Team:Paris Bettencourt/Team

CLOVIS BASIER
Biologist

I did iGEM last year with the team Paris Bettencourt and the experience was great. I learnt more than I ever had and met fantastic people. I signed up again this year as an advisor to share my experience and work on a new creative project as well as meet new people and eat ice creams!

MARGUERITE BENONY
Designer

I am a 23 years old product designer and a member of 2013 Paris Bettencourt iGEM team. While I was studying applied arts, I became deeply interested in Biology and harnessed my designer's energy to seek the potential of an exciting upcoming field witch is the synergy between design and biology.
Whilst investigating this friction, I discovered Synthetic Biology. I became instantly amazed by its potential in real life implication and the role that design could have in this technology. Naturally, I then wanted to acquire actual wet lab experience in Synthetic Biology, enabling me to explore how designers can work with scientists and what are their roles, missions, interest would be. I believe iGEM is the best place for this investigation!

ARIEL LINDNER
Systems Biologist

I'm a researcher director at the Systems Evolutions and Engineering Dynamics (SEED) group at the French national Biomedical research Institute (INSERM) and co-founder of the Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI). Since 2006 I've been mentoring the first French team to participate in the iGEM adventure and still enjoy being challenged by team's students and see their projects flower.

IAN MARCUS
Microbial Ecologist

I'm a postdoc at the CRI, studying learning in synthetic biology through SynBio4all, an online open science platform. My PhD dissertation focused on the relationship between microbial community structure and function under varying environmental conditions and stresses. This is my first iGEM experience, and I'm having a blast as an advisor for this amazing group of extremely talented students!

ZORAN MARINKOVIC
Systems Biologist

I am a first year PhD student from the Frontières du Vivant PhD school. I studied Molecular and Evolutionary Biology at University of Zagreb in Croatia and Uppsala University in Sweden. I obtained my master's degree in Systems and Synthetic Biology at Paris Descartes University. In 2012 I was a student member of the iGEM Paris Bettencourt team and in 2013 I was an advisor. My primary scientific interest is application of synthetic biology for creating bioproducts as well as using synthetic biology in fundamental research. I am also quite interested in developing synthetic biology as a tool for creating living organisms from scratch as we build many non-living constructs today.

JAKE WINTERMUTE
Systems Biologist

I’m a postdoc at the CRI and I teach the Synthetic Biology course for first-year master’s students. I did my Ph.D. in Pam Silver’s lab in the Harvard Systems Biology department. My research interests include aging, evolution, metabolism and of course Synthetic Biology.

HENRY DE BELLY
Biophysicist

I am 22, I have a Bachelor in Microbiology and Immunology. I am currently completing a master degree in life science at the Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires. I am very interested in system biology, biophysics, quantitative biology and single cell study approaches. Moreover I am also interested on how an interdisciplinary team can work together to resolve complex problems. I am very excited about iGEM, it’s a great opportunity to meet new people’s with a lot of talent and ideas. I am apparently a mutant for the Trimethylamine receptor, which is cool because apparently the lab is smelling a lot !

JUDITH BOLDT
Bioinformatician

I come from Hamburg, a city known for its rainy and windy weather. After studying Mathematics and Bioinformatics in the sunny Munich, I almost feel at home in Paris, where you never know if it will rain in the next minute. Before I joined iGEM, I spent 6 months studying at the CRI, getting to know a new and interactive way of learning. With iGEM, I want to put my theoretical knowledge into use in a scientific project.

IHAB BOULAS
Biologist

After graduating with a Biomedical Sciences BSc., my interests were focused on bringing new answers to neurodegeneration and aging by the use of innovative approaches such as Synthetic Biology. In that respect I wanted to learn by doing Synthetic Biology. Besides, I see this project as a large proof of concept : showing that we are able to control our microbiome. I am a project driven scientist. Being involved in a motivating project allows me to have full commitment to it and to live by it. Thus, I see this competition as an opportunity not only to commit to a project I helped design but also to broaden my skills and show what I can accomplish in a given period of time. It looks like it's gonna be a summer as great as smelly !

MARIANNE CARDON
Designer

I am a 24 years old student at ENSCI - Les Ateliers Design school. iGEM gives me the opportunity to work on a science base project with an international and interdisciplinary team. I think design can help to reach user centered project and question the relation between innovation and society, as much as facilitate the public access to scientific research and ideas. Taking part in this project is the best way to put theory into practice !

URSZULA CZERWINSKA
Systems Biologist

My name is Ula and I am from Poland. I study Systems Biology in Paris. Besides science I am very interested in Science communication and education. At iGEM I am working on the 'Teen Spirit'. I try to evolve bacteria to scavenge 2-nonenal, a molecule responsible for the old people specific odor. I love iGEM spirit and my iGEM international team. Cannot wait to participate in the Jaboree.

ALEXANDRE EVANS
Biotechnologist

Hey there.I study Biotechnologies for a year now and I love learning new stuff.This summer i've been mainly working on our citizen science project and gathered tons of sweat around Paris ! I also enjoy looking at people's face after smelling a sample, this is priceless ! After smelling billions of samples for iGEM (i never joke), I am now immune to strong and bad body odors, though i still cannot stand the odor from my neighbour cooking fish every single day, but that's a different story.Nevermind, BODY ODOR FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD, I CHALLENGE YOU, COME AT ME BRAS.

JUAN MANUEL GARCIA
Biotechnologist

Hiya! This is Juanma (Juan Manuel), a Spanish flamenco-dancer scientist from Sevilla. I love good food, travelling, learning languages and meeting new people. I am in between education and bioengineering, between politics and genetics. This year, I am doing some bacterial genetics at iGEM but my main focus in on the MOOC supporting iGEM High School competition, and I enjoy it!

CRISTINA GARCÍA-TÍMERMANS
Medical Biochemist

I am a master student in 'Approaches Interdisciplinaires du Vivant' and alumni of the University of Navarra. As a Biochemist, I want to find out how to use SynBio to change the Human Microbiome. As a citizen, I hope our evil plan works so that the parisian metro will not stink anymore. Au revoir body odor! I imagine a world that smells like baked bread, jasmine and rain.

AAKRITI JAIN
Bio-engineer

I am a bioengineer/bioinformatician for this year's Paris Bettencourt iGEM team and a recent graduate from UC Berkeley and an M2 student at the CRI. Upon my arrival to Paris, I took the metro from the airport to my new apartment, and immediately realized the reason behind the energy and enthusiasm the team had to cure body odor. My hope is that the Paris metro will one day smell of jasmine and wintergreen. I dream of the day when people on my team will stop asking me to smell samples of armpit odor, fish odor, foot odor, and a milieu of other extremely disgusting odors.

MEGANE MATYSIAK
Bio-engineer

I am a student in biotechnology engineering. My interests involve fields such as optogenetics, bioelectric controlled prosthesis, and biotechnologies in general. Since biotechnologies involve more and more synthetic biology, iGEM seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to learn by doing. Moreover, I wanted to apply my skills in bioinformatics and engineering to a common issue: the human-microbiome relationship. Therefore it is reasonable to think that my expectations for this summer will be smelly fulfilled!

ESTEFANIA MUCINO CASTILLO
Biologist

My name is Estefanía. I am Mexican. I coursed my Bachelor studies at the Philipps-University Marburg in Germany. I am now in the second year of my Master studies at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris France. Innovation and networking fascinate me as much as science. Entrepeneurship is a field in which I would like to act in the future. My passion is to meet new cultures.

NARESH RAMBABU
Neuroscientist

This is Naresh Rambabu from India, I am a biotechnologist, currently i am pursuing my masters in Bioinnovation and Engineering in Neuroscience. I love iGEM. I am kind of a cool and complicated guy. I show more interest towards the new technologies, no matter which domain it falls under. I often do crazy things out of curiosity and I call it science.

FRANCOIS ROUSSET
Biologist

I am 20 and passionated by science and music. I am currently a 2nd year student in AgroParisTech, the French institute for life, food and environment. I discovered Synthetic Biology at the beginning of the year and I found that iGEM was an unique opportunity to get a first experience in the world of research. This summer I worked on great subprojects: Teen spirit and Something Fishy, causing delicious odors in the lab during the whole summer! But it's for science so whatever!

PIERRE-LUC SATIN
Biologist

I am a biologist in third year in the Licence Frontière du Vivant. I am interest in genetics in general and stem cell in particular.I am also interrest a bit in informatics, that's why I became the wiki guy of the team. I think this project is a good idea which as a future in cometics but I have a very sensitive nose and the smell in the lab was very hard to support sometimes but if we can help curing stinky people I can suffer a bit to make the world smell better.

ANTONIO VILLAREAL LARRAURI
Biologist

I am a biotech engineer enrolled in the AIV masters at the Centre de Recherche Interdisciplinaires. My scientific interests include molecular evolution, metabolic engineering, as well as synthetic and systems biology. I tend to get philosophical about a wide range of subjects quite often. I love the ocean and I still believe music will change the world.

SYLVIA YANG
Biological Engineer and Entrepreneur

Hi, I am Sylvia Yang. I grew up in Shenzhen, China, right beside Hong Kong, and am a junior in Stanford University majoring in Bioengineering, interested in Political Science, studio art and business. Out of lab and school, I love traveling, scuba diving and talking to synthetic biologists. I hate rats and PCRs that never work. iGEM has been a great experience and I look forward to meeting you in Boston!