Community

The iGEM community page lets you see what some of your fellow iGEM Teams are up to.

If you want to add something to this page, send us an email to hq (at) igem . org and we'll add it!

Team Edinburgh - Bacteria to the Future

Team Edinburgh asks: "What if artificially intelligent bacteria could be connected together to make intelligent populations? Could we make bacterial computers?" in their team video!

Team Imperial - Ice Bucket Challenge

Team Imperial participates in the Ice Bucket Challenge! See their video here.

Team ITESM CEM - Survey

ITESM CEM has created a survey about Good Laboratory Practices!

You can find the survey by clicking here

Team BGU Israel - Metabolic Ambassador Seminar

"Our Inner Doctor's goal is to provide a complete treatment for the Metabolic Syndrome. As prevention is the best solution for diseases in general, and especially Diabetes, we thought our Human Practices and Policies should also include awareness and prevention work. After research and meetings with experts in the field, we understood that there is a big Diabetes problem in the Bedouin sector in Israel.

Bedouins are a subgroup within the Arab minority in the State of Israel, with cultural, historical, social and political uniqueness. We met with Dr. Younis Abu-Rabia who is the first Bedouin doctor in the Negev and a Diabetes expert. Through him we learned that while three decades ago the Bedouins did not suffer from Diabetes almost at all, these days it's considered almost as a plague! The Bedouin people used to be nomads and live a rural life mostly in the southern Negev (close to our university), but in the few past decades modernization has changed everything. This phenomena is common worldwide among societies that used to live a countryside way of life, and are now transforming to the modern lifestyle, such as the Aborigines in Australia.

Our answer was the "Metabolic Ambassador Seminar" where medical students from the Bedouin society received the knowledge and motivation to start taking action and raise awareness for Diabetes in their communities. The lectures we organized gave tools and inspired them to keep learning about this subject, and we also handed out brochures in Arabic for them to share within their social networks.

To make an everlasting effect, together with the Dean of Students we successfully established scholarships for about 8 students to volunteer in Diabetes Clinics in their communities: helping, treating and guiding patients, while learning much themselves and gaining experience in the process. We also met with the CEO of the diabetes association in Israel and arranged a scholarship a position for a Bedouin student as the branch manager of the association in the southern Negev. Finally, we met with the Director of BGU's School of Pharmacy in the Faculty of Health Sciences who was very enthusiastic about the seminar and said he would organize a similar one next year.

We received amazing feedback from the participants who learned so much and were extremely satisfied. We got great support from everyone who volunteered to help: university faculty members, medical professionals whether a Doctor, nutritionist, or a nurse, they all came and supported the cause on their day off. There was also a patient who came to tell his personal story dealing with Diabetes, and we couldn't have done it without a nursing student who helped by inviting all of his Bedouin student friends and more." - Team BGU Israel

Team Waterloo - Basic Lab Techniques video series

"Do you want to learn the basic techniques you need to participate in labs? Whether you are curious about the science world, going into your first laboratory course, or your first lab position.. we’re got the basics covered! Check out our Youtube channel to find the videos, which will be released throughout the fall. Venture on, aspiring scientists!" - Team Waterloo

Check out their introductory video!

Team ATOMS-Turkiye - Heart Disease Survey

"We made a survey about our heart attack and ischemia project. With this survey iGEM'ers and other people who interested in science will be able to manage their calorie and salt consumption." - Team ATOMS Turkiye

Team Valencia Biocampus - THE STOOL iGEM Project

Team Valencia Biocampus says: "Our video is a parody of the well known YMCA, in which we describe briefly our project". Check it out!

Team BGU Israel - The Inner Doctor

"iGEM BGU 2014 present the complete treatment for the Metabolic Syndrome - The INNER DOCTOR ! We are group of 10 students forming the iGEM BGU 2014 group, developing using cutting edge synthetic biology technology, a whole treatment for the Metabolic Syndrome." Check out the project video made by Team BGU Israel!

Team ATOMS-Turkiye 2014 - Team Project Video

Learn about Team ATOMS-Turkiye's ischemia project, "Change of Heart", in their new video!

Team Virtus Parva - Survey!

Hi there! We are Virtus Parva, an iGEM team from Mexico. We were wondering if you could help us out with a survey we've made? After just 20 surveys we would give you an awesome badge! Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kTJl6yHHxGvJu9HLSK04_fGdsjFfJnvT9HPyF0S0VWo/viewform?usp=send_form Of course, we could help with any similar projects and we would be grateful if you could pass it on to anyone else that could be interested. Thanks in advance!

Team Tec-Monterrey - Latin American Video

Team Tec-Monterrey wants to invite all the Latin America teams to participate in a video!

Read more information here!

Contact them at igemtecmonterrey at gmail dot com and at @iGEM Tec-Monterrey

Team ATOMS-Turkiye - Ice Bucket Challenge

Team ATOMS-Turkiye has made a video about the ice bucket challenge for ALS patients! Check it out here.

Team Macquarie Australia - So You Think You Can Synthesize

"As part of our outreach program we have created an online reality contest titled SO YOU THINK YOU CAN SYNTHESIZE. We have based it off of popular reality TV format, and it is basically a contest where the audience can ask questions to our 'scientists' during a live session every week (dates to be posted later). The contestant with the least votes is eliminated each week. Users can also post questions offline and they will be answered by one/more contestants." - Team Macquarie Australia

Be sure to watch their teaser trailer and check out their competition website!

Team METU Turkey - Team Video

Check out METU Turkey's team video introducing their team members! Says the team: "We are METU_Turkey team. We work hard and we enjoy our work!"

Team Paris-Saclay - Survey

"Hello iGemers,

This year, the team iGEM Paris-Saclay decided to conduct a thorough reflection on some issues raised by synthetic biology. As you can see in our summary (I invite you to read it https://2014.igem.org/Team:Paris_Saclay), we are interested in the representation of living.

To carry out our project, we have, among others, decided to go to the meeting of ideas: your ideas! We conducted a short survey for you to share with us your view of living and bioart. This strong involvement with the use of synthetic biology.

Best regards.

Link of the [Google] survey

iGEM ​​Paris-Saclay"

Team Oxford - DCMation

Team Oxford made a video about their project: DCMation!

Team SF Bay Area DIYbio - Real Vegan Cheese

Team SF Bay Area DIYbio made a video about their real vegan cheese project! You can support them through their Indiegogo campaign.

Team Technion-Israel - Safie

Check out this video about Team Technion-Israel's project: Safie, the allergen detection system! You can support them through their Headstart campaign.

Team Paris Bettencourt - Team Video

Team Paris Bettencourt made a video about their team, iGEM, and their MOOC project this year! Check it out here!

iGEM High School - Team videos

Check out the awesome videos made by this year's iGEM High School teams!

• CoBRA 2014 - Team Video
• GenetiX Tec CCM 2014 - Safety in Lab
• Lambert GA 2014 - Let Them Grow
• Mingdao 2014 - Team Video
• TAS Taipei 2014 - Taipei Day
• TP CC-SanDiego 2014 - How to Make an iGEM Team From Scratch

For more team videos, see the Community Videos page!

Team Pitt - Living Skin Therapeutics

"One of the biggest roadblocks to having clear skin is acne, and despite all the available treatment options, the mechanisms of acne are still unclear. The 2014 Pitt iGEM team is improving our understanding of acne by developing a procedure to genetically engineer the skin bacterium, P. acnes, often associated with acne. Learn more about our project and team in this video!" - Team Pitt

Down Into the Test Tube - the art and science workshop from iGEM Berlin

"By what can I identify a BioBrick? How do I synthesize DNA? And why is E.Coli involved in that? In the laboratory, scientist create completely new forms of life to simplify our daily life: Bacterias starting to glow when they come in contact with poisonous water, are remote controlled with magnets or they produce rare earths from common household wastes. Within the two days workshop "Down into the Test Tube“ - we want to motivate you to learn more about synthetic biology and the possibilities, but also dangers. For this, we want to bring together people from different disciplines to work together at new solution for future problems. Collectively we play around with paper, scissors and lasercutter to build an analogue, experimental installation, which can help us to understand synthetic biology and finding new solving.

Welcome are interested people from all discipline of art and science - special prior knowledge is not necessary. The workshop will be accompanied from scientist of the Berlin iGEM Team.

Participants: 15-20 Persons

Cost: The attendance is free. Except own materials and individual catering.

When: The workshop takes place at 15th and 16th of august, between 11 am and 6 pm.

Where: University of Arts, Berlin (Grunewaldstraße 2-5, nearly U-Kleistpark).

Available are rapid prototyping tools like lasercutter, 3D printer, and a wood/mechatronic workshop. Arduinos and different materials are in place, but we´re happy when you also can bring a few of your own thinks.

To participate, just write us a mail with your name and a short sentence to your person. Questions and suggestions are highly welcome.

For more informations, please visit our website: http://igem.berlin/workshop2014.php" - Team Berlin

Team UANL Mty-Mexico - The Reprogrammator

Team UANL Mty-Mexico shares their project, "The Reprogrammator", with us in this video!

Team Stony Brook - Team introduction video

Check out the video made by Team Stony Book introducing us to their team via a campus tour!

Team Virginia - Survey update

"Hi iGEM Teams,

Earlier this summer we, the University of Virginia iGEM team, emailed you about a collaborative survey we had made to help gauge global awareness and acceptance of synthetic biology for future educational and implementational targeting. This is to remind you about the survey, and to let you know that it’s not too late to participate if you are interested. The survey closes on August 18th, and every team that collects 20 or more responses will receive a web badge to put on their wiki that shows their collaborative efforts. Even if you cannot collect 20 responses, any amount helps.

As an update, we currently have 28 teams participating from 11 countries, the survey has been translated into six languages, and six teams have collected over 20 responses for a total of 265 responses. Though you may feel pressed for time to complete the survey, as it closes in a month, keep in mind that it only takes around 4 hours to collect 20 responses, and this data could greatly help the iGEM community in the future.

If you are interested in completing the survey, please email us at virginia.igem[at]gmail.com for more information, as well as for instructions on how to distribute the survey.

Thank you very much!" - Team Virginia

Team Linköping -- Survey on Peanut Allergies

"Greetings to all of our fellow iGEMers!

We are contacting you to propose collaboration between our teams. We are conducting a survey on peanut allergies and would appreciate it if your team could fill out a simple Google Survey containing seven questions.

The purpose of this survey is to examine how aware allergic- and non-allergic people are of peanut allergies and how their society handles and treats the needs of peanut allergic individuals. Please reflect upon the questions before answering them together as a team (no individual surveys, one per team please).

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions or if you would like to collaborate with us in other ways. We thank you in advance and look forward seeing you in Boston!

Email: liuigemgroup AT gmail DOT com

Link to the Survey" - Team Linkoping Sweden

Team Aalto-Helsinki - BioBrick Seeker and Team Seeker tools

"Hi,

We made a couple of tools to simplify our iGEM research work and we thought that they might be useful for other teams too.

BioBrick Seeker:
BioBrick Seeker is a simple but powerful tool that searches the BioBricks in the 2014 iGEM distribution. This tool shows the part’s name, description, type, location on the 2014 kit plates and includes the link to the part’s official page on the iGEM website. You can filter the BioBricks by brick type and backbone.

You can also search BioBricks by using words that are in their description. We were interested in scents, so 'odor' and 'fragrance' found us some useful BioBricks. There's also a search for the part name when you want to see if the BioBrick you found from the Registry is in the 2014 Distribution.

Team Seeker:
For searching through previous iGEM teams from 2008 to 2013. You can see what has already been done and how similar projects tackled their problems.

Both are work in progress and subject to improvements. If you found our tools useful or have ideas for improvement, contact us via Twitter @AaltoHelsinki or send e-mail to team (at) aaltohelsinki.com"

Team Aalto-Helsinki

Teams SYSU-Software and SYSU-China - Biobrick Blast tool

"Have trouble finding biobricks containing or related to a known sequence? Biobrick Blast Online can certainly help you! Made by SYSU-Software and SYSU-China, Biobrick Blast Online is an online Biobrick alignment and search toolkit. Enter only your sequence, and you will soon get all Biobricks that contain or are related to your sequence, as well as the overall information on those Biobricks.

This toolkit not only contains the latest complete iGEM part registry data but also helps you search Biobricks in 2013 or 2014 iGEM DNA Distribution. So move on and have a try!

If you need any help or have any suggestion, please don’t hesitate to contact us at sysusoftware (at) 126.com!

The online version of software has been released, and there is also a demo video available."

-SYSU-Software and SYSU-China

Automatically generate plans for assembling your genetic constructs

"Dear iGEM Community,

We would like to introduce a tool for calculating cloning plans for assembling genetic constructs. This tool, Raven, inputs a library of parts and target constructs and determines optimized plans for assembling an arbitrarily large set of target constructs with a selected assembly method.

The software is freely available at ravencad.org where there are examples files and user videos to demonstrate how to use the software.

The work is also detailed in this month's issue of Nature methods: http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v11/n6/full/nmeth.2939.html

Thanks,

Evan Appleton, Boston University"

Team Virginia - Survey

"My name is Tom Moss, and I am a member of the University of Virginia's 2014 iGEM team. We have designed an online survey to gauge acceptance and understanding of synthetic biology by the general public. We hope that global distribution of and participation in this survey will allow for more targeted public education efforts in the human practices component of the iGEM competition. Participation would involve going to a public place and approaching pedestrians to fill out the short survey. In addition, if your team collects data from at least 20 participants, we will award your team a web badge. This web badge can be displayed on the team’s wiki, and will denote your participation in our study.

If you are interested in taking part in the survey, please contact me at virginia.igem (at) gmail.com for further information and instructions.

Thank you very much,
Tom Moss
Cara Broshkevitch
Grace Mantus"

Participate in the iGEM Interlab Study!

"Calling all iGEM teams!

Can your team measure fluorescence? Do you care about how well your parts work and whether they'll work the same for other people?

If so, we invite you to participate in the first iGEM interlab study! The interlab study is part of the new iGEM Measurement Track, but teams from every track are invited and encouraged to participate.

Participating is simple: you just need to build and measure three simple constructs. The goal is to find out how these measurements compare between different teams in different labs all over the world. If you want to get a little more in depth, there are extra credit studies to do as well.

Can you help us make this the biggest international interlab study ever performed in synthetic biology?

Email measurement (at) igem.org to sign up to participate (deadline: July 1st) or if you have questions.

iGEM 2014 Measurement Track Organizers
Jacob Beal - BBN Technologies
Traci Haddock - Boston University
Jim Hollenhorst - Agilent"

Synthetic Biology: Engineering Complexity - Invitation to Participate in a Special Topic

"Dear iGEM Community,

Francesca Ceroni (former iGEM judge), Pablo Carbonell, and Karmella Haynes (current iGEM Head Judge) are organizing a new Special Topic issue for the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology: Synthetic Biology. Frontiers articles are rigorously peer-reviewed, can be disseminated freely and are widely read by your colleagues and by the broader scientific and medical research communities.

Please, see the link below for the full description of the topic:
http://www.frontiersin.org/Synthetic_Biology/researchtopics/Synthetic_Biology_engineering_/2866

The aim of the topic “Synthetic Biology: engineering complexity” is to gather views from specialists in the field about reconciling the inherent complexity of natural systems with traditional engineering principles. We are particularly interested in context-dependent behaviors of synthetic systems, and emergent behaviors of synthetic and semi-synthetic systems.

We would like to include a broad range of contributions - they can be reviews, research articles, opinion articles, etc.

Thus, we are writing to kindly ask if you will be able to contribute a manuscript to the topic. Please note that the deadline for manuscript submission is September 15, 2014. Author submission guidelines can be found here: http://www.frontiersin.org/about/AuthorGuidelines

Please contact Karmella Haynes to express your interest in contributing a manuscript. After you respond, you will receive a second automatic invitation for participation from the Frontiers website. If you have any questions, please contact karmella dot haynes at asu dot edu and we will do our best to assist you.

Kind regards,

Karmella Haynes – Arizona State University
Francesca Ceroni – Imperial College
Pablo Carbonell – University of Evry"

Team Uppsala - "Synthetic Biology: A Lab Manual"

"This is the first manual for lab work in SynBio. It is aimed at non-specialists and includes practical material for the iGEM competition. Sample book chapters and George Church's inspiring foreword are available free, and ordering information for the book and eBook version from just GBP19.00 are available at this link." - Team Uppsala

You can contact them at igemuppsala (at) gmail.com!

Team NTNU Trondheim - iGEM Matchmaker tool

"Looking for another team to collaborate with? Try the iGEM Matchmaker tool here and find other teams to give or receive help!" - Team NTNU Trondheim