Difference between revisions of "Team:UMaryland/Collaborations"

After browsing abstracts for the 2018 Jamboree, we contacted all of the PET related teams we could.

• Makerere University
• OLS Canmore Canada
• RHIT
• ULaVerne
• Yale

From our communication, we learned that most teams were struggling to secrete PETase enzyme. Our team was no exception, so this informed our decision to abandon further work on secretion of PETase via HlyA. Instead we focused on PETase in cell lysate, which we have confirmed to be functional.

We collaborated the most with Makerere, who are entering their first year in iGEM! We shared whatever advice we could based on our experience, and discussed plans to use our detection system to analyze Makerere's degradation results, although intercontinental shipping may have made the plan too ambitious.

We discussed the creation of bacterial cellulose film with Baltimore BioLab. They provided us with critical insight into the process and supplied valuable materials. We also received advice on the design of our custom bioreactor.

Team UMaryland hosted this year's Mid-Atlantic Meetup, giving teams an opportunity to practice presenting their ideas and exchange feedback with other iGEM teams in the Mid-Atlantic Area!

Each team gave a short presentation followed by a Q&A, and we had have coffee breaks and lunch in between. We also hosted guest speakers Dr. Tom Burkett from the Baltimore Underground Science Space, and Elliot Roth of Spira to talk about their experience in synthetic biology from a broad range of backgrounds.

Thank you to all the teams who participated, teams: William and Mary, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Richard Montgomery, and Georgia State!

Read more about it here.