Achievements

We further eleborate on all the requirements needed for each Medal.

Bronze

• Registered for iGEM
• Completed judging form
• Designed a Wiki describing the BananaGuard project
• Present a poster and talk at the iGEM jamboree
• Documented attributions
• Documented and submitted 27 parts to the iGEM Registry
• Met criteria for bronze

Silver

• Validated and submitted the following BioBrick parts from our own project: Fusaric acid dependent promoter (Bba_K1493000) which was never before proven to be a fusaric acid promoter and this year we have proven that. Pfri (Bba_K1493200) that has shown to have pyoverdine production even when there is iron in the medium. And Kill switch new promoters (Bba_K1493801, Bba_K1493802, Bba_K1493804, Bba_K1493805 and Bba_K1493806) which are promoters made with different inhibitor binding sites and have shown to work!
• Characterized the following Biobrick parts from our own project: Fusaric acid dependent promoter (Bba_K1493000), pfri (Bba_K1493200)
• Considered safety in our project by implementing a Kill-switch system and a system to prevent horizontal gene transfer. By implementing these systems we will reduce the environmental impact of BananaGuard
• Collaborated with Synenergene and discussed many safety-concerning topics in synthetic biology and created techno-moral scenarios based on our project and also visualised them in a video (see Synenergene).
• Met all criteria for silver

Gold

• Improved the functions of existing BioBrick promoter parts (BBa_K914003 and BBa_K909012) by an extensive characterization using GFP fluorescence measurement. New BioBricks were also made where these promoters are coupled behind a GFP (BBa_K1493501 and BBa_K1493502)
• Collaborated with iGEM TU_Delft-Leiden from the Netherlands by quantifying the modified biofilm, formed in E. coli (see collaboration)
• Organized the first National conference with Dutch iGEM teams and anticipated a collaboration with the Dutch Institute of Health and Environment (RIVM) (see National meet-up)
• A symposium and a panel session was organized to inform government officials about the risks and possibilities of synthetic biology, sparking the public discussion about the use of synthetic biology (see policy)
• To spread the word about our research and to improve the product application, we interviewed and discussed our project with the leading banana plant scientists at Wageningen University, contacted an agronomic engineer from the Canary Islands, a stakeholder from the Philippines and talked to consumers whose everyday diet includes bananas (see interviews)
• In addition we also participated in the interlab study
• Met all criteria for gold

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