Team:UChile Biotec/Team

The Team

Our team borns from a pre-existing group called “GreenDoor”, which had as objective to share national biotechnology to our university students (from the Science Faculty) and to the society itself. One of the activities we made, that got us closer to iGEM was the creation of the Synthetic Biology subject, which was the first of this type in the Faculty of Science. Because of the great reach we had, the motivation of the students and the quality of the projects that were presented, Bimatox was born as a project to iGEM 2017.

Under the vision to approach biotechnology to society, we decided to board the red tide issue which happened last year in the region of Los lagos, Chile, particularly in the great island of Chiloé, where a strong Red Tide phenomenon occurred. The severity of the problem was so big that a lot of people lost their jobs, and the sea environment was hit strongly. This motivated us to search for ways to help the people of the place, in particular, so we designed a genetic construct that works like a biosensor, which it will be capable of detecting the principal toxin associated with this harmful algae bloom, in hopes of preventing the economic and social loss.

Currently, our group is conformed by 13 students from different grades, from Molecular Biotechnology Engineering and Industrial Design.

Alam Núñez

Financing comition

Always cheering people up, smiling even when there is fungus contamination in his bacteria. He laughs a lot, but he always seems to be forgetting about something. If you want help to do literally anything, you should call him.

Alejandra Oyarzo

Design coordinator

Alejandra is our industrial -multitasker designer. She never got over biology, that’s why she joined the team. She loves art, science, pinterest and fashion. She worked in almost all the commissions, created our logo and designed the device. She’s the baking powder of the group. Pure girl power.

Amelia Cox

Financing comition

Amelia is one of the youngest members of our group, but don't think for a minute that really is an issue for her. She is our little powerhouse! Always looking for something to do or for someone to help, there is no way from stopping her seemingly infinite amounts of energy.

Andrés Romero

Laboratory comition

He's a deportive person, as you see in his photo. He has his own band too, and he's the singer of it. However, Andrés is a bussy man and even when he is against time, he makes the effort to help the team. He is really reliable and a great councilor of the team (and in life).

Enzo Galliani

Laboratory comition

Always thinking or talking about science (maybe watching VSauce videos). He loves his girlfriend as much as a perfect electrophoresis result. Any question you have he will try to solve it, but don’t annoy him too much or you will never get what you expect.

Felipe Muñoz

Comunications coordinator

Did someone say food? Obviously this guy. Philosophic, optimist. No one knows if he really sleeps, because he’s always online in social media. He’s always trying to make a joke out of the last thing you said, even if he doesn’t say it out loud. His brilliant ideas hit him between 3 and 5 a.m.

Gustavo Calvo

General coordinator

If you have to find him the only thing you can do is take an appointment with him and wait because he is probably working on something for our team. But of course, if there is even a little time to relax, there are two things that always go together: Gustavo and his pizza. In fact almost every Friday he tries to convince José to borrow his place so the team can have time to relax after a whole week of work.

Jorge Vielma

Comunication comition

Fourth year student of biotechnology and bachelor. He is a very, very sociable person who comes from the south of Chile. Fanatic of politics, and the things that motivate him are that interdisciplinarity, entrepreneurship, good ideas, politics and science for social change in the country. Loves jeans jackets, music, retro and alternative wave, family meals and parties with friends.

José Bernales

Financing comition

It’s Friday and we need to party and the best location, as always, is at Nacho’s. This guy is our lifesaver when we need a place for…. Almost anything! And if you need good advice he is also your man. He always has a good disposition for everything, always with a smile on his face and ready to help when someone’s in trouble, even after 10 hours straight of lab work he is ready to help, but without the smile.

Kevin Meza

Practices coordinator

If Kevin isn’t in the university doing “his things” (studying, eating, sharing with friends) he probably would be in some city doing scientific fairs and outreach activities with NEC, playing improvisation games, teaching biology in his home, playing video games or flute in his free time.

Leonardo Guzmán

Contents coordinator

This guy obtained his technique using the micro-pipette by throwing dices in tapletop RPGs, and his way through computers and design by playing video-games and designing character sheets. However, he can surprise you by knowing one or two curious facts, and playing some instruments. Never seen without a screen nearby. Tales tell that he sleep very late.

Sebastián Farías

Laboratory comition

He always gets a paper for any work you wish and will double his effort in exchange of a cigarette. You can have nice long talks with him, and you will always notice he is upset about something. He will always try to be nice to you, even if he hates you deep in the inside.

Pablo Lorca

Practices comition

A human who enjoys the simple things in life. When he is not playing video games or listening to music, he is trying to sleep. He is a procrastinator, he has dedicated all his university life to be the best in the area. He enjoys waking up late and studying the day before the test. The most interesting fact about him is that he owns a monkey face hoodie. Anyways, you can trust him on anything you need.

Javiera Flores

Logistics coordinator

This girl has the power of the words and the greatest ideas for coordination. She alone organized a lot of members and monitored them rigorously but charmingly, leading us to the achievements we've done. She has particular likings and a smile is in her face every time we spend time around.

Francisco Chávez

Project councilor

Professor Chavez is the voice of wisdom of the team. He is the spiritual guide we all desire to have. He is a person really involved in science in a lot of aspects, and because of this he's short on time. But magically, he can always make a space for someone of us or for the team itself. He's the one who laughed at problems and the one who cheered us when we most need it.