Collaborations

During the European meeting in Munich we met 4 members of IGEM Groningen. We got along well and after discussing we invited them to come in Bordeaux. They came for 4 days in our hometown with the objective to collaborate and exchange on our respective knowledges. They brought us their skills in chemistry under the form of a workshop during which they explained us some specific points linked to our projects. They had read our protocols and gave us some feedbacks on the feasibility of them. They had also prepared and documented on some other protocols of HPLC that we next have been using during our lab work.

In exchange we led a debate about ethic in a context of synthetic biology. They had prepared some ethical questions to discuss. We also had prepared a presentation about consciousness reflection to apply to our IGEM projects. Beside the working hours we had time to show them Bordeaux and its surroundings. We took them on a personalized city tour of Bordeaux. The next day we brought them to the Pyla Dune, a famous touristic attraction since it is the biggest sand dune of Europe. At the end of the 4 days we had spent and shared a really good time with them. We are grateful and happy of this collaboration.

We have contacted IGEM Leiden because their project was interesting to link to our subject. Igem Leiden’s project is about creating a platform to detect cell stress in E.Coli via stress response system coupled to colored proteins. In our project the intermediate called HMF (HydroxyMethylFurfural) between cellulose and our molecule of interest, FDCA (FuranDiCarboxylicAcid), is known to be toxic for the cells. That is why we asked Leiden Igem team to help us in screening this toxicity by using their project, allowing them to test their platform on another chemical to prove its effectiveness.

We met the team of IGEM Sorbonne and IGEM Saclay during the French meetup in Paris in July.We talked and exchanged a lot about our respective projects. They were linked on some points, therefore they offered to attend a conference organized by themselves. This conference took place on the 26th of September, in Paris, and was entitled « What synthetic biology will bring to the future’ IGEM Paris Saclay was also part of it. Each of us invited a researcher to talk about his studies all linked with projects including synthetic biology to face challenges of the future. As we could not travel to Paris to attend the conference, IGEM Sorbonne broadcasted it via Facebook where we could listen and participate to the debate which ensued. Thank you IGEM Sorbonne ans IGEM Saclay for giving us this opportunity!

The collaboration with IGEM Toulouse was aimed to test some lab products. Their project involves the production of cellulose, which we would later use for our lab experiments. Hence, after producing cellulose in their premises they brought it in Bordeaux. This exchange was meaningful in a sense that it has permitted them to test their bacterial cellulose production. In the other side, for us, it was the opportunity to try different source of glucose to produce the HMF molecule. Once again, we took profit of this meeting to spend good times all together in Bordeaux.

Meetup

Paris:

We were invited to the 4th French meeting organized by the iGEM Pasteur team on July 4, 2018. Four of our team members (Lorine, Yasmine, François and David) went to Paris to support the project. After a good breakfast offered by the organizers, we attended the projects presentations of our colleagues from other French IGEM teams. The feedback from the juries was a great opportunity to improve our presentations for the Giant Jamboree.

Lunch break provide us the ability to meet and discuss with the others iGEM team members. During the workshops in the afternoon, we have discussed with scientists and exchange about diversified and interesting subjects. We were able to meet researchers in round tables (workshops) organized in small groups. Various talks themes allowed us to defend ideas with people who have been invited by iGEM team Pasteur. At night, we met in 'Place des Invalides' to continue to share and exchange about our experiences as iGEMers.

Munich:

The European meeting organised by the IGEM Munich team took place from the 20th to 22th of July. The organizers welcomed 4 of our members (Yasmine, Jean Clément, Anaïs and David) in a good mood, offering them badges and goodies.

We then attended lectures given by Friedrich Simmel and Kristen Jung, researchers at the University of Munich. Afterwards, the members of the Munich team were kind enough to show us the city and we finished the evening at the English Garden with all the other teams.

The following two days we were able to share our experiences during various workshops and games. We had the opportunity to present our poster to the other teams during these 3 days. This allowed us to get feedbacks on our project, on our experimental approach and on the way our project is presented.

On the last evening we shared dinner followed by a few drinks with our new friends from various iGEM teams. This meeting was definitely worth the trip!

Marseille:

The mediterranean meetup took place in Marseille on the 9th and 10th of August, 2 members of iGEM Bordeaux attended this meetup (David and Estelle). First of all we had a presentation of the project of each team in 180 seconds, a very interesting and challenging training. The afternoon was supposed to be booked for the Marseille tour, but the weather did not agree. However many discussion between the teams and the general good mood saved this afternoon and we spent the night in some pubs with many teams to continue sharing our feelings and experiences about the competition.

The second day we attended several workshops about bioethics and after iGEM, those workshop were very interesting. The afternoon we had a poster session with some guests, all researchers at Marseille University. We received many great comments, a perfect way to keep our motivation . Overall it was a wonderful meetup full of good people and relevant workshops.