UNews - Dr. Laura Keffer-Wilkes

Lethbridge iGEM teams hit the ground running

caroline.zentner — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 20:05:57 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machines) teams are once again demonstrating their innovative spirit.

The collegiate team is attempting an ambitious project inspired by the works of Banting and Best, the researchers who were the first to extract and administer insulin in 1922, later selling their patent to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Toronto for a dollar.

Magda Pop and Callista Rothwell (GeekStarter); iGEM team members Luke Saville, Sydnee Calhoun, Kristi Turton, Dia Michailidou-Koupantsis and Chris Isaac.

Now, almost a century later, diabetes mellitus affects approximately eight per cent of the global population and the price of insulin is soaring. The collegiate team aims to democratize insulin production as an oral alternative in recombinant microalgae. Their project designs have already been validated by GeekStarter, who awarded them $2,000 for demonstrating the think-design-test cycle for lean start-ups. Additionally, they were also one of 10 teams at iGEM to receive an Opentrons OT-2 Pipetting robot (value $10,000) that they will use to improve their measurement standards. They hope to continue their success throughout the season as they demonstrate their project’s value through various wet-lab experiments and participation in the 2019 iGEM Jamboree.

Shada Aborawi, Linda He, Mina Akbary-Zheng, Karen He, Aroma Pageni, Rebecca Avileli, Dewuni De Silva, Michelle Wu, Elisha Wong, David Basil, Thomas Byrne, Katie Vienneau, Mark Lea, Rachel Avileli, Natasha Woitte (missing Julien Todd, Alice Zhang & Andy Sun).

Meanwhile, the Lethbridge High School team presented its project as part of the GeekStarter 2019 High School Jamboree, hosted by Our Lady of the Snow Catholic Academy in Canmore. Teams from Lacombe, Fort McMurray, Calgary, Edmonton, and Canmore also competed. Team members Shada Aborawi, Rachel Avileli, Thomas Byrne, and Elisha Wong, all first year iGEM participants, made their team proud during the presentation. Judges agreed and awarded the Lethbridge team the Best Potential Impact award.

The high school iGEM team’s project will utilize synthetic biology to help fight the growing threat of antibiotic resistance. The team aims to develop a rapid diagnostic device to help identify bacterial pathogens, resulting in more specific antibiotic prescriptions. The team will also design a therapeutic that can be used against bacterial infections. More project information will be available in their forthcoming BioTrekspaper.

“I love the interdisciplinary aspect of iGEM,” says Linda He, a Chinook High School Grade 10 student. “I get to learn wet lab skills, coding skills, and marketing skills but I also get to talk to people in our community, experts in the field and work as a team.”

The team is made up of students from Winston Churchill High School, Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, Chinook High School and Catholic Central High School.

SynBridge hosts province-wide iGEM skills workshop

caroline.zentner — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:44:51 +0000

The 2019 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) season launched at the beginning of March with the annual geekStarter Wet Lab Skills workshop hosted by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s own SynBridge Maker Space.

The geekStarter Wet Lab Skills workshop gave high school students the opportunity to learn about techniques used in a synthetic biology lab.

Led by Dr. Laura Keffer-Wilkes (MSc '12, PhD '16), teams from Lethbridge, Canmore, Calgary and High River got to experience hands-on synthetic biology lab techniques. Concurrent seminars introduced teams to wiki coding, ethics in science and iGEM basics. Nicole Meurs, Science Facilities Manager, led the students on a tour of the new Science and Academic Building, which was a huge hit with participants.

“I’m really excited about the upcoming season and seeing all the enthusiasm from the students,” says Sydnee Calhoun, adviser for the Lethbridge High School team, who led sessions on scientific research, writing and an introduction to iGEM.

The teams will meet again in the spring and summer for additional iGEM events. In the meantime, the Lethbridge team is looking forward to working hard on their project. The Lethbridge high school team is comprised of students from Winston Churchill High School, Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, Chinook High School and Catholic Central High School.

You can review the 2018 projects and accomplishments of the university and high school teams on their wiki websites they have created. Also, follow the high school team’s progress on social media: @LethHS_iGEM and @lethbridgehsiGEM. The U of L team can be followed here: @LethbridgeiGEM and @LethbridgeiGEM.

Sponsors of the Lethbridge team include ARRTI, IDT, Bio Basic Inc, Eldorado RV, Dr. Dennis Connolly, Casa, Alberta Innovates, Mindfuel, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, geekStarter, SynBridge, Geneious, Agility and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students' Union.

ABOUT iGEM

iGEM, the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition, is the largest synthetic biology community and the premiere synthetic biology competition for both university and high school level students. iGEM inspires learning and innovation in synthetic biology through education, competition and by maintaining an open library of standard biological parts, the Registry of Standard Biological Parts.

Combining molecular biology techniques with engineering concepts, students work in interdisciplinary team to create novel biological systems. At the beginning of the competition season, each registered team is given a kit of 1000+ standard interchangeable parts called BioBricks from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. Working at their own schools, teams use these parts and new parts of their own design to build, test, and characterize genetically engineered systems and operate them in living cells in an effort to address real-world issues. Along with submitting their newly created BioBricks to the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, teams are required to actively consider the safety implications of their work and document their projects on team wiki pages. At the end of the competition season, teams converge at the Jamboree event to showcase their research. Teams present their work through posters and oral presentations, and compete for prizes and awards, such as the coveted BioBrick trophy.

For more information about iGEM, visit their website.

ABOUT SynBridge:

SynBridge Maker Space is part of the experiential learning ecosystem at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. Overseen and operated by the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI), SynBridge provides access to infrastructure that otherwise would not be available to interested students, graduates, post-doctorate researchers and faculty to explore their creativity and ideas. This one-of-a-kind facility is particularly important for nascent entrepreneurial bio-engineers and business-minded scientists, reducing the often insurmountable start-up costs. SynBridge also engages with our local community through support of iGEM teams and DIYBio groups.

For more information on SynBridge, visit our website.

About geekStarter:

Let students team up and tackle real-world problems, and they will move mountains. It’s that kind of opportunity that edacity’s geekStarter program provides. Our program engages students in finding and solving real-world challenges, and building solutions based in emerging Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The project-based learning experience encourages entrepreneurial thinking and includes hands-on workshops and skill building events. Our program supports teams’ participation in prestigious competitions where students can share their real-world projects with other young scientists and entrepreneurs, as well as with leaders in STEM. Through emphasis on multi-media presentations and networking, these events provide students with opportunities to celebrate their successes and build a community of peers across Alberta and the world.

For more information on geekStarter, visit their website.

Lethbridge high school iGEM team wins award at first competition

caroline.zentner — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 16:26:59 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge high school International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team came away with the Best Opportunity Analysis award and an $1,800 travel bursary after competing at their first geekStarter jamboree in Canmore on May 26 and 27. The team earned the award for analyzing previous work done by iGEM teams and learning from its limitations.

Members of the U of L high school iGEM team pose for a photo following the Canmore geekstarter competition.

“The jamboree was really great. We got to meet other teams and learn about their projects,” says Michelle Wu, a Grade 10 student. “We also got good feedback on our project that will help with the next steps.”

The team, made up of 16 students from Winston Churchill, Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, Chinook and Catholic Central high schools, chose a project that will use synthetic biology to remove salt and metal ion contaminants from water. Their goal is to create a more cost effective and energy efficient method for desalination and recovery of heavy and precious metals from effluent water. They hope the technology they develop could one day be integrated into existing water treatment infrastructure. More information on the project can be found online at BioTreks.

The team will continue working on their Control-Salt-Delete project over the next few months in preparation for the annual iGEM Giant Jamboree in October at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, where they’ll join teams from all over the world for five days of competition.

geekStarter engages students in finding and solving authentic problems, and building solutions based in emerging Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The project-based learning experience culminates in inspiring community events and prestigious international competitions, where students share their research and innovations with other young scientists as well as with leaders in STEM. Through emphasis on multi-media presentations and networking, these events provide students with opportunities to celebrate their successes and build a community of peers across Alberta and the world.

For more information about iGEM, visit http://igem.org/Main_Page.

Destination Exploration earns Mentorship Award

caroline.zentner — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 17:33:30 +0000

Destination Exploration, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s youth science program, netted a Mentorship Award at the Actua awards banquet in Ottawa recently. Actua is a Canadian charitable organization delivering science and technology experiences to youth, with membership that spans 36 colleges and universities.

From left to right are Jennifer Flanagan, president and CEO of Actua, Valerie Archibald, director, youth outreach, Cassandra Allenby (BFA '14), Codemakers coordinator, and Dr. Laura Keffer-Wilkes (MSc '12, PhD '16), program coordinator.

“We were very excited to be nominated for this award through Actua,” says Valerie Archibald, director of youth outreach for the Faculty of Arts & Science. “We do a large amount of work with mentoring and connecting mentors into our programming, so to be acknowledged for that work is just phenomenal.”

Archibald says Destination Exploration programs operate under the belief that youth can’t be who they don’t see.

“If a young girl can see a strong, female engineer working in an engineering role, then she knows that’s something she can aspire to,” Archibald says. “We want to be able to provide a whole spectrum of people and jobs and opportunities in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields and have kids see that those are real jobs, careers and life choices that are available to them.”

Destination Exploration programs connect youth with both graduate students and professional people in the workforce. By inviting mentors to the programs, youth get the opportunity to learn about the educational paths they’ve taken and the work they do every day.

“Providing role models of what young people can do and be in the future is paramount to the programming that we do. This award solidifies that the work we’re doing is on the right track,” says Archibald. “It’s nice also to be acknowledged amongst the network and across the country for the work that we do with our mentorship program and to hopefully assist others that may be struggling with that.”

Destination Exploration started in 2002, running a week of science camp in the summer and doing some workshops in schools. Today, the programs reach more than 4,500 youths through workshops, summer camps, school visits and general outreach programming. This year, the focus is on adding coding and digital literacy into science programming.

“Moving forward, we’re really excited to be reaching the young people of Lethbridge and southern Alberta, providing them with STEM opportunities and encouraging them to keep going with their studies,” says Archibald. “We’re preparing the next generation of the workforce and making sure that they’re critical thinkers and problem solvers and high-functioning members of society.”

Archibald also received a Service of Excellence award, which is reserved for directors with five or more years of service.

U of L student’s doctoral research published in prestigious science journal

caroline.zentner — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 17:08:40 +0000

Dr. Laura Keffer-Wilkes (MSc ’12, PhD ’16) spent four years conducting research into the function of a protein important for gene expression, and her hard work and persistence has paid off.

A few days before receiving her doctorate at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s fall convocation ceremonies, Keffer-Wilkes learned that a research paper, on which she is the lead author, had been accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in the United States. Other authors on the paper, titled The RNA modification enzyme TruB is a tRNA chaperone, include her co-worker, Dr. Govardhan Reddy Veerareddygari, and her supervisor, Dr. Ute Kothe, with the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute at the U of L.

“I’ve had a few papers published already but I’ve been second or third author. This paper represents four years of my life so it’s pretty big,” says Keffer-Wilkes. “It was a lot of work, a lot of effort and PNAS is huge. It’s a high-impact journal, so it’s an honour.”

Drs. Laura Keffer-Wilkes, left, and Ute Kothe have conducted research that will change the thinking in the field of RNA research.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for Laura, for me and for my entire lab. It represents many years of work and will change the thinking in our field of RNA research,” says Kothe, adding they have solved a mystery about proteins that make small chemical alterations to RNA (ribonucleic acid). “To everyone’s surprise, we found out that this protein has a second, even more crucial function. The enzyme helps in folding RNA into the correct shape, so it acts as an RNA chaperone that assists RNA in its maturation.”

Their finding might just represent the tip of the iceberg as it suggests that many proteins in the cell are likely also RNA chaperones. These proteins are found in humans, where alterations in these proteins lead to diseases.

“Maybe the RNA chaperone function of many proteins is important for human health. We certainly need to investigate this more closely,” says Kothe.

“We are a lab that studies functional RNAs. These are RNAs that do jobs in the cell. What I study specifically is called transfer RNA or tRNA,” says Keffer-Wilkes. “These molecules bring amino acids to the protein-building factory (ribosome) of the cell. In order to do that, they need to have a very specific shape and stability. In order to maintain a specific shape and stability, the RNA is modified by specialized proteins called enzymes. We study the enzymes, specifically TruB, that make these modifications on tRNA and how they work.”

In the late 1990s, James Ofengand, an RNA researcher, proposed that the enzyme TruB acts as a tRNA chaperone in the cell. TruB modifies the tRNAs in a cell and Ofengand speculated that TruB was also involved in helping to protect or fold the tRNA.

“No one had ever actually tested this hypothesis. We are the first people in many years to actually sit down and figure out how and possibly why this protein is acting as a tRNA chaperone,” Keffer-Wilkes says. “We’ve shown that TruB is indeed acting as a tRNA chaperone. Surprisingly, it doesn’t need the modification activity, but binding to tRNA is critical for its chaperone function.”

At the start, DNA gets photocopied into messenger RNA, which then gets read in the ribosome where tRNA decodes the message. Before it can decode the message, tRNAs need to transform from a long chain into a three-dimensional L-shape to perform their job. TruB helps tRNAs organize themselves so they fold into the right shape and assume the correct orientation. TruB is just one of many different enzymes to modify tRNA that may also have a second function.

“Now that we know that TruB is a tRNA chaperone, we want to look at other enzymes that also act on RNAs and see if they are chaperones as well. Maybe a network of chaperones help to make sure tRNAs function properly. Any change in these proteins or RNAs could result in cancer or other diseases,” says Keffer-Wilkes. “It does give us more information about how RNAs are made, which in combination with other research in RNA biogenesis, will definitely help our understanding of how some diseases develop.”

Keffer-Wilkes is originally from Ontario and, after completing a BSc at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph, took an eight-month contract through a government internship program to work at the Lethbridge research station.

“The Lethbridge Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Centre has a lot of PhD and master’s students so I wanted to follow in their footsteps. Plus, I really like biochemistry,” says Keffer-Wilkes, adding she contacted Kothe in 2009 and officially started a master’s degree under her supervision in May of 2010. “She really liked my experience; I really liked her and her lab. Her research was interesting. She’s young and being a woman who’s so successful at such a young age is very inspiring. She’s a great mentor.”

Keffer-Wilkes completed an MSc in 2012 and soon started on a doctoral degree, all the while being involved in science outreach activities like Let’s Talk Science and Spooky Science Weekend, and teaching a couple of university courses.

“I’ve always liked teaching. My parents would have to suffer through me coming home and, at the dinner table, giving speeches and tutorials about all the things that I learned that day,” she says.

Keffer-Wilkes is now the program coordinator for Destination Exploration at the U of L. She develops activities and labs for elementary to high-school-aged students and she also teaches a couple of days a week and at community events.

“What I’d eventually like to get into is curriculum development. I think the way we teach science education could be improved so I’d like to get in there and shake things up a bit,” she says.

UNews - Dr. Laura Keffer-Wilkes

Lethbridge iGEM teams hit the ground running

Related Topics

SynBridge hosts province-wide iGEM skills workshop

Related Topics

Lethbridge high school iGEM team wins award at first competition

Related Topics

Destination Exploration earns Mentorship Award

Related Content

Destination Exploration receives CanCode funding through Actua to expand digital programming for youth

Related Topics

U of L student’s doctoral research published in prestigious science journal

Related Topics