Collaborations

When we were introduced to the Notre Dame Collegiate team at the aGEM (Alberta) competition, we were extremely impressed by the hard work that these younger students accomplished in their project. It was evident though that their access to necessary equipment was severely limited, to the point that they were required to build their own incubator. Touched by the heart put into their project, we offered for their team to visit our labs and conduct some of their final assays needed as a proof of concept for their team. Along with supporting their lab work, our resident graphic designer created a new logo for their project, which was used as a base model to teach their dry lab subgroup the basics of design. This logo was replicated by one of their team members, and is now used on their wiki. The members of the team we interacted with were all very appreciative and ready to learn. We hope to catch-up with their team at the jamboree and cheer them on.

University of Lethbridge

As a fellow Canadian team, we hoped for an ongoing relationship with the Queens Canada iGEM team. Coincidentally, both members of the uCalgary team and the Queens team were also participating in a second research competition called the Canada Reduced Gravity Experiment (Can-RGX). Can-RGX is a nationwide competition wherein four collegiate teams were selected to prototype and test an experiment in micro-gravity through parabolic flight. Through Can-RGX, relationships were formed very early in the year between members of both teams, which continued to pay dividends for the remainder of the summer. Cooperative planning and troubleshooting was performed throughout various meetings, both in person and over Skype. Topics such as the acquisition of funding, the ordering of complex DNA parts, and opportunities to take advantage of were shared and debated. The Queens Canada team alerted us to a promotion offered by Genscript which provided free DNA fragment synthesis, which proved integral to our project design. They also provided advice on re-designing DNA fragments which were too problematic to synthesize as single strands, aiding us in getting the ball rolling with our wet lab research. It was rewarding and refreshing to have a cooperative team with which we shared a running conversation and friendship, even for the simple ups and downs of undergraduate research.

Public Engagement

In an initial attempt to gain some credence and feedback on our newly synthesized project, we presented a project proposal to faculty members at the University of Calgary. The result of this directly came from the mentor relationships we formed from attendees. At the talk directly, we were encouraged to think of how our project, if functional, would impact the world and what applications would be useful. Although, throughout the summer, the fine details of some of our systems such as the microfluidics device or the consideration of disease targets were corroborated with these faculty advisors. However, the results of this event had lasting effects on the slow adoption of a narrative that does not solely centre on the implementation of gene therapy, due to surrounding debate on the subject.

Students

General Public

Safety

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