Rice University

We helped Rice University iGEM troubleshoot their Pseudomonas transformations.

On July 17, we videochatted with Rice iGEM, since our projects both involve biostimulants and the Pseudomonas genus. We learned they were having trouble transforming Pseudomonas putida, their chassis, and were trying to avoid using electroporation. We provided several technical suggestions. For example, our team had succeeded using transformation protocols similar to Rice’s on a different chassis (the one Newcastle iGEM used in 2018), so we suggested that Rice use it instead. We also got our PI’s permission to share his personal Pseudomonas transformation protocols with Rice.

Waterloo University

We pooled Human Practices research with Waterloo University.

We were in touch with Waterloo University throughout the summer. Since their project, like ours, involved biostimulants, our teams pooled human practices research. This gave both our teams some useful context, since our team’s human practices research was balanced more toward regulations while their team’s research focused on farmers attitudes toward biostimulants.

Cornell

We helped Cornell iGEM develop their outreach booklet on harmful algal blooms.

We collaborated with Cornell by helping them write and test their Harmful Algal Blooms Booklet. Our team read a draft of their booklet and provided suggestions, like breaking up long blocks of technical text and defining their “current solutions” before listing those solutions’ pros and cons. This increased the readability of their document. Our team also contributed about 10% of the responses to their pre-and-post booklet distribution surveys.

Cornell, Purdue, and UMichigan

Cornell iGEM, Purdue iGEM, and UMichigan iGEM mentored our team.

Cornell: During the summer, we videochatted with Cornell iGEM. They mentored us by sharing their systems regarding team organization and the competition timeline, and they also answered our questions on specific aspects of iGEM like collaboration and human practices research. Some of their recommendations, like their system for logging their work during the summer and a tool they use to find meeting times that work for everyone, were quite helpful to us.
Purdue: We Skyped with the Purdue team early in the summer to learn more about how their team structured work and responsibilities because we had similarly-sized teams. They were able to help us determine a rough timeline for the iGEM season and evaluate our progress. We were able to visit them late in the summer to observe a typical day for the team and even got to sit in on a meeting with their advisors.
UMichigan: Three of our members travelled to Ann Arbor for our first meetup with an iGEM team. The Michigan team gave us a tour of their laboratory and workspace, took us to dinner where we had a meaningful Q&A with both the students and their advisor, and allowed us to sit in on a proper team meeting. This meetup provided an outline for functional and effective team discussion and planning, as well as answering our questions about iGEM lab work and the Giant Jamboree.

Hamburg University

We contributed to Hamburg University’s World Map of Abstracts collaboration project.

Hamburg University is creating a map of abstracts of iGEM teams throughout the world. The abstracts are meant to be written in simple English so they can be understood by a global audience.

US AFRL CarrollHS

We presented at AFRL-Carroll iGEM’s June 22 meetup, participated in their Mike the Microbe collaboration, and requested a video for their wiki guide collaboration