Team:Macquarie Australia/Collaborations


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Singapore Collaboration



Due to previous successful collaborations with the NTU Singapore team, we approached them to see if this year’s team would be interested in partnering up again. After discussing our respective projects, a joint decision was made on how to best help each other.

Due to the nature of our facilities, they proposed we do a His-tag protein purification with high yields, identify the concentration of the ferrocheletase target protein, and verify the presence of the truncated cas9 complex binding to the DNA. This ribonucleoprotein complex represses the transcription activity of the target gene by preventing the binding of ribosomes, and the technology has the ability to aid in therapeutic gene therapy. In return, our team were interested to know the different transcription levels of the genes within our functioning omega plasmid. We asked NTU Singapore to perform qPCR under aerobic and anaerobic conditions to see the effect oxygen has in inhibiting the transcription of our [Fe-fe] hydrogenase. Through their qPCR expertise, Singapore-NTU aided us in gaining a better understanding of the transcription rates within our composite Hydrogen Gas Producing Gene Cluster part.

A representative of Macquarie University visited them to deliver our omega plasmid with the corresponding primers for each gene for qPCR. On the return trip, our team member brought back their bacterial cells, cas9 mutant plasmids with an anti-His tag for protein purification.

We successfully purified their cas9 mutants and proved their truncated cas9 sequence functions.

The above gel image confirms the in vitro assay performed to show the truncated cas9 mutation sequence from NTU-Singapore functions. The three cas9 mutants studied in this experiment were: wild type (WT), *insert parts registry links to other 3 mutant parts (HNH, 5p, 3P)*. All three were seen to bind DNA for the ferrocheletase gene sequence, but not cut it. This retardation gel (6%) confirms the negative control of non-mutated cas9 cutting the ferrocheletase sequence in the WT strain. The gel shift of the three mutants ferrocheletase PCR product shows the bound ribonucleoprotein complex to DNA, confirming that the dCas9 mutants can bind to the target sequnce, while not having nuclease activity. Our efforts have proven that their mutant cas9 is functional in vitro, providing first evidence for the NTU Singapore team that these 3 mutants are no longer functional nucleases but retained their ability to bind the targeted gene sequence.



Manchester Collaboration

H2ydrogem collaborated with iGEM teams from nine other countries (EU, USA, Brazil, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Korea, Canada and India) to create a comprehensive document on GMM legislation around the world. Each team conducted extensive research into the laws surrounding GMM inclusion and labelling in commercial products. This research was then collected and summarised to produce integrated responses to the following six questions:


    1. What institutional body enforces the laws regarding the use of GMMs?
    2. What institutional body enforces the laws regarding the use of GMMs?
    3. Who regulates the use of GMMs on a case-by-case basis?
    4. What legal requirements do I have to fulfil in order to be able to use GMMs in my business?
    5. As an employer who exposes their workers to biological agents, what safety measures am I obliged to adopt?
    6. As a consumer, how do I know if a product I want to buy contains GMMs?
    7. What are the most important documents related to GMMs?


This document can be viewed on the Manchester iGEM team’s page. We used this document to assist in the formulation of our business plan (particularly our distribution strategy) and our safety protocols.



Other Collaborations

The Australasian iGEM Social


During the proceedings of the Synthetic Biology Australasia Conference, our team met up with our colleagues from Melbourne, Auckland and University of Sydney in Kirribilli, and presented our projects together during the iGEM session of the conference. The two days of the conference were capped off with social drinks and an impromptu trip to Luna Park, which was kindly organised by our iGEM Representative, Abigail Sison.


Team Franconia Game Contribution


“There has been an incident at the iGEM Giant Jamboree 2017 in Boston and numerous young scientists have been contaminated with some of the most dangerous viruses of our time!” Team Franconia developed an app that will run an augmented reality game, for which the Macquarie Australia iGEM team, H2ydroGEM, will contribute by attaching a small QR-code (approx. 4 by 4 centimeters/1.5 by 1.5 inches) on our station, for players to partake in the game, as well as attract our iGEM family to our station.


Rate My Gel


H2ydroGEM is contributing to this game developed by the team from the University of Sydney, adding to the thrill of the iGEM spirit.


Methane Emissions


The H2ydroGEM team helped the 2017 UNebraska-Lincoln team in providing an Australian perspective to the issue of methane production.


Ainsley Newson (A/Prof of Bioethics at Sydney Health Ethics, Sydney School of Public Health)


Guided us in ensuring our team kept in line with various ethical concerns involved.