News

Bioökonomie report on the Grand Jamboree

Atrikel in der Bioökonomie

The German Information Platform 'Bioökonomie' has published a report on the Grand Jamboree 2023. The report provides a good overview of the the Grand Jamboree and summarises the results of the German teams.

 

Grand Jamboree: Award for Best Diagnostics Project

Teamfoto auf dem Grand Jamboree

The Grand Jamboree is over, and we are proud to have won the award for Best Diagnostics Project (Overgrad). Furthermore, we made it into the Top 10 of the Overgrad projects, were nominated for the Best Composite Part (Overgrad) category, and received a gold medal. We had a wonderful time in Paris and were able to exchange our project experiences with other iGEM teams from around the world. We would like to thank all our supporters who made our participation in the competition possible.

 

Wiki - Freeze

Wiki Startseite

After many exciting months, the time has come: it's Wiki Freeze! This means the project is largely completed, and the countdown to the Grand Jamboree in Paris has begun. All our project activities and results are documented in the wiki. We are looking forward to the journey to Paris.

 

Our "Dobble" card game

Dobble Spiel

We have designed our own card game based on the game "Dobble"! This way, you can gain new insights into biology and laboratory life while having a lot of fun.

 

School visit about the Central Dogma of Biology

Schulbesuch mit den BioBits Kits

We visited an advanced biology course at the Martino-Katharineum Braunschweig Gymnasium. With the help of the BioBits Kits, the students were able to learn more about The Central Dogma of Biology and observe transcription and translation in an experiment. We would like to express our gratitude to GASB (German Association for Synthetic Biology) for providing the kits.

 

BIOspektrum and VAAM Annual Meeting

Projektvorstellung auf der VAAM

After our project presentation in the "BIOspektrum" magazine, we had the opportunity to showcase our project at the VAAM (Association for General and Applied Microbiology) Annual Meeting 2023 in Göttingen.

 

Experiment in the elementary school

Besuch in der Grundschule

We visited the Mascheroder Holz Elementary School and conducted an experiment with a class to explore the filtering properties of charcoal. Afterwards, the students had the opportunity to use microscopes, and we shared some insights from our everyday laboratory life.

 

Successful cloning

First visible results

It's shining! The cloning of our constructs using Golden Gate was successful, and we can already observe the first reactions from our reporters. Now, it's time to experiment with how our constructs respond to lithium.

 

Dialogue at the Botanical Garden

Talk with visitors of the botanical garden

To raise awareness about synthetic biology and the proper use of genetic engineering, we are currently present at the Botanical Garden. We have gained a lot of new insights regarding prejudices and concerns surrounding the topic.

 

The first PCR

First PCR with our constructs

Our constructs have arrived, and we have conducted the first official PCR for the project. With this, we can now continue the development of our test system in the laboratory.

 

Exchange with ZI Mannheim

Meeting with ZI Mannheim

The Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim is also working on the development of a test system. In a meeting, we were able to present our project and gained valuable knowledge about the detection of lithium in saliva. The ZI Mannheim has offered us further support. We are excited for the upcoming exchange!

Meeting with InSCREENeX

Meeting with the Managing Director of InSCREENeX

The Managing Director of InSCREENeX, Tobias May, has offered to support us in our project work. In a meeting, he advised us on the use of luciferase as a reporter for our test system.

Article in the TU Magazine

Bericht im TU Magazin

The TU Magazine has written a report about us. The article explains the iGEM competition and our project. We are delighted about the interest.

 

Meeting with iGEM Patras

Meeting with iGEM Patras

iGEM Patras is working on the development of a screening method. Together, we want to record a podcast episode and launch a social media campaign about different screening methods. The first posts about it are already visible on our Instagram account

 

Labratory day with Jugend Forscht

Visit of Jugend Forscht

The Jugend Forscht team from Martino-Katharineum Braunschweig Gymnasium visited our laboratory. Together, we successfully performed a plasmid prep and learned how DNA can be used in genetic engineering to modify organisms.

Labvolution 2023 in Hannover

Labvolution 2023 in Hannover

When the largest trade fair for laboratory supplies in Northern Germany takes place, we definitely cannot miss it. Over the course of two days, we were able to gather some useful tips and establish valuable contacts.

 

Meeting with iGEM Freiburg

Meeting with iGEM Freiburg

In order to learn more about the work of other iGEM teams, we met with iGEM Freiburg. The meeting allowed us to exchange previous experiences and tips. iGEM Freiburg also plans to use a riboswitch for the implementation of their project.

Barbecue season

the iGEM team at barbecue preparations

The garden on our institute in Mendelssohn Street is perfect in the summer for doing things together outside of project work. We took advantage of the good weather to kick off the barbecue season.

Project presentation

Project presentation

We did it! We found a project idea and are now working hard to implement our Li+on Switch project. We thank everyone who participated in the presentation for their interest and positive feedback. We were able to take helpful tips from the audience and are now working to incorporate them into our project.

 

 

World Earth Day

World Earth Day

On World Earth Day, iGEM Bulgaria invited us to a cleanup event. Together, we cleaned up the area around our institute. The event aims to raise awareness for our environment and encourage people to take better care of it.

 

Article in the local newspaper

The Braunschweiger Zeitung visited us and wrote an article about our work. Together, we presented our project and gave a tour of the laboratory. We are grateful for the great interest in our project.

 

 

 

Get-together at Mendelssohnstraße

As we will be spending some time in Mendelssohnstraße in the next few months, we have invited everyone for a coffee and cake get-together to get to know each other.

 

Visit from SIGMA

Group picture at the centrifuge

Today we had a visit from SIGMA. We received a new rotor for our centrifuge and some valuable tips for safe centrifugation.

 

Paper reading

Team meeting for paper reading

We are working diligently to find a project idea. To do so, we regularly meet to read and discuss papers. Our supervisor Michael supports us with his advice.

 

DNA extraction

DNA extraction

To enhance our laboratory skills, we conducted DNA extractions on various plants with Benjamin from the iGEM Team 2022. We aimed to extract long fragments that can be sequenced with the Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT).

 

Primer design workshop

Today, our supervisor Michael showed us what to consider when designing primers. Primers are used, for example, in polymerase chain reactions (PCR) and determine which section of the DNA is amplified.

 

New labratory

New lab

Soon, there will be a new laboratory that we can use for our project work. Today, our supervisor Prof. Dr. Pucker helped us with the setup.

 

Meeting up

Group picture with waffles

An iGEM team for 2023 has been found! We took the opportunity to get to know each other better over waffles and punch.