Team:Lethbridge/Team

Chris Lowen, Student Member

I am a third year Biology major who loves all creatures, living and digital. I was attracted toward iGEM by several friends and the allure of genetic manipulation in hopes of one day making a real life Pokémon. Through my involvement in iGEM and many philosophical discussions, I have come to the realization that creating a truly novel (fire/water spewing) organism is neither ethical nor realistic, but that the true benefits of synthetic biology are even more widespread that I had initially imagined! The work our team is doing is very exciting with all the aspects of human society that it can be applied to and all the crazy ideas that we keep coming up with fills me with as much joy as catching my first Pokémon ever.

Harland Brandon, Advisor

Once upon a time, this young aspiring space cowboy dreamed of a life among the stars. After several years of involvement in iGEM and in graduate school he has, much to his dismay, discovered that his time is best suited here on Earth contributing to scientific discovery and innovation that will allow human society to live on well into the future despite what the future throws at us. The potential that synthetic biology brings to so many diverse fields from medicine to manufacturing to environmental remediation to the exploration of space has motivated Harland to once again take part in iGEM, this time as an advisor helping to mold young minds of the future. One day he hopes that his time in iGEM was well spent, and that other aspiring space cowboys get the chance to ride off into the night sky with all the tools they may need, held within small programmable genetic machines.

Sydnee Calhoun, Student Member

Hello! My name is Sydnee and I am a third year Biochemistry student. This is my third year of iGEM. I love being able to be involved with an organization that incorporates so many facets into one project. In addition to being involved with the Collegiate team, I also advise our high school iGEM team. Basically, my life revolves around iGEM and I get to spend countless hours learning more about synthetic biology.

Chris Isaac, Student Member

def biography():
name= [“Chris”, “Isaac”]
bio= “I’m a student in the M.Sc. program at the University of Lethbridge specializing in Bioinformatics and Genomics. My focus on the team this year is the development of our mathematical modelling, and tackling the biosecurity implications of genetic recoding. To this end, I’m working on the development of a tool to identify harmful proteins that could be hidden within innocuous nucleic acids.”
. . . info= (name, bio)
. . . return info

Suneet Kharey, Advisor

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Josh Friesen, Student Member

My name is Josh and I am a second year undergraduate student in Biology. Joining iGEM has opened my eyes to the world of synthetic biology, so much so that when I dream at night I dream of all the ways synthetic biology could impact the world. My friends think I am crazy, or have no idea what I am talking about, but I have found solace within the members of the iGEM team where my ideas aren’t ridiculed and thought crazy. I hope our project goes well this year!

Chelsi Harvey, Student Member