2017 is the first year in which a team from Florida has sought to compete and complete an iGEM project. Luckily for us, we did not have to go through iGEM initiation alone! Florida State University happened to join us on this pioneering journey into the realm of synthetic biology. Along with a few other experienced teams, we engaged in varied collaborations that allowed us to share, learn, and overall gain a deeper understanding of the true potential of iGEM’s scientific community.
While our two schools might be known for an infamous athletic rivalry, that could not stop our two iGEM teams from working together to make it to the finish line as one. Initially, we used video chats to meet and discuss our experimental undertakings. We soon realized that it would be more significant to move our troubleshooting discussions to a public platform. A joint YouTube channel was then created in order to expand on to the general populace. It was felt that the process of designing and accomplishing an iGEM project could be explained in a manner understandable to anyone interested. These videos feature a repertoire of one team answering a certain protocol/design problem and then querying a solution to one of their own. Our teams utilized this forum to develop our projects while also showcasing the collaborative values of iGEM and the synthetic biology field. In addition, these videos might inspire those previously uninformed about iGEM to develop their own project for future competitions.
Although the project deadline might have passed, does that mean the work is truly done? Apparently not! Team Franconia plans on unveiling an elaborate augmented reality game at the 2017 iGEM Jamboree. This smartphone app will be themed around the epidemic spread of viral pathogens and requires collaboration between any and all iGEM participants. Different schools will attach QR codes to their displays which will provide ‘antidotes’ to combat the pathogens. UFlorida plans to not only facilitate the game by presenting a code but to also participate in the investigative efforts. This game will extend the scope of scientific collaboration by coordinating the efforts of young researchers in an innovative and engaging manner. By linking all these bright minds to a common goal, international unification is possible.
Florida is often stereotyped as the citrus state, but in truth a majority of the citrus industry here has deteriorated due to the devastating impact of bacterial disease. Oranges especially have been dealt a hard blow from the spread of Huanglongbing commonly referred to as ‘citrus greening’. While our state has certainly suffered, numerous other countries have as well. The TecCEM group from Mexico has recognized and cultivated an inhibition strategy against future outbreaks. Solving a problem requires initial background knowledge and the TecCEM team wanted to learn straight from the source; the citrus farmers that were experiencing the losses. They needed to understand the disease pathology and the possible ecological impact of biological remediation. UFlorida aided by putting the team into direct contact with the Florida Department of Agriculture and the Citrus Health Response to reach out to specific citrus grove owners. With these contacts TecCEM could compile survey data from the producers and analyze their extension portion of human practices.
Creating a biologically-engineered system is an achievement, but such success requires a streamlined series of protocols and experimental knowledge. iGEM doesn’t simply involve the poking and prodding of bacteria; it also relies on foundational projects to provide support to future projects. As such, many teams work in the pursuit of technical/software support or part characterization. Team Michigan Software has developed a protocol database meant to attenuate the problems associated with protocol reliability and replication. Synthetic biology depends on validated methods, but reaching standardization between labs has proven difficult. ProtoCat 4.0 is designed to allow users to browse, review, edit or even upload dependable protocols of their own. With this collaboration, UFlorida completed a beta-testing survey to constructively critique the available tools. We also uploaded one of our own protocols that has proven to be consistently effective throughout benchwork.
