Notebook

Document the dates you worked on your project. This should be a detailed account of the work done each day for your project.

Day 1 -07/06/18

Started the day with introductory talks explaining iGem and the wiki, we then went onto look at previous competition entries. Jem Stach and Phil Wright spoke about their experience in the field, research interests and what makes a good competition entry.

Day 2 - 08/06/18

The day began with a talk from Jon Marles-Wright about the importance of human practices and the impacts of our projects in the real world. This was followed by Dana Ofiteru who taught us about mathematical modeling of biological systems. In the afternoon, plant biologist Max Kapralov discussed using synthetic biology to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis. Finally, Rachel Armstrong (professor of experimental architecture) discussed the potential of microorganism in waste management systems and energy production in the built environment. Rachel also outlined political and economic issues surrounding synthetic biology.

Day 3 - 11/06/18

We started the day with a talk from Angel Goni Moreno who discussed the principles of synthetic biology and provided guidance on the implementation of logic in Biology. The Masters students who are working on the Interlab study explained their role in the project and we brainstormed ideas. Following this, the Synthetic Biology Masters students discussed their individual projects involving modelling lab work. Each of the team gave a presentation on a previous competition entry that has won an award.

Day 4- 12/06/18

We started the day with a talk from Alice banks and Colette Whitfield. Followed by brainstorming with Tom, refining the original ideas with some extra. Then the marine biologist/Engineered talked to us about boat fouling. Finally we had a talk from Vas Andriotis who focused on plant biology (corn yield). Finishing with brainstorming.

Day 5- 13/06/18

The day began with a talk from Martyn Dade-Robertson who discussed the use of biotechnology in architecture and his research into pressure sensing E.coli. In the afternoon Harold Freemann led a discussion around the use of mathematical modelling and its uses in synthetic biology. Finally Alice Banks and Colette Whitfield covered current topics in synthetic biology and the equipment available to us in the laboratory.

Day 6- 14/06/18

This was our first day in which we were given freedom to explore our ideas and gain a necessary background surrounding the topics in order to refine into 6 ideas that will be pitched to research supervisors and the guest speakers who have given presentations since the project began.

Day 7- 15/06/18

We continued to explore our ideas for the majority of the day, narrowing our proposals down from ten ideas to six. We worked more as individuals, researching specific aspects of the proposals.

Day 8- 18/06/18

Today was more orientated around the ethical implications Synthetic Biology has. We started with a discussion with Dr. Ilke Turkendag, a lecturer in Law Innovation & Society. We discussed our six proposals and outlines possible ethical/legal issues which could arise. This was followed by an interesting talk from Simon Woods and Ken Taylor, they spoke about potential stakeholders and how we could go about talking/communicating with them. They also took each of our ideas and looked at the potential impacts our projects could have on the wider public. We then finished the day preparing for our six pitches on Tuesday.

Day 9- 19/06/18

We pitched the six ideas that had been selected to the advisers and masters students. After receiving feedback and suggestions from the advisory team we narrowed it down to two ideas to be taken forward. Further we constructed a template for both idea presentations and allocated team members to each idea. Umar is now our least favorite team member :)

Day 10/11- 21/06/18

Following on from the 2 ideas that we chose to take forward, we spent these next 2 days researching further into these proposals. During our research, we took a holistic approach when evaluating our ideas and attempted to account for topics such as human practices, ethical implications and possible art and design ideas. We incorporated this into our 2 ideas which we then pitched to the supervisory team and Master's students. Everyone was drained of energy by the end of the day so voting was postponed until the next day.

Day 12- 22/06/18

This day was used to carefully consider both ideas that were pitched the previous day before voting on one to take forward. We started by summarizing each idea in 140 characters which highlighted some discrepancies in individual team members understanding of the ideas. After these discrepancies were rectified, the team spent some time considering each idea before voting on one to take up as our project. In the end, it was decided that the project involving engineering microbes to colonize plant roots and attract nitrogen-fixing bacteria was the best to take forward. We spent some time thinking about the modeling/human practices/lab work that may be involved in this project.

Day 13- 25/06/18

On our first official day of project-specific work, various tasks were allocated to team members for them to research. Some background reading was conducted on the topic, the team name was confirmed and some ideas for the team logo were suggested. Also, some ideas for a hydroponics system were discussed.