Difference between revisions of "Team:Munich/HP/Gold Integrated"

Interview with Dr. Keith Pardee

We had the chance to interview and talk with Dr. Keith Pardee on September 21th via Skype. He was impressed with our project and gave us very useful feedback. One of his suggestions was that we tried to make our device as easy as possible in the beginning and then get to the next level of complexity. For that reason, he suggested us to use first purified RNA that mimicked our target and at high concentrations, instead of considering using human samples. We followed his recommendations and could detect the 16S ribosomal subunit from Escherichia coli, from purified total RNA and in vitro RNA. When we asked him about our readout ideas (fluorescence and colorimetric), he told us that the fluorescent readout would be enough to prove that our device worked. Also, he recommended us to implement trehalose as a cryoprotectant in our method to lyophilize Cas13a into our paperstrip.

Read the a part of the interview here

iGEM BOKU Vienna

Michael and Julian from the iGEM BOKU Vienna came to do some experiments in our lab on 4th and 5th of October. Their iGEM project is called D.I.V.E.R.T. (Directed in vivo evolution via reverse transcription) and they are trying out new strategies for in vivo evolution which shows potential advantages over classical in vitro methods. For this they use yeast and E.coli to demonstrate their concept. They used the flow cytometer in our lab in Garching to better characterize their constructs from E.coli and S. cerevisiae. For the use one of our lab member explained them how to use the flow cytometer in the lab and also provided them the necessary help. It was a long day work for them but they got convincing results by the end. We also had a small gathering in the evening before they left together with the old igemers who came to meet us. We were very happy to have them in our lab and to get to know each other's team.