BYU 2014 Team

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Mike Abboud

Mike Abboud was born in the year of the Horse and hails from St. George, Utah. He has a love of foreign movies, lo-fi punk-folk music, and 16-bit video games. He intends to be a recipient of a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering in December if all goes well. He hopes to work in the Biomedical industy designing medical devices to make people feel better.

Jordan Berg

The Abridged Biography of Jordan Alexandrius Berg by his omnipotent, coconut-wielding troubadour squire:

A long time ago, in a galaxy surprisingly close to you, occurred the birth and humble beginnings of Jordan Alexandrius Berg on the western shores of the United States. His journeyings eventually brought him to the fair shores of the east coast to his lush, forested home of Georgia. But suddenly his quest brought him to the white mountains of the BYU Provo area where he would learn how to be a grandmaster molecular biologist. Aside from his main objective, that of mastering the art of molecular biology, he enjoyed various side quests such as running, pot smashing, rupee collecting, marathoning, hiking, dragon riding, phage hunting, camping, deep-space exploration, general adventuring and trinket collecting, music producing, and the list continues... His deep fascination with the mysteries of the galaxy and string theory have caused great constant mental duress, but all this is subdued once a mutagenesis has worked out for the best. His love for and bafflement by the universe in which we live is only one of the infinitude of reasons Jordan Alexandrius decided to participate in iGEM. 'Twas but a single step further in his insatiable quest for knowledge. (It should be noted that this paragraph has been written in Georgia font in honor of his homeland.)

"That's his secret, Captain. He's always in the lab." -Dr. Bruce Banner to Captain America

Christian Boekweg

Christian is a Genetics and Biotechnology Major pursuing a career in medicine. He loves travel, playing the cello, competitive sports, and cheering for BYU Football.

Garrett Jensen

Garrett is most known for his absurd love of running, curly hair, and is known as the guy who lives in room 2129 of the Life Science Building. He is from a small town in Arizona, hates all forms of winter, snow, ice, and cold things in general, and did I mention he likes to run. His study of microbiology has brought him to this point in his research career where he has studied, along with teammates Mike and Mike, the wonderful world of CRISPRs. Unfortunately Garrett has no coconut-wielding troubadour squire as did Jordan Alexadrius Berg to write his autobiography for him, so he had to write it himself.

Bri Keele

The Beatles have taught the world that there is nothing you can do that can’t be done. Adopted as her mantra, Bri is constantly on the move. As a science-loving, festy-loving, traveling, art-creating, tattoo-enthusiast, Bri finds the time to devote to her two main passions: environmental microbiology and eating. Intrinsically integrated, you can find her in deep conversation at farmers markets talking pesticide use with vendors or with her hands covered in the soil of her own garden. Bri firmly believes in altruism, the healing power of music and art, and that laughter is always the best medicine.

Mike Linzey

I don't really know how I ended up here at iGEM...I am a Neuroscience Major, not Molecular or Microbiology. However it happened, I have loved learning more about Synthetic Biology. Just a little bit about myself, I am from a small town in Massachusetts which I believe is the greatest state in the Country! I am a junior at BYU and as I said before I am studying Neuroscience with the hope of going on to graduate school to study drug development. I guess my greatest hope in life is become a drug dealer...but the good kind of drugs. I have had the opportunity to work with some great guys, Garrett and Mike Abboud, to try and get a CRISPR system to work. It has been a challenge but we are getting closer and closer to getting it to work.

Jared McOmber

Wildlife enthusiast, hope-to-be author, artist, guitarist, and physician, Jared's list of things to do is almost as tall as he is. Which, for the curious, is a whopping height of 6 feet and 6 inches. Somehow, stooping over lab benches to set up PCR reactions, enzyme digestions, ligations, and plating bacterial cells made it's way on that list. His favorite activity is climbing into another world with his imagination, using whatever medium he can get his hands on, be it books, video games, tv shows, cartoons, anything with a well-written plot will do. He is in his third year of higher education, majoring in Molecular Biology, but during his undergraduate education has experimented with computer science, accounting, even art!

Mark Murdock

Mark studied Genetics and Biotechnology at BYU and is now getting his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh. He hates the signaling unit that his class is in right now and has a take-home exam this weekend which will take up way more time than it should. His dream job would be to catch lobsters for a living (assuming that would make enough money for him to do stem cell research in his garage).

Julie Roberts

Julie Roberts whose aliases include Julia Roberts, Jules, and Killa Joules is a Utah native, specifically from South Salt Lake City. The city is what she claims inspired and refined her rap and dance skills. Also she believes that her unique experiences and background give her authority as an amateur moustache critic. Apart from rapping, dancing, and critiquing moustaches, Julie also enjoys (yep, that's right enjoys) running, completing her second marathon this year. While her interests seem wide and varied, ultimately it is the sciences have captured her heart. As a returning member to the BYU iGEM team, her love of synthetic biology is apparent. She was able to participate with the 2011 team on the project, E.colinosopy, a project based in E.coli for early detection of colon cancer. In addition to being and iGEMmer, Julie is also an expert in C.elegans worm husbandry. She is currently working on a project under the direction of Dr. Steve Johnson, in the molecular biology department at BYU, which seeks to understand the role that single nucleotide polymorphisms play in the positioning of nucleosomes. Her experiences on the iGEM team, and her participation in undergraduate research are what have fueled her plans to pursue graduate work in synthetic biology.

Tanner Robinson

Tanner LOVES the Bachelor. When he's not taking luxurious bubble baths you can catch him watching reruns of it on ABC. That is, if he's not doing some sort of studying or training for a triathlon. This guy is the real deal when it comes to synthetic biology. Just by looking at a bacteria, he can make any genetic modifications he wants. Of course this wouldn't be fair for the iGEM competition, so he did it the old fashioned way this time. Hailing from Spokane, WA, he takes the life head on and WINS.

Cameron Sargent

A sneak peak at the manuscript from the biography of Cameron Sargent, the latest work of Dr. Seuss (coming soon to bookstores worldwide):

Cameron likes syn-bio, but that is not all. He likes to play sports, sports like basketball.
He likes playing football and lifting weights too, in his free time that’s what he will do.
He’s traveled afar to places so cool you’d read about them in your textbooks at school.
He loves being an uncle and spending his time tucking nieces and nephews in at bedtime.

Cameron likes syn-bio, yes sir that is true. He likes to think of the things it can do.
Can it clean messes up? Can it strengthen your chair? Can it make things grow back, like an old bald man’s hair?
Can it do all these things and many things more? Cameron thinks so. Cameron thinks it’s a door.
But where does it lead when that door you go through? Let BYU’s iGEM project show you.

Cam Zenger

Cameron Zenger, also known as the better Cameron on the BYU Provo iGEM team, heralds from both Boston and New York City, depending on who’s asking. He grew up in Boston however, so is a lifelong Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots fan. He attended Roxbury Latin (The One True School). He is a Microbiology major who is planning on Medical School. Other interests include skiing, Tanner’s personal life, and N. multiformis.

Killa Joules (KJ)

World renowned rapper Killa "Killa" Joules came to BYU late last autumn seeking haven from a ravenous fan base. KJ appreciates the peace and quiet found at BYU, she states "In my past life I would already be hip deep in provocative lyrics and lewd innuendos but thanks to BYU and its honor code I'm kept safe from such thingz". Killa Joules credits iGEM as a great source of strength in her path to reformation. "With out iGEM keepin' me off the streets who knows what I would be doing! Luckily I haven't had time to do anything outside the lab, not even my homework, haha! iGEM is the best :)" Killa Joules hits include: "Ballin in da lab", "LSBallin out of control", "Cootiez for Days" and "Dezi Don't Know".

Dr. Julianne Grose, Microbiology & Molecular Biology Department

Julianne Grose is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology. She earned a PhD in the Department of Biology at the University of Utah, in the lab of the Distinguished Professor John Roth, a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Prior to coming to BYU she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the lab of Jared Rutter as well as a Research Scientist for BioEnergenix, a small pharmaceutical company. Her studies have focused on the regulation of glucose metabolism in the yeast S. cerevisiae.

Paul "Skip" Price, Microbiology & Molecular Biology Department

Paul “Skip” Price is an postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Joel Griffitts in the Molecular Biology and Microbiology Department. He earned a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis (with a stop at UNC-Chapel Hill) in the lab of Bill Goldman, chair of the Microbiology and Immunology Department. His graduate studies focused on the molecular determinants involved in the progression of primary pneumonic plague. His interests in host-microbial interactions has lead him to BYU where he is using natural variation to examine late-stage compatibility in legume-rhizobia symbiosis.

Desi DeMille

PhD candidate in the Microbiology & Molecular Biology Department. My studies focus on understanding how cells sense their surrounding nutrient environment and partition resources accordingly to maintain proper metabolic homeostasis. Additionally, I have found great day-to-day application of my science/recipe-following skills in my cookie making and would frequently use these skills to my advantage in bribing the team to do work when they found themselves amidst a sullen week.