UNews - iGEM

GreenSTEM funding supports startup dsBioscience Inc. as it builds off iGEM project success

trevor.kenney — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 15:00:05 +0000

Have you ever wondered how clean surfaces really are — even after you’ve tried to disinfect them? What’s really there and what can you do to ensure invisible microbes and pathogens are gone?

Dustin Smith

Spurred on by the continued development of a gold medal winning iGEM (international genetically engineered machine) project and start-up funding from GreenSTEM, Dustin Smith’s fledgling dsBioscience Inc. may one day have that answer at your fingertips. Smith’s company provides metagenome analysis services. In short, he uses technology that focuses on directly sequencing DNA from samples to determine what microbes or viruses are present.

“It has utility in a wide range of applications, including the health-care sector, bioremediation and water testing,” says Smith (BSc ’13, MSc ’17), who’s currently pursuing a PhD in biomolecular science after earning both his undergraduate and master’s degrees in biochemistry at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. “This all started in 2016 with the U of L iGEM team and a project we worked on with Lethbridge EMS when they asked us to help them evaluate cleaning practices in their emergency services vehicles.”

The project, which characterized the microbial community within ambulances, won gold at the annual iGEM World Jamboree. It also garnered industry attention.

“After the study was published in 2019, I was able to apply for funding through the Alberta GreenSTEM program, which supports start-ups that hope to spin off academic technologies to form viable businesses,” he says. “We always thought this would be a useful venture to explore based on the fact it was driven by an industry need.”

The GreenSTEM program has been invaluable in helping Smith get dsBioscience Inc. off the ground.

“Aside from the financial aspect, which gave us the funding to explore whether there’s a viable business opportunity, we have access to valuable mentoring from other fellows who are all going through the same challenges of starting a business,” he says. “In our advisor panels we have a mix of people with scientific backgrounds and those with industry or business backgrounds. It really gives us a comprehensive view of our business.”

Smith foresees a number of applications for metagenome analysis. In addition to health care, he envisions examining what microbes are present in tailings ponds or pit lakes in various stages of remediation, and then using that information to forward engineer better remediation processes. And while that will require much greater development of the technology, the fact he can now see a path forward as a viable business is a huge step.

“With the timing of COVID, this definitely put these types of uses more in the spotlight,” he says. “My main focus currently is evaluating market potential and what's the most useful way I could use this technology to help with industry. There’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s exciting.”

Virtual iGEM Giant Jamboree sees ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge-supported teams garner silver and bronze

trevor.kenney — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 17:29:10 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge-supported teams earned silver and bronze medals as the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Giant Jamboree took place in the virtual space recently.

The annual celebration of synthetic biology and genetic engineering is usually hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, MA and was moved online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, 4,000 participants attended, with the U of L represented by its collegiate entry and the Lethbridge high school team.

High School iGEM team members present during their virtual appearance at the Giant Jamboree.

Both groups chose to tackle problems related to agriculture, with the collegiate team presenting FriGEM, a project aimed to fight post-harvest potato diseases, and the high school entry’s tPectin-ACE project, which focused on creating a biological catalyst to accelerate compost degradation.

Collegiate (bronze medal)

The university team worked extensively with Dr. Dmytro Yevtushenko, the U of L’s Research Chair in Potato Science, and research associate Dr. Mariana Vetrici. Their project aims to fight post-harvest potato diseases caused by Fusarium and other plant pathogens by using targeted expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in tubers. They were awarded a bronze medal standing for their work.

The team has become fascinated with this diverse group of small, naturally occurring peptides (also called host defense peptides) that are part of the host innate defense system against pathogen invasion. By engineering the AMP-expressing potato plants, less pesticides would be required to combat plant diseases.

“The COVID-19 restrictions made it especially difficult to complete experimental laboratory work this year,” says second-year chemistry student Mark Lea. “Ebven though we only had a short time to experiment on the potato plants and obtain preliminary results, that work will be very helpful in the continuation of our project.”

The team is also exploring the suitability of potato tubers as a low cost, safe and efficacious platform to produce therapeutic AMPs. In particular, they test the hypothesis that a targeted, high-level accumulation of therapeutic BMAP-18 peptide in potato tubers retains its direct toxicities to trypanosomes, the causative agents of sleeping sickness, which may lead to the development of edible therapeutics.

“It’s amazing how much work the undergraduate students got done on their personal computers before they could get access to campus, work that I could not have achieved by myself in such a short time,” says Dr. Vetrici.

Check out their promo and project videos, wiki and poster for more information.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge team members included: Deepika Anupindi, Sara Balderas, Abel Belay, Trinity Deak, Rowan Fehr, Seanna Goeseels, London Gokarn, Rebecca Ha, Emily Hagens, Ilyanna Janvier, Dia Koupantsis (student leader), Mark Lea, Reece Martin, Mehreen Kabir, Joshua Omotosho. Supervisors/advisors were Justin Vigar, Fabian Rohden and Dr. Angeliki Pantazi.

High School (silver medal)

The high school team focused its project on creating a biological catalyst to accelerate compost degradation via enhanced pectin digestion. The group collaborated with City of Lethbridge Waste and Recycling officials, local restaurants and researchers at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Centre.

Using unique pectin degradation enzymes from the organism P. amylolyticus, the team engineered a system that would accelerate the breakdown of homogalacturonan, a major component of pectin. The engineered enzymes would also be heat stable, ensuring they survive the high temperatures required for efficient composting. While initially designed for use in at-home composters, discussions with Lethbridge Waste and Recycling engineer Bill MacMillan led the team to pivot their project to target industrial compost facilities instead. The team intends to continue work on the project in 2021.

Their project was awarded a silver medal and was nominated for Best Integrated Human Practices.

“We’re super proud of what we could accomplish this year and really happy the judges liked our work,” says team member and project presenter Thomas Byrne, a grade-12 student at Winston Churchill High School.

You can watch their promo or project videos, read their wiki and check out their poster.

Lethbridge high school team members included: Shada Aborawi, Rebecca Avileli, Jasmine Belisle, Thomas Byrne, Wenyu Chen, Kimoya Edwards, Olive Graham, Linda He, Livia Kadezabek, Xinhong Li, Dominic Piper, Declan Sander, Lana VanGenderen, Elisha Wong, Marissa Wong, Michelle Wu, Damian La Rosa Montes (Grad Student Advisor), Kristi Turton (Grad Student Advisor), Luke Saville (Mindfuel Advisor), Jalyce Heller (Primary Investigator), Dr. Laura Keffer-Wilkes (Primary Investigator).

Both teams were supported by the U of L Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI), SynBridge, the Regional Innovation Network of Southern Alberta (RINSA), Agility, and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students’ Union (ULSU).

The full iGEM Giant Jamboree experience is also available to view on the iGEM website.

You can also follow iGEM on social media:

Twitter @LethHS_iGEM and @LethbridgeiGEM
Instagram @lethbridgehsiGEM and @uleth.igem
Facebook @lethbridgehsiGEM and @LethbridgeiGEM

U of L iGem teams gear up for international competition with early successes

trevor.kenney — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 17:46:48 +0000

Despite the current COVID-19 crisis, funding insecurities and campus closures, Canadian iGEM teams came together October 3 & 4 to celebrate synthetic biology and science innovation.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and Lethbridge High School iGEM teams were two of 10 teams from across Canada to participate in the inaugural event. This year, only five Canadian teams are moving on to participate in the International Genetically Engineered Machines Giant Jamboree virtual competition, including both Lethbridge teams. The high school entry will be the only Canadian high school participating.

The conference started with a welcome address from Dr. Bettina Hamelin from Ontario Genomics, and included many workshops and fireside chats on how students can communicate their scientific work and create a start-up from their project. Many judges and speakers were from North American biotech companies, and were able to share their personal journey towards success with the students.

The U of L team presented its “FRIGEM” project which focuses on making local potatoes more resistant to fungus infections while increasing the nutritional value of potatoes and all their “fried” successor products. The judges at cGEM awarded the U of L project a silver medal.

“Presenting our project at cGEM and getting feedback from the judges was a great opportunity for our team to gain experience and will help us improve our project for the Giant Jamboree,” says Emily Hagens, a neuroscience student at the U of L.

The high school team's project, tPECTIN-ACE, aims to make at-home composting as efficient as possible by engineering an enhanced pectin-degradation enzymatic pathway. As the only high school team to participate in the conference and competing against solely university teams, the Lethbridge group was was thrilled with its bronze medal standing.

“It was a good experience getting feedback. Talking to other iGEM teams and judges was super valuable. It will really help us to prepare for the giant jamboree,” says Linda He, a grade 12 student from Chinook High School.

With the current global situation, it is clear the impact science and research can have on our society. The iGEM program is a great way of introducing young people to science, technology, engineering and math, while empowering students to engage with real-world local and global problems.

To support the Lethbridge high school iGEM team, please consider donating to our GoFundMe.

For more information contact iGEM@uleth.ca

Follow the teams on social media:

Instagram @lethbridgehsiGEM/@uleth.igem

Facebook @lethbridgehsiGEM/@LethbridgeiGEM

Twitter @LethHS_iGEM/@LethbridgeiGEM

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge iGEM team earns gold for project that designs oral insulin delivery system

trevor.kenney — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 18:34:18 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Collegiate iGEM team set its sights on solving a problem that affects nearly nine per cent of the world’s population, and earned a gold medal for their efforts at the recently concluded International Genetically Engineered Machines World Jamboree in Boston, Mass.

The collegiate team, accompanied by the U of L’s High School iGEM entry that achieved a silver medal standing for its project, presented Algulin, which is the development of a novel method for the manufacturing and oral delivery of insulin to diabetics.

U of L iGEM collegiate and high school team members and their advisors in Boston. Back row (L–R) Catrione Lee, David Basil, Mark Lea, Dia Koupantsis, Laura Keffer-Wilkes, Thomas Byrne, Angeliki Pantazi and Chris Isaac. Middle (kneeling L–R) Linda He, Dewuni De Silva, Michelle Wu and Luke Saville. Front – Julien Todd.

“We wanted to do something different and meaningful, something that will have a positive effect on the people around us,” says Dia Koupantsis, a third-year biological sciences student. “So, we developed the project Algulin, an oral insulin manufactured in microalgae, in an attempt to democratize the manufacturing of insulin so that it can be widely available for individuals who need it.”

Diabetes is a massive global issue that requires lifelong management for those affected, imposing an enormous economic health burden that amounts to a $673 billion global expenditure annually. Currently, the most common method of relieving diabetes symptoms is through painful, expensive insulin injections. Some patients must self-administer the drug up to six times per day.

After interviewing diabetic patients, doctors and pharmacists, the iGEM team went about trying to find a way to deliver insulin to patients orally. The challenge, which has thwarted previous attempts, is to find a way to get the insulin through the stomach acid and into the small intestine for absorption without becoming seriously degraded. Their solution – microalgae.

Algulin is an oral insulin produced in microalgae. After testing three different microalgae, the group determined Cyanidioschyzon merolae, with its innate acid resistant membrane, could survive the stomach environment. Additionally, with a carbohydrate-based cell wall, C. merolae would degrade in the small intestine and allow for the therapeutic insulin to be absorbed through to its intended target — the portal vein.

“It was a challenging project because it involved working with an organism we’d never used before,” says Luke Saville, a fourth-year biochemistry student. “This promoted challenges in learning how to grow the organism and how to genetically engineer it to produce our insulin.”

U of L chemistry & biochemistry instructor Dr. Angeliki Pantazi is one of the team’s faculty mentors and lauds the team for the work they put in and the further potential of their project.

“The gold medal is exciting but it’s a little bit less about what we came back with and more about how we are training the next generation of scientists and leaders through these programs,” she says. “It’s a very student-driven program and I was impressed with why they wanted to pursue this project. They were concerned about people not being able to afford insulin and inspired by the first two Canadian scientists who isolated purified insulin and how they didn’t patent it for themselves but instead offered it to humankind for free.”

Now that the iGEM season is over, it’s up to the group to find possible investors to continue their work and eventually try and get a product to market. The next stage would be performing animal studies to see how the insulin is being transferred into the bloodstream and how it functions.

“I think it has great commercial potential,” says Saville. “By moving away from injectables and purification free insulin growth, we can dramatically lower the cost of diabetes management while providing a more comfortable way to administer medicine.”

Other members of the collegiate team included: Catrione Lee, Kalob Barr, Jesse Holbein, Allyson Lawrie-White, Landon McCabe, Joshua Omotosho, Kera Whitten and Dong Ju Kim. Graduate student advisors included Sydnee Calhoun, Aubrey Demchuk, Chris Isaac and Kristi Turton while Dr. Trushar Patel (chemistry & biochemistry) was the secondary investigator.

High school team earns silver

All four local high schools contributed to the team that presented CADAR (CRISPR assisted detection and removal) at the World Jamboree, a project designed to create a rapid diagnostic tool for identifying bacterial pathogens.

“Our team decided to choose CADAR because we saw the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria,” says Mark Lea, a Chinook High School graduate who is now in his first year at the U of L. “We found, through initial research, that there is a lot of over-prescription of antibiotics that further increases the amount of bacterial resistance. We thought finding an alternative and more novel approach to traditional antibiotic methods of identifying and then eliminating those pathogens would be an interesting project.”

Dr. Laura Keffer-Wilkes, the manager of Synbridge and high school team advisor, says the project was very ambitious for the high school group and she was pleased with the work they put in to try and develop a product that could be used in health care and patient care settings, in processing plants and even ambulances as a means to validate cleaning practices.

“It’s really student-driven, so they go after whatever motivates them, whatever passions they have,” she says. “As a high school instructor, I don’t want to stifle their creativity, and they used some very advanced technology in their work.”

The high school team consisted of: Alice Zhang, Andy Sun, Aroma Pageni, David Basil, Dewuni De Silva, Elisha Wong, Julien Todd, Karen He, Linda He, Katie Vienneau, Mark Lea, Michelle Wu, Mina Akbary, Natasha Woitte, Rachel Avileli, Rebecca Avileli, Shada Aborawi and Thomas Byrne.

iGEM culture the real driver of student success

trevor.kenney — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 18:06:54 +0000

The headlines for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s consistently successful international genetically engineered machine (iGEM) teams read like a wash, rinse, repeat cycle. Achieving a gold-medal standing at the annual iGEM World Jamboree is almost a surety, but those who participate as team members and advisors say the results they achieve are far less a focus than what is learned throughout the iGEM experience.

Members of the High School iGEM team speak to judges and other participants during a poster session at the iGEM World Jamboree in Boston, MA recently.

“This is an exceptional program that really opens up a window for our students,” says U of L chemistry & biochemistry instructor Dr. Angeliki Pantazi, in her second year as an iGEM faculty advisor. “At the competition there is a list of things you have to check off to see whether you earn a gold or a silver but that doesn’t really reflect the background work they put into their project. At the end, we have students who understand and apply science more effectively, and who are also able to present in front of experts and deliver presentations that reflect months of work.”

The skills they acquire, beyond the hard science they do in the wet-lab setting are many, including teamwork, networking, business development and more.

“The team takes a multifaceted approach to produce a project that is safe and will contribute to the lives of all of the people it will impact,” says fourth-year biochemistry major Luke Saville, an iGEM veteran who worked on this year’s Algulin project that won gold. “This is done through engaging with the community, using sociological approaches to understand how it affects the community and entrepreneurship — to take it from the lab and into the real world.”

Dia Koupantsis is in her third year of biological sciences and says the culture of iGEM is family oriented, with senior members mentoring newcomers to the group in a continual cycle that keeps the projects fresh and innovative.

“I say it’s like a family because you have a group of individuals from different sciences or non-science backgrounds who all come together and for six months, they spend countless hours working side-by-side,” she says. “Everyone has something to contribute. It can be a very intense environment, but you have your teammates, advisors and principal investigators who understand the pressure, inspire you to continue on and enhance your passion for the project. And they remind you that your goal is pure and important.”

Mark Lea, who is in his first year at the U of L, was part of the high school iGEM team that also travelled to Boston for the World Jamboree. His iGEM experience revolved around the well-established culture of teamwork.

“It is a very collaborative environment between the high school and collegiate teams because wet lab, dry lab, and team meetings all take place at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ,” he says. “This helped our group significantly as we knew we could always send our questions to our advisors to ensure we understood the complex science behind our project.”

Lea’s first exposure to iGEM opened his eyes to the research world and the opportunities that exist for undergraduate students. Their project, CADAR, earned a silver medal.

“I was drawn to iGEM initially because I wanted to use and apply the things I was learning in school to the real world,” he says. “Having access to the laboratories seemed too good to be true, and I thought that it was amazing that high school students could gain experience in so many different areas. iGEM has increased my skill inventory in so many areas in science, but also non-scientific areas such as the ethics of our project. It has definitely helped me grow as a person, and I would suggest it to anyone.”

The recruiting season is now underway for next year’s iGEM projects, which begin in January. Anyone interested can contact Drs. Laura Keffer-Wilkes (kefferwilkesl@uleth.ca) or Angeliki Pantazi (angeliki.pantazi@uleth.ca).

Mitacs award winner takes studies overseas to Italy

trevor.kenney — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 22:35:20 +0000

Have you ever wanted to combine your studies with your interest in traveling overseas? Austin Kothig is a computer science student who had the wonderful opportunity to do just that, by completing a semester abroad in Italy during Fall 2018.

Computer science student Austin Kothig, left, was able to work on the iCub robot at the Italian Institute of Technology.

Kothig was awarded the Mitacs Globalink Research Award through collaboration between ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscience professor, Dr. Matthew Tata, and Dr. Francesco Rea from the Department of Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Science at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa, Italy.

Kothig’s U of L story actually began five years ago when, as a member of Lethbridge’s high school International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team that won first place at the iGEM 2013 High School Jamboree, he was awarded a scholarship to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. Having grown up in Lethbridge, he was happy to stay home for his post-secondary education. During the Spring 2017 semester, Kothig took Tata’s 3000 level interdisciplinary studies course, Introduction to Robotics. Inspired, he jumped at the opportunity to take an independent study in the Tata lab that involved working with the iCub robot, a complex humanoid robot. Through this project, Kothig met Rea and together with Tata and two other students, the group developed new algorithms for the iCub. The work required very specific procedures to create new behaviours and skills, and focused on various applications involving the implementation and improvement of cognitive models of the human attention system.

Through the Mitacs Globalink Research Award, Kothig was able to travel to Italy and continue working on developing biologically inspired software for the iCub as part of a four-month co-op work term. More specifically, he was working on a computational model for localizing human speech. The goal was to give the robot better context of what is happening in the auditory world. The project took inspiration from how human brains can effortlessly decode complex mixed signals. This context is then represented as the probability that there is a speaker at all angles around the robot.

“This project is significant because audio is a difficult computational challenge. The iCub platform is unique because between the two microphones on the head is a computer with a cooling fan. This ends up causing a lot of noise in the auditory world,” explains Kothig.

Kothig established numerous collaborative relationships while overseas.

“In a lot of the demos with the iCub, the person giving instructions to the robot (i.e. pick up the toy octopus) is speaking to a monoaural microphone in their hand. This is done to ensure that the speech recognition they are using has ‘clean’ input. A long-term goal would be to take what we have developed and use the probabilities of where human speech is coming from as the target locations for where the robot should be attenuating to, ignoring all other positions.”

It wasn’t all work for Kothig in Italy. Over the course of his semester, he made several new friends among the PhD students at IIT, especially enjoying the “lab dinners” they would enjoy at the many different restaurants and pizzerias in Genoa. His journey with robotics has inspired him to pursue a master’s program doing research on AI and robotics.

“Getting involved in research in your undergrad is an excellent experience. It can help foster skills and knowledge beyond lectures. Showing interest in academic research is a great way to build connections, not only internally but also externally,” says Kothig. “Don’t be afraid to look for opportunities outside of your department. A key strategy in software engineering is to make your team diverse and interdisciplinary; having vastly different academic perspectives on a project often results in better solutions.”

Kothig goes on to say, “Find out from your supervisors if they have had any previous collaborations, partnerships, or colleagues that are with institutes outside of Canada. Preexisting connections are a fantastic way to jumpstart your application.”

The Mitacs Globalink Research Award provides $6,000 for senior undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in Canada to conduct 12 to 24-week research projects at universities overseas.

For more information about the Mitacs Globalink Research Award, click here.

U of L iGEM teams tackling relevant issues, awarded gold and silver at Giant Jamboree

trevor.kenney — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 21:13:23 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s iGEM students have proven once again they are among the best and brightest scientists in the synthetic biology field.

The U of L's collegiate iGEM representatives who presented in Boston.

From over 300 teams, representing countries from all over the world, the U of L’s collegiate team secured a gold medal and the high school entry a silver at the 2018 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition in Boston, MA.

The collegiate team’s project VINCEnT focused on developing tools for other synthetic biology researchers. Targeting specific tissues, cell types, or cellular organelles is important for the correct treatment of many diseases. The U of L team created software that would help others overcome these problems. The team members also demonstrated how they can successfully encapsulate cargo within P22 “nanocompartments” that can target Zebra and Quagga mussels with species-specific toxins. One of the largest problems facing Alberta waterways, Zebra and Quagga mussels are considered aquatic invasive species and a threat to the Alberta economy, specifically agriculture, tourism and recreation as they destroy natural lake ecosystems and fisheries. Work on this application will continue in the future.

The U of L's high school team impressed with a silver medal standing.

The U of L team of Sydnee Calhoun, Kristi Turton, Catrione Lee and Luke Saville presented at the jamboree and were supported by team members Keith Aiken, Maya Degrood, Simmone D’Souza, Travis Haight, DJ Kim, Jessica Semmelrock, Reanna Takeyasu and David Tobin. Aubrey Demchuk, Graeme Glaister, Zak Stinson and secondary investigator Dr. Trushar Patel served as advisors.

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. Members Mark Lea, Michelle Wu and Andy Sun travelled to Boston to represent the team. Their project, Cu Later, described a method for the capture and removal of metals from tailings ponds and effluent water using an engineered bacteriophage system and received a silver medal and nomination for best model.

Dewuni De Silva, Aidan Sander, Nicolas Parra, Aroma Pageni, Rebecca Avileli, Tyler Black, Logan Black, Alice Zhang, Karen He, Mina Akbary-Zheng, Emily Huynh and Nimaya De Silva supported their teammates’ efforts from Lethbridge. Recruitment for the 2019 Lethbridge high school iGEM team will begin in January.

Representatives from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge were also involved in core activities for the iGEM Giant Jamboree. Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, also a primary investigator for the U of L collegiate team, was one of the competition judges, and Chris Isaac, U of L biochemistry graduate student, participated in the iGEM Safety Committee.

The projects and accomplishments of the university and high school teams are available on their wiki websites. 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.

High School Synthetic Biology Team Wins Six Medals for BioTreks Paper

caroline.zentner — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 17:27:38 +0000

The 2018 iGEM season continues to be a great success for members of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge-mentored Lethbridge high school team. The team submitted a scientific paper outlining their synthetic biology project, as well as participated in an online conference.

Members of the Lethbridge high school synthetic biology team pose for a photo in the lab.

“This was a great experience for the students,” says team mentor Sydnee Calhoun, a U of L biochemistry student. “We are so proud of their progress and how much they have learned this year.”

For their efforts, the team received medals for problem solving, conference participation, scientific rigor, innovation, collaboration, and visual communications. Michelle Wu also received special recognition for her excellent participation in the BioTreks Conference on April 28. The paper can be found here.

Taking a break from studying for exams, team members participated in a wet lab skills workshop June 16 and 17.

“I loved it! It was so much fun to get in the lab and learn all these new things,” says Mark Lea, a grade 11 student from Chinook High School.

The team was introduced to pipetting, transformations, PCR (polymerase chain reaction), restriction digestion and making competent cells – all techniques they will need for their project. They hope to create a more cost effective and energy efficient method of removing metal contaminants from effluent water and tailings ponds.

In order to complete their project, a significant amount of external funding is required. As this is an extracurricular activity, it is the team’s responsibility to cover all the operation costs – chemicals, equipment, competition and travel fees. To help offset some of these costs, the team has set up a gofundme campaign. All donations are welcome and will be acknowledged during the presentation at the iGEM Giant Jamboree in Boston. The team is made up of students from Winston Churchill High School, Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, Chinook High School and Catholic Central High School.

Follow the team’s progress on social media: @LethHS_iGEM and @lethbridgehsiGEM.

An iGEM team member works in the lab.

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 http://igem.org/Main_Page.

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