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Revision as of 10:53, 3 September 2015
Birkbeck iGEM
The Owligos are the first-ever team entered into the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition by Birkbeck, University of London. We’re a varied group of students who reflect the diversity and unique character of our institution: many of us have chosen science as a second career, having already spent some time in full-time work. For most of us, this has meant making our way through a degree while continuing to work full-time. Hopefully this kind of dedication will help us successfully navigate our way through our iGEM project.
Project Aim
Our project aims to create a new diagnostic solution that will be low-tech and cost-effective enough to allow its usage in deprived and remote communities. We’re attempting to engineer a bacteriophage lambda chassis to change its host affinity, while simultaneously adding a marker that will facilitate easy detection of a target bacterial pathogen in patient samples.
To demonstrate this approach as a proof of concept for the competition, we plan to change this affinity between different strains of E.coli; however, ultimately we hope to demonstrate that this principle could also be applied to alter the phage’s host range to other bacterial species. We could then provide a modular system capable of diagnosing a range of diseases. Of course, we haven’t chosen a simple goal. But as Birkbeck pioneers, we are determined to prove ourselves by making our project a success. We can’t wait to present the results of our work at the Giant Jamboree in September!
Location: Birkbeck, University of London Malet Street London WC1E 7HX Contact us: |
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Tweets by @BBKiGEM |
Collaborations
Getting London teams ready for iGEM
This June University College London, Birkbeck and London Biohackspace attended a jointly organised iGEM boot camp featuring BioBrick making in the lab, presentations from key iGEM team advisors as well as Skype talks with iGEM Headquarters representatives, DIY spectrophotometers, wiki design and extra lab skills.
The DIY track group assembled a functional spectrophotometer at the London Biohackspace using 3D printed components, while the Software track group learnt the basic progrsmming required in developing the iGEM wiki and submitting BioBricks to the registry. Finally, the extra lab group received insights into the most efficient cutting edge cloning technologies relevant to iGEM work.
Publishing the Birkbeck iGEM experience
We gave our articles, written for the team diary and wiki, a greater lease of publicity by sharing them with Amoy iGEM for exposure via Newsletter.
Working on Technion iGEM BioBricks
Ongoing progress on Technion Israel iGEM parts from past competition that we are in the process of characterising and improving.
Reinforcing Interlab data
We’ve shared our Interlab findings with London teams and are exchanging parts in order to further study their expression in different laboratories, conditions and equipment. This will add additional layers of data, analysis and conclusions to our individual Interlab results.
Raising project awareness on YouTube
Our project-related, instructional and entertainment videos aim to engage the public in synthetic biology, safety and research impact. We provided these to iGEM Academy run by Trinity iGEM to enrich their content and spread the word about Birkbeck iGEM 2015 questing to tackle one of the current world healthcare problems using bacteriophages.
Hosting London teams for Catch-Up and Presentations
Following on from the Boot Camp, we organised a London-wide meetup for the 5 teams to practise presentations, receive feedback, discuss ideas and socialise!
Providing modelling and experimentation experience
Our findings on the discrepancy between modelled and experimental results were discussed by all team members in a lot of detail, and provided to Aalto-Helsinki iGEM to enable their further analysis. This will be invaluable for future iGEM projects and beyond.
Contributing to perception of universities taking part in iGEM
We teamed up with Tianjin iGEM to discuss the issue of participation of institutions in iGEM each year, and assess the factors that contribute most heavily to who can take part in the competition and how the results outcome influences investment and public relations for future teams.
Producing raw data for GM chewing gum degradation effort
Aix-Marseille iGEM have awarded us Gold for our effort in obtaining survey data from the public in London on chewing gum consumption, knowledge, degradation and GMO perception.
Getting competitive in “So you think you can synthesise?”
Our instructional videos on transformation entered the YouTube competition designed by Macquarie-Sydney Australia iGEM where we are currently running in Round 3!
Contributing our perception of fracking for CU Boulder iGEM
BBK iGEM team members answered questions about fracking and alternative energy in an effort to investigate our perceptions of these very current and controversial topics that may benefit immensely from synthetic biology. Here are some blunder clips!
Double-checking Safety with iGEM Paris Saclay
By providing details of our project chassis, the safety issues we anticipated and the methods we used to ensure proper containment, we contributed to the community experience and knowledge base that will safeguard iGEM projects and iGEMers for years to come, fostering a sound approach to lab work and treating GMO with due caution.