iGEM 2019 News

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		iGEM 2020 Info-meeting Are you interested in iGEM? do you want to develop your own project, work on it and finally present it in Boston? We will have info-events on 23.09.2019, 08.10.2019, 23.10.2019 or 07.11.2019 at 16:00 c. t. in G2-104 where you can get informed.

		11.07.2019 Poster Session CeBiTec Once a year there is the meeting of the Scientific Committee of the CeBiTec (Center for Biotechnology). This year this meeting, to which professors from different universities were invited to take a look on the progress of the research center, took place on the 11th of July in the Foyer of the CeBiTec. Our team had the honour to take part on the poster session this year, by exhibiting a self designed poster about our project next to the posters of the other working groups. So we had the opportunity to present our project to different experts and to get feedback.

		05.-07.07.2019 German Meetup Düsseldorf From 5th to 7th of July we participated on the German Meetup in Düsseldorf. With 18 teams it was well attended. On Friday after the welcome there was a panel discussion about ethics, security, chances and risks of synthetic biology. On Saturday and Sunday there have been divers speeches about different topics in the field of synthetic biology. Among them there was a talk from Prof. Dr. Westhoff about the possibilities to modify agricultural plants genetically to make them resistant against pests. Especially from this presentation we got many helpful information. Moreover all participant teams had prepared a poster about their project. Between the talks there was time to look at the posters of the other teams, to get introduced in their projects and to discuss. Beneath the official program the familiarization with the other iGEMers and the fun did not come off badly. There were possibilities to get to know each other while the meals and there were also lab Olympics and a city tour.

		26.06.2019 Troygenics In June we finally could agree on a title for our projecttopic. Our iGEM project will from now on be labeled as ,,Troygenics – The Odyssee to World transforming Shuttles”. The name is a combination of the words Troy and Genetic and refers to the secret infiltration of the antique city Troy through the trick with the famous trojenic horse. In a quite similar way our system is designed to infiltrate the certain pathogene precisely and specifically and to destroy it from inside out.

		25.06.2019 Skype conference with Piers Millet As we attach great value to Biosafety and Biosecurity and with these follow a tradition from Bielefeld iGEM teams, we contacted Piers Millet, Ph.D., the director for safety and security at iGEM and member of the iGEM safety committee. In our Skype conference an 25th of June he helped us to optimize our biosecurity concept, to interprete is better and to extend it. With the advice from Piers Millet we could gain insights how important Biosafety is for iGEM and we were referred to similar projects besides iGEM which could be an example for plans such like ours.

		13.-14.06.2019 iGEM Meetup The Hague A special event in this month was the iGEM Meetup in The Hague. On two consecutive days we got the possibility to deal with important topics in iGEM by doing workshops, exercises and listening to presentations. Furthermore we explained our own project with a poster. Besides this poster session the familiarization with the other teams from Europe and talking about each others project took center stage. So ideas could be exchanged, criticisms dealt out and cooperations could be made directly with the teams. Beyond the Meetup there were many opportunities to spend time with the other teams and get to know each other in The Hague. Also there were many experts and organizers from iGEM at the Meetup who could help when we had problems.

		03.-05.06.2019 Berlin As part of our Cooperation with the iGEM team from the Humboldt-University of Berlin our team members Ina and Katharina traveled to Berlin for three days. From the 3rd to the 5th of June they were accommodated in Berlin from the ClamyLicious Team. During these three days intensive talks about the project plans from both teams proceeded. Many different topics, from labwork to ideas for outreach to team organization have been discussed. On the 2nd day as part of the mentoring some members of the Berlin team were introduced in the basics of html by Ina and Katharina. At the end of the course they explained the work with the iGEM team wiki. During their stay in Berlin Ina and Katharina could see the daily routine of the Berlin team and could help them in case of problems.

		Cooperation with the iGEM team Düsseldorf This year we hold intensive contact to the iGEM team from Düsseldorf and have an interesting cooperation project. To get to know each other better and to work out the project better some of out team members drove to Düsseldorf on 15th of May. Together we developed more ideas and we concretized our project plans by talking to another cooperation partner. We had a beautiful evening in the City of Düsseldorf with an ice in the sunshine while we exchanged about our projects. The Result of our Cooperation will be visitable at the German Meetup in Düsseldorf in the beginning of July. There will be also the possibility for interested visitors from Düsseldorf to see the results of our joint work and to learn something about synthetic biology. We also could establish contacts for cooperations with the iGEM teams from Munich and the one from Thessaly.

		06.05.2019 FameLab final As you might remember, our team member Alex was the first runner up in the lokal predecision of the FameLab competition. Today he and the nine other winners of the five predecisions participated in the Germany-wide final of the FameLab competition. The final took place in the Rudolf Oetker Halle in Bielefeld infant of an audience of 1300 interested people. In the FameLab competition scientists present their project or a scientific subject within 3 minutes to a lay audience in an understandable and preferably fun way. Alex presented the topic of our iGEM team, dressed as a farmer who is excited to tell everyone about the our project and it´s benefits compared to fungicides. Alex was also interview by the WDR Lokalzeit, a lokal TV show. Your can find the video of the interview under the tab „iGEM 2019 press“. As a team we would like to congratulate the winners Thora Schubert and Valerie Vaquet.

		04.05.2019 March for science The march for science is a movement, started in 2017. Today we traveled to Colone to demonstrate for science, together with a few hundred other science-enthusiasts, among them was also the iGEM Team Düsseldorf. The goals of the march for science which are most important to us are an improved science communication, the believe in true scientifically proven facts and a free access to knowledge and scientific papers for everyone. At the end of the demonstration we listend to some great talks concerning the topic. For example the science journalist Ranger Yogeshwar gave an enthusiastic talk about the importance of proper vaccinations and science communication.

		12. - 14.04.2019 Masterclass workshop in Berlin By winning the second place at the regional heat of the FameLab competition 2019 in Bielefeld, our team member Alex got the opportunity to go to Berlin for a two-day media training. Here is his report about the weekend. “After the arrival on Friday I still had enough time to explore Berlin on my own and to get to know some of the other finalists from the four other regional heats. On Saturday and Sunday we were trained by Malcom Love, an experienced media expert, in the different areas of science communication. The office of the British Council was located directly at Alexanderplatz. The emphases of the training were the optimal way of presenting, dealing with the audience, storybuilding and giving interviews for radio, television and the press. The experience and tips of experts were available at any time. In addition, valuable experiences could also be exchanged with the other finalists. The media training gave me an excellent insight into how science communication works. In the course of the two days I was able to learn a lot of things that will be of lasting benefit to me in later scientific work and my career. Also, in relation to our iGEM project, what I learned has already started to pay off. The opportunity to exchange knowledge with other committed scientists during such a training was a very special experience which can be very useful not only for professions of research-related media work, but also for scientists in general. Finally, I would like to thank the British Council, the organisers of the FameLab competition, and our experienced media trainer Malcom Love for a wonderful and instructive weekend. Many thanks also to the other finalists who made the weekend unforgettable. I am looking forward to welcoming you to the final in my hometown Bielefeld." Alex also had the chance to visit the iGEM-Team of the Humboldt University of Berlin, a Team we already cooperated with. After a tour around the university and through their laboratory facilities we were able to discuss the latest developments of our projects.”

		12.04.2019 Skype conference with Felix Beck Today we had a Skype conference with Felix Beck, a Phd student from the department for international environmental law at Freiburg University. His work concerns the international liability law in connection with new methods in molecular biology. During our extensive conversation, he, amongst other interesting things, explained to us that many legal regulations in the area of biotechnology do not always appear plausible from a scientific perspective. Prior to its release in the EU, a genetically manipulated organism (GMO) needs to be declared safe within a risk classification system precisely described in EU law. Additionally, every EU country can decide whether or not to employ the approval of the GMO in question within their own policies. All this is documented in the European law, policy 2001/18/EC. He further emphasized the importance of intensifying the interdisciplinary dialog between biologists and jurists. Only then can progress be made in a safe manner. After having gained these first insights, our team is highly motivated to further engage in the topic.

		04.04.2019 FameLab predecision Our team member Alex participated in the FameLab Bielefeld predecision today. In the FameLab competition scientists present their project or a scientific subject within 3 minutes to a lay audience in an understandable and preferably fun way. Alex presented the topic of our iGEM team as a fairy tail and came in second. As one of this rewards, he is allowed to participate in the Germany-wide FameLab final. A video of Alex talk was published here by the organiser of the FameLab, the British Council Germany. (the talk was in german)

		01. - 05.04.2019 Python class This week four of our team members attended a class to learn the basics of the coding language python. They established a basis to enrich our project in the domains modeling and software-development. To complete the class either of them wrote a script which might help us whith our iGEM project in the the month ahead. For example a script to check wheather a primer sequence meets all requirements, or one to convert one file format for nucleic or proteinsequences into another.

		15.03.2019 Visit from iGEM TU-Berlin and Skype conference with iGEM-Tem Thessaly The iGEM teams TU-Berlin 2019 and Thessaly 2019 are taking part in the competition for the first time this year. Today Darius, a member of the iGEM team TU-Berlin 2019, visitid us in the CeBiTec. We had a great afternoon together, talking about iGEM and synthetic biology. We also gave him a guided tour trough the CeBiTec labs. In addition we also had our first skype conference with the iGEM team Thessaly 2019 form Greece today. We got to know each other, talked about our project topics and answered some general questions about the iGEM competition.

		13.03.2019 We've got a topic! The clear topic-favourite of our iGEM team-weekend has prevailed for good. We have decided to work on the construction of synthetic phage particels. These particles should enable us to develop a platform to fight various eukariotic pathogens. You can find a more detailed description of our project under the tab "iGEM 2019 Project".

		11.03.2019 Inkscape workshop Today the former iGEM Bielefeld-CeBiTec member Max (team of 2017) gave us an introduction course to the graphic program Inkscape. Now we now the basics and can start designing some great images for our posters and presentations.

		01. - 03.03.19 iGEM team weekend From friday to sunday the team members and advisors got together for a team-weekend, dedicaded to team building and the surch for this years iGEM topic. We drove to a lovely farmhouse in Brockum, Niedersachsen. After our arrival on Friday we had a nice barbecue together and did some research. Later in the evening we presented our results to the group and dicussed a lot. On saturday we continnued researching. This time we had a closer look into one of our top topics and even wrote a rough project plan. Besides all the research we also had a lot of fun together, for example while watching fotos of the giant gamboree from the Bielefeld-CeBiTec 2014 team. We are very excited about our own trip to the USA this year and are looking forward to presenting our work at the giant gamboree. On Sunday we drove back to Bielefeld around noon, after an extensive breakfast.

		12. - 13.01.2019 - Journal Club This weekend we all met at the CeBiTec and listened to exciting talks. Besides the introduction of some interesting previous iGEM-projects we discussed many actual issues in synthetic biology. Suggestions were provided by different papers, for example Exposure to Sound Vibrations Lead to Transcriptomic, Proteomic and Hormonal Changes in Arabidopsis (Ghosh et al. 2016) Nucleic acid detection with CRISPR-Cas13a/C2c2 (Gootenberg et al. 2017) Synthetic Biology. Engineering Mammalian Cells to Control Cell-to-Cell Communication at Will (Kojima et al. 2018) Is Research on "Synthetic Cells" Moving to the Next Level? (Stano 2018) Activation of silent biosynthetic gene clusters using transcription factor decoys (Wang et al. 2018) Bacteriophage-derived vectors for targeted cancer gene therapy (Pranjol et Hajitou 2015) Reemergence of human plague in Yunnan, China in 2016 (Shi et al. 2018) Bacterially produced polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA): converting renewable resources into bioplastics (Chee et al. 2010) Assembled Step Emulsification Device for Multiplex Droplet Digital PCR (Nie et al. 2019) Engineering the S-Layer of Caulobacter crescentus as a foundation for Stable, High-Density, 2D Living Materials (Charrier et al. 2018) All in all we had a succesful weekend filled with the right amount of fun and science. We had many inspiring discussions and learned a lot.

		17.12.2018 - iGEM cake sale To collect money for our iGEM-funds, we sold some cake and cookies in the great uni hall just before Christmas. Thank you, to all our supporters. We wish you all a verry merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

		03.12.2018 - iGEM Christmas party We, the recently formed iGEM Bielefeld-CeBiTec team 2019, organised a Christmas party and invited all of Bielefeld's iGEM alumni. In the evening, we got to know each other a little bit better and were able to get some advice and hear about their experience from the alumni. Thank you to everyone, for joining us and making this evening so great!

		29.11.2018 - Homecoming event of the 2018 team The nanoFactory team (Bielefeld-CeBiTec 2018) are back from the USA and repeated their Giant Gamboree presentation for all those interested in the topic here at home. Some potential newcomers for the iGEM Bielefeld-CeBiTec team 2019 were listening and congratulated them on all their achievements. Afterwards, we enjoied a slice of pizza with the iGEM alumni while they shared some valuable advice, tips and experince with us.

		28.11.2018 - Third team meeting with first lab experinces Since we got our savety instructions last week, today we were in the lab together for the first time. After talking about different cloning methods and efficiently designed primers we started our firs PCR. To get the PCR started we had to explore the lab and its equipment first, but all in all it worked out very well and the results seemed promising.

		21.11.2018 - Second team meeting with savety instructions Today, everyone interested in the iGEM Bielefeld-CeBiTec team 2019 got together for the second time. We organized some things, exchanged a few project-ideas and got our lab savety instructions form Prof. Dr. Jörn Kalinowski. Because we now know all the important details about behaviour in the lab and necessary steps to take in case of emergency, we now are prepared to start our labwork.

		07.11.2018 - Information event on iGEM 2019 The annual presentation of iGEM is intended to inform interested persons about the requirements and contents. After the presentation of Julian Droste and Boas Pucker to over 20 interested students, there was plenty of time to discuss questions. Of course Prof. Dr. Jörn Kalinowski, who has been in charge of the iGEM team in Bielefeld for the past seven years, was also present. On the basis of this event, interested parties should decide whether they would like to apply for the next iGEM team in Bielefeld. Room: G2 - 104 (CeBiTec) Date: Wednesday - November 7, 2018 Time: 6:00 p.m. (end approx. 19 - 19:30)