Team:NU Kazakhstan/Attributions
We would like to thank all those who have helped and supported us during the project, not only for making iGEM successful and possible but also for making it incredibly fun and exciting!
NU_Kazakhstan iGEM team was responsible for all aspects of the project progress, starting from the team recruitment, coming up with the project ideas and concepts, creating protocols, purchasing supplies, and performing the lab work. We are infinitely grateful for all the work done by team members and for the help provided by advisors and other contributors. It is greatly appreciated and acknowledged below.
Team members
Project Idea
Mariyam Akizhanova, Valdemir Kim, Yerkezhan Kalikanova, Kymbat Mukhtarova:
Brainstorming, searching and developing general concepts of the project
Parts
Valdermir Kim, Mariyam Akizhanova:
Constructing parts and sequences
Modeling
SuperNova modelling: Valdemir Kim, Zhassulan Ispolov, Saniya Aitmaganbetova
Modeling using TinkerCell: Mariyam Akizhanova
Modeling using Copasi: Yerkezhan Kalikanova, Yersultan Mirasbekov
Wetlab
All of the team members:
Setting up algae lab (Valdemir Kim, Mariyam Akizhanova, Yerkezhan Kalikanova, Kymbat Mukhtarova)
Searching, designing and optimizing the protocols
Standardizations
Suggesting new experimental techniques and performing lab work
Interlab
Saniya Aitmaganbetova, Lyazzat Bekish, Almira Zhantuyakova, Assel Mukhanova:
Performing Interlab Study
Collaboration
Yerkezhan Kalikanova, Valdemir Kim, Mariyam Akizhanova, Sultan Mussakhan, Zhassulan Ispolov, Daulet Aitymbayev:
Established collaborations with other iGem teams and performed all the practical work associated with them
Human Practices
Aigerim Abdimanova, Almira Zhantuyakova, Yersulatan Mirasbekov for travelling to Aktobe and giving presentation to KazChromium representatives:
All of the team members: organizing meetings, presentations, internships
Wiki
All of the team members contributed to Wiki Page filling
Poster
Valdemir Kim, Mariyam Akizhanova, Yerkezhan Kalikanova
General Support
We are infinitely grateful for all support given by our Supervisor, PI, Instructor, Assistant Professor of Chemical Department at Nazarbayev University Abdulla Azzam Mahboob for the long hours he spent supervising us in the lab and his priceless contribution throughout the project.
Special thanks to all faculty members of Biology and Chemistry Department of School of Science and Technology at Nazarbayev University for their great support, advices and working space provided during the project conduction
Project support and advice
Abdulla Azzam Mahboob, Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department, Nazarbayev University
- Supervised the project progress and protocols design
- Assisted in designing and modeling of constructs
- Gave the general guidance on the best practice in the lab and ensured the safeness of the experiments performed
- Supported us at every step of iGEM, ready to listen all our concerns and issues during project conduction, and helping us to find coherent solutions, staying late nights with us. Ordering reagents and solving every single problem we created
Ivan Vorobyev, Full Professor, Acting Chair of Biology Department, Nazarbayev University
- Evaluated our project for relevance, sustainability and safety
- Provided with feedback and advices on how to improve our project at the very beginning
- Suggested us to focus on unicellular microalgae instead of macroalgae
Olena Filchakova, Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Nazarbayev University
- Provided with a feedback at the very beginning of our project
- Provided comments and suggestions with the general concepts of the project
- Checked the sequences constructions
Veronika Dashkova and Dmitriy Malashenkov
- Provided general guidance on working with microalgae and advices on how to set up algae lab; for collecting samples from Balkhash
Fundraising help and advice
Abdulla Azzam Mahboob
- Purchased Chlamydomonas reinhardii strains and reagents
- Helped us with the purchasing of plasmid constructs
- Paid for taxes for clearing our reagents out of customs
Gonzalo Hortelano
- Funding the trip to Giant Jamboree for the team leader
- Provided us with reagents and Electroporator
School of Science and Technology, Nazarbayev University
- Funded the registration for iGEM and trip to Giant Jamboree, purchased reagents
Lab support
School of Science and Technology of Nazarbayev University: working place (laboratories), reagents and equipment.
Nazarbayev University Research and Innovation System (NURIS): reagents and equipment.
Special thanks to:
Aigerim Negmatova, Aigul Kussanova, and Laura Khamkhash, Nazira Temirkhanova who helped us with providing reagents and ordering.
Sholpan Kauanova and Baurzhan Negmetzhanov for paying taxes for clearance of reagents out of customs, sharing reagents, protocols and lab facility.
Wiki support
Special thanks to our web designer Aigerim Aibassova.
Thanks to Aizhan Kossantayeva for designing our team’s logo
Human Practices support
Great thanks to all faculty members of School of Science and Technology of Nazarbayev University who participated in our University presentations.
Special thanks to Valdemir Kim and Mariyam Akizhanova for giving an interview on National Channel “Kazakhstan” and raising people awareness on problems of chromium pollution among general population.
Thanks to Sultan Mussakhan for organizing presentations, internships with NIS students, different social events and talks for Science Propaganda with popular Human Right Defenders and Scientists.
We would like to owe our gratings to our guest lecturers and speakers who attended Queer and Feminist Talks who took the responsibility to themselves for the trip expenses to Kazakhstan. For our university, it was life-changing moment.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank official partner of iGEM 2017 Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) for 20 kb of free custom DNA and our official sponsor Nazarbayev University for making iGEM possible. Thanks to New England Biolabs for providing us with enzymes and other reagents. Special thanks to another sponsor NovoPro company which synthesized our genes and quickly delivered them to Kazakhstan.
We want to thank manager of School of Science and Technology Guldana Yessetova who prepared documentation for clearing reagents out of customs. We wouldn’t finish our project on time without her help.
