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Nice to meet you! |
Hello. This is our very first newsletter of iGEM TUDelft 2017. In the newsletters you can read all about what we are and what we will be doing. You will find updates, insights, pictures, videos, and upcoming events. Our newsletters will keep you engaged with your project. We would like to share our progress and keep you posted! Enjoy! |
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The international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition is the largest worldwide synthetic biology competition for collegiate students. It aims to combine and create novel biological (genetic) parts which can be incorporated in an organism, thereby equipping it with new functions. |
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Each year, multi-disciplinary teams from all over the world work for nine months to produce their own enhanced organism using synthetic biology. This year, our work will be presented to the scientific community at the Giant Jamboree in Boston in November 2017. |
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iGEM TUDelft | iGEM is a part of the large TU Delft DreamTeam family. DreamTeams are teams that pursue their goals in many different categories of science. An example is the NUON solar team, which annually participates in a car race driven by solar energy. These projects are very progressive and are well known to people all over the world. | |
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Previous successes | Previous teams have done amazing jobs. Let's follow this trend and get some gold medals in Boston. Read more about previous years TU Delft teams: | |
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CASE13A: Antibiotic resistance revealed |
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Challenges in treating cattle diseases are increasing: farmers are facing challenges that come with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotics usage turns out to be inefficient as the effectivity of the antibiotics is not tested beforehand. Instead, the farmer generally administers several antibiotics in high doses and waits to see if the antibiotics actually improve the health of his livestock. Consequently, the antibiotic resistant bacteria survive the the antibiotic treatment while the other healthy non-pathogenic bacteria in the animals is eliminated. For this reason, our iGEM team aims to prevent the wide use of ineffective antibiotics. Our goal is to create a home kit detection tool for farmers that is affordable, user-friendly and reliable in the detection of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. This way, our tool will lead to an improvement of the current methods. In the future, farmers will hopefully be able to determine in advance whether the antibiotics will be effective. In future prospects, our tool might contribute to healthy cattle, and human health. |
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Public outreach and Integrated Human practises |
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Considering environmental safety, sustainability, health, security, economic benefit, accountability, meaningfulness, public opinion, efficiency and beneficence, the iGEM team takes into account the perspectives of several stakeholders during the development process. By interviewing and collaborating with policy makers from RIVM, veterinarians, experts in medical centres and knowledge institutes, and farmers, the iGEM team aims to develop a value sensitive design (VSD) which is implementable in the niche market. This way, e fundamental research is translated into a product with a purpose. OutreachBesides the integrated human practices, the iGEM team aims to show the general public the potential of synthetic biology. For this reason, you can find us on different events. Last month we were present at the Museumnacht in Leiden. Also, we presented our project at the Netherlands Technology Conference. Upcoming weeks, you can find us at International Festival of Technology and Bessensap. If you know any interesting contacts for integrated human practices or have outreach, contact Kim Barentsen, our Manager Public Relations and Integrated Human Practices by sending us an email or calling us on our phone number. |
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| - | 7 - 9 Juni | IFOT-alumni event | | - | 14 juni | AS connect | | - | 22 juni | BN Science day | | - | 24 juni | National Meet-up Wageningen |
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 | Here Kim, our PR manager, is presenting our poster at the Netherlands Technology Conference. |
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 | Our lab manager, Aafke, at work. |
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 | Kelly telling about our ideas at TEDx Delft. |
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 | We were having fun at the museum nacht in Leiden. You can find more photos here. |
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SnapGene will sponsor iGEM TU Delft again this year! SnapGene is the first molecular biology software that is easier to use than pen and paper. Now every DNA construct made in our lab can be documented in a rich electronic format… and thanks to the free SnapGene Viewer, the files can be shared with our colleagues around the world. |
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The Department of Bionanoscience will host iGEM TU Delft again this year! The Department of Bionanoscience (BN) provides our DreamTeam with office space, laboratory, supplies and an experienced supervisory team. The young and international Department of Bionanoscience, part of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at Delft University of Technology and part of the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft, is dedicated to world-leading research at the interface between nanophysics and biology. The Department of Bionanoscience focuses on the fundamental understanding of biological processes, from the level of single molecules to the full complexity of living cells. This research provides fascinating insight in the molecular mechanisms that lead to cellular function. Furthermore it enables the in vitro bottom-up construction of cellular machinery and it impacts applications ranging from biomolecular diagnostics to novel antibiotics and targeted nanomedicine. The department features a strongly multidisciplinary and international team of scientists, whose research areas include single-molecule biophysics, synthetic biology, as well as (quantitative) cell biology. In addition, BN faculty members teach master and bachelor courses in Applied Physics, and since 2012 and 2015, in the bachelor and master programs Nanobiology. These programs are well-represented in the iGEM TU Delft team of 2017, as nine of the team members are being educated in the Nanobiology programs. Courses taught include statistical physics, biophysics, nanotechnology, origin of life, optics and nanoscopy. The Nanobiology courses are provided in collaboration with the faculty of the Erasmus Medical Centre Rotterdam, where courses such as evolution, molecular cell biology and microscopy are taught. Yearly, about 100 new students start the bachelor Nanobiology program. All faculty members guide several master and bachelor projects in their labs. Furthermore, a large number of graduate students and postdocs receive their research training in the department. For more information, please visit the website of the Department of Bionanoscience. |
