seeing the rest of the world!

Manon Ricard

Studies Biomedicine B.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Manon

What are your plans after university?

I am only in the first year of my bachelor and therefore still have a lot of time to figure out what I would like to do after. Nevertheless, I would for sure pursue a master degree in the either Biomedicine or Bioentrepreneurship.

Why did you join iGEM?

I discovered iGEM when looking at prospective universities, some of which had an iGEM team. I have to say, I was a bit surprise to discover that KI nor any university in Stockholm had not participated into this very cool competition. When I heard that a team was going to be built up here, I jumped on the occasion !

If you could ride a dinosaur into battle, what kind would it be and why?

It would be a Ceratopsian. Because not only the horns of its face would look badass but they would also help me fight the enemy.

Linnea Österberg

Studies Medical Biotechnology M.Sc at KTH Royal Institute of Technology

+ Three questions to Linnea

What are your plans after university?

No idea, but after iGEM i will an awesome party with all amazing people I have worked with in iGEM!

Why did you join iGEM?

I got interested in synthetic biology during a course in gene technology. A few weeks later I came in contact with the Stockholm iGEM team and off course I applied!

What food item/meal describes your life, and why?

The spice/herb Perforate St John’s-wort would describe my life. It’s found indigenous in Europe but gan be grown in more temperate places of the world. (I like being on vacation). It is used as a antidepressant (I like having fun) and is traditionally used to fought off evil (doing iGEM cancer detection). And it’s a good spice for making Brännvin. (I like crayfish parties.)

Maximilian Karlander

Studies Biotechnology B.Sc at KTH Royal Institute of Technology

+ Three questions to Max

What are your plans after university?

To work with medical biotechnological applications, like detection or therapy of advanced diseases.

Why did you join iGEM?

As it is a fantastic opportunity to try working in a real biotechnological/synthetic biology project which actually focuses on my areas of interest. Also it is a great compliment to the, in comparison, rather awkward bachelors project we do at KTH. No offence against the projects themselves, but you only get that far with a purely theoretical project.

Your pet gains the ability to speak, what does he tell us about you?

Nothing until he gets his lawyer there, that’s for sure!

Pontus Höjer

Studies Medical Biotechnology M.Sc at KTH Royal Institute of Technology

+ Three questions to Pontus

What are your plans after university?

I am really looking forward to working with research in medical biotechnology. It will be nice to earn some actual money. Alternatively I will start a PhD if I can find anything that I am super excited about.

Why did you join iGEM?

For me it seemed like a valuable opportunity to get some hands-on experience in a life science project. Also I found it a great opportunity to get settled into the laboratory environment which will be useful later. I would like to add that after years of studying its nice to get somewhere and see the product of your own invested time. To have an opportunity to test you own ideas and work with other interested people is truly awesome.

There's a follow up movie to Sharknado, you know. What's your animal/natural disaster nightmare combo?

Porcupines + Tsunami = Porcunami

Hugo Tello

Studies Bioentrepreneurship M.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Hugo

What are your plans after university?

I’ll finish my master degree and I would go to work in research and product development.

Why did you join iGEM?

Being part of a team committed to solve current issues encouraged me join this project. Moreover, it has been delightful to work with people with such extraordinary skills and mindset.

There’s a follow up movie to Sharknado, you know. What’s your animal/natural disaster nightmare combo?

Cockroquake

Hugi Ásgeirsson

Studies Biotechnology M.Sc at KTH Royal Institute of Technology

+ Three questions to Hugi

What are your plans after university?

Long-term: Help to terraform Mars with biotechnology. Short-term: Hopefully a few programming projects I’ve wanted to get into. Also, finish my degree and get more into bioinformatics and data.

Why did you join iGEM?

I’ve wanted to join an iGEM team since 2009, and iGEM is actually the reason for why I decided on biotechnology in the first place. Since there has never been an iGEM team at KTH, I actually thought of starting one before I found this group.

If you could ride a dinosaur into battle, what kind would it be and why?

A quetzalcoatlus, because it’s spelling would greatly confuse my enemies, and because it’s a mindbogglingly enormous flying dinosaur with a 10-meter wingspan!

Shea Baxley

Studies Biomedicine B.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Shea

What are your plans after university?

To study until I’m 80. Or maybe at leasts a master’s and phD

Why did you join iGEM?

Because I really felt like I needed more lab experience. It became so much more than that afterwards though. It became like hanging out and having fun with some work on the side

Let’s say normal people and their talents are now considered super powers: what would be your superhero name?

Foot in mouth girl, because I have a real talent for saying the most inappropriate/offensive things at the worst times.

Sarah Wideman

Studies Biomedicine B.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Sarah

What are your plans after university?

I want to do biomedical research in different places all over the world!

Why did you join iGEM?

I joined iGEM because it seemed really interesting to be a part of a student driven project. I also liked the idea of getting to know the international iGEM community. Of course, for a Bachelor’s student the lab experience is also invaluable.

The zombie apocolypse breaks out-where do you go first?

My family has a cabin on a small island without any other inhabitants. I guess I would go there. It’s isolated and lot of my family members are hunters, so there’s lots of guns! Either that or just embrace the end of the world and go party.

Denise Strand

Studies Biomedicine B.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Denise

What are your plans after university?

In the future I hope to continue studying and do research within the biomedical field.

Why did you join iGEM?

When I first signed up for iGem, all I knew was that it’s a competition in synthetic biology. I wanted to work in a lab over the summer and didn’t think too much about it until we started planning for the actual project and it hit me that we were going to design this system on our own, and were free to do practically anything.

Pick a song that describes your work ethic in the lab. Explain why:

Gotta go with the ‘Still Alive’-theme song from Portal 2, because there’s no sense crying over every mistake, you just keep on trying ’til you run out of cake. And the science gets done so we can diagnose a lung from the read-out of our E.Coli

Karol Kugiejko

Studies Biomedicine M.Sc at Karolinska Institutet

+ Three questions to Karol

What are your plans after university?

In future I would like to be mostly focused on Stem Cells and Biomaterials in regard to their interplay in biological systems. Neverteless I am also interested in Cell Biology, Regenerative Medicine, Tissue Engineering and Neurobiology. I consider knowledge from this fields being a natural consequence of my fascination on Stem Cells. Therefore essential for my education and career. Nonetheless, I love Research in-between Biology and Engineering, I believe that in the world of Science elasticity and fast adaptation are the most important features. Therefore, I am trying to be a part of different projects and research fields if possible. In simple words, I think PhD or work for a company connected with my plans would be perfect.

Why did you join iGEM?

It seems to be really nice and interactive student initiative. I hoped to learn how to work in a new and challenging environment on something, which is totally new for me.

Pick a song that describes your work ethic in the lab. Explain why:

"Varsovie" by Brodka, because in Science you always discover something new, like you can discover Warsaw each time you visit this city. Moreover, the motto of Warsaw is "Semper Invicta" which means "Always Invincible", and you should always keep in mind not to give up in research.

Mona Hassan

Studies Biotechnology M.Sc at KTH Royal Institute of Technology

+ Three questions to Mona

What are your plans after university?

I am studying the master program medical biotechnology.

Why did you join iGEM?

I joined iGEM because of the amazing opportunity to get an insight in what it is like to be working as a scientist, to see the whole process from idea to the final product.

Pick a song that describes your work ethic in the lab. Explain why:

II would pick the song "You're the best" by Joe Esposito. It is about keep fighting no matter what, to take one day at a time and to never lose focus. At least that is what I aim for.

Axel Bergenstråle

Studies Chemistry M.Sc at Stockholm University

+ Three questions to Axel

What are your plans after university?

I'm becoming a Viking

Why did you join iGEM?

To get lab and planning experience.

Pick a song that describes your work ethic in the lab. Explain why:

"Every day is exactly the same" by NiN because it's always so much repetition in the lab.