Collaborations have been one of the greatest parts of iGEM, it was amazing to meet lovers of the science from all over the world, share whit them and make contacts. It was wonderful to hear all the ideas of their projects and share our idea too.

As newbies, we asked many questions and all the teams were always willing to answer, thank you very much. We shared whit teams from Mexico, Estonia, España, Chile and we participated in the MeetUp Latinametica. Below are the different iGEM teams that have collaborated with us.

ESTONIA

The iGEM team from Tartu Estonia, is working in the production of mycosporine-like amino acids, UV radiation protection compounds, in yeast using the genes from two different cyanobacterial species. This compounds work not only as sunscreen but also are able to protect skin from photoaging, have the anti-inflammatory effect and antioxidant activity and even could be considered as anti-cancer agents.

As Ecuador is located on the equatorial line or parallel 0 °, is subjected to extremely high UV radiation indices, especially in the Andean area. In our country, there are constant campaigns to prevent skin cancer and protection against intense radiation.

In the meetings with the iGEM team from Tartu we talked about the importance of your project and how it would benefit tropical countries like ours. We also comment on experiences on how the sunscreens contain chemical compounds which are extremely toxic to the oceans and the environment.

SPAIN

SynBio has never been easier, UPV Valencia is working in "Printeria", a fully equipped bioengineering device, literally a mini lab that opens the door to a world of affordable applications for the general public. Printeria is able to automate the process of printing genetic circuits in bacteria and is as easy to operate as a common printer. It uses a system of digital microfluidics that creates small droplets that can be mixed and moved through predefined electrode trajectories. This box lab is combined with Golden Gate technology, sensors and low-cost electronics and an easy-to-use software application.

Just like that the user is able to assemble parts of DNA domesticated in a one-step reaction and can control all biotechnological steps, from the assembly of parts and transformation to cell culture, with high precision.

The initial idea was to try the production of the fusion proteins and bacterial cellulose in Printeria. Can you imagen that hospital would produce his own bandages when they need it? But both teams have problems with the size of the parts, so we change plans and decided to evaluate the opinion of researchers, medicians and artist.

Spain: https://youtu.be/ITVeAXSsO5k

Ecuador: https://youtu.be/LDC6Ud6j1JY

Also, the iGEM team Valencia UPV provided us with an E. coli strain called BL21(DE3), thank you very much.

MEXICO

TecCEM

Also, we do videocalls to share ideas and feedback about our projects.

MEETUP LATIN AMERICA

The past July, we had the chance to attend online at the Latin American Meetup hosted by team TecCEM. There we heard about the other Latin American's projects, sharing experiences and learning from each other. We got the opportunity to present our project and received good questions from experts that had helped us to be prepared for the Giant Jamboree and gives us experience. The eight teams that participated in the meetup were: TecCEM, Tec-Chihuahua, Tec-Monterrey, TecMonterrey-GDL , UChile_Biotec, Ecuador, USP-EEL-Brazil, USP-Brazil.

The feedback provided by the specialists was crucial for the proper development of the projects, and beyond the scientific issues, we were able to get to know each other, get along and create bonds of collaboration and support between the teams.

Dancing in the lab is something that we all have done some time! This collaboration is a prove. We participated in the creation of a music video with the songs: Labs like you and Moves like iGEM. Collaboration organized by TecCEM, was one of the most fun and we spent an incredible time recording the video.

Below is a list of all the teams that participated:

1. iGEM IISER Bhopa

2. IGEM AFCM

3. IGEM UNESP BRAZIL

4. IGEM WASHINGTON

5. IGEM Tust China

6. iGEM team Bielefeld-CeBiTec

7. IISc-Bangalore iGEM Team

8. IGEM BRAZIL USP

9. IGEM DUSSELDORF

10. IGEM GRONINGEN

11. IGEM DALHOUSIE

12. IGEM LEIDEN

13. Team UFLORIDA

14. Tarta TUIT_IGEM

15. Toulouse INSA UPS

16. IGEM MICHIGAN STATE

17. Team UCHILE_Biotec

18. ECUADOR

19. IGEM BRAZIL USP EEL

20. Tec-Guadalajara

21. Tec-Chihuahua

22. UCSC IGEM

23. TecCEM

24. iTESLA-SoundBio Team

25. Tacoma RainMakers Team

Tec-Monterrey

It was a great experience to have had a video conference with the Tec-Monterrey team who welcomed us to IGEM because they were the first team we contacted.

CHILE

We participated in the collaboration organized by the UChile_Biotec team that consisted in the creation of the Latin America magazine. The most delicious collaboration, we exposed some delicious typical dishes of our country such as the guaguas de pan, arroz de leche and fritada. We thank the UChile_Biotec team for giving us the opportunity to be part of LATAM:

Surveys, Supporting development in iGEM.

iGEM is a competition that brings together lovers of technology from all over the world, passionate about the development of science and a way to know points of view and opinions of all of them, are the surveys. Through social networks such as Instagram, Faceook and Youtube we have contacted several teams that have asked for our opinion and below are some of the surveys conducted during IGEM 2018 by the Ecuador team:

Team iGEM Thessaloniki

Team Bielefeld-CeBiTec, Germany.

Team Lund, Sweden.

Team Botchan Lab Tokyo japon

Team Macquaire

We thank all the teams involved in these collaborations for giving us advice, for sharing their time with us, supporting our project and making this experience more amusing. See you in Boston.