Introduction
The common goal: Multiple Sclerosis
Future
We met the Wageningen iGEM team the first week of July. It turned out to be one of the most productive and promising connections we have made over our journey. The idea exchanges, the collaborations on many fronts, the mental support of having a sister iGEM team fighting against the same disease… All of it suggests that maybe the real treasure is the friends we made along the way.
When Team Wageningen reached out to us, it was already evident to both teams that multiple sclerosis is not a disease you can easily tackle – especially not during the small time frame of an iGEM season. They are focused on drastically improving MS diagnosis (check out their effort), and we are attempting to introduce something groundbreaking for its therapy, which you can find on our Description Page.
Both our projects detect microRNA biomarkers, for different outcomes. Team Wageningen identifies microRNAs as targets for disease detection, while we distinguish two categories of useful microRNAs: one that enhances remyelination pathways and one that ensures specificity by releasing the remyelinating microRNAs from the mechanism only under disease- specific conditions. The second category, the specificity mechanism, was the point of interest. We conducted independent searches and then compared methods and results to determine if our projects sought the same microRNA biomarkers.
Both our teams rely on RNA/DNA interactions to either diagnose or treat MS. We found common ground in using NUPACK, a crucial modeling tool for predicting these interactions 1. Our teams exchanged tips, techniques, and troubleshooting advice, accelerating the development of our projects. In particular, iGEM Wageningen assisted our hybridization chain reaction modeling, which posed significant logical challenges.
On 23-25 August, we hosted the Aegean meetup at our lab facilities in Thessaloniki.
Beyond the lab, we also collaborated on bioethics and public perception surrounding our projects. Together, we discussed our different approaches to address the public, focusing primarily on their safety. The human practices team of iGEM Wageningen were the first between us to navigate the bioethics of how to protect patients in their public engagement approach. They consequently offered us important insights of what Additionally, miRADAR connected us with key stakeholders in the MS community, broadening our reach for Human Practices. We connected them with the MS Centre in Thessaloniki, a unit of the B’ Neurological Department of our university hospital, where clinical and research work in the field of demyelinating diseases is being conducted.
Looking forward, our collaboration will focus on creating a combined platform that integrates miRADAR's diagnostic technology with our therapeutic approach. This platform aims to streamline both early diagnosis and treatment, offering a more holistic solution for MS patients. Our beautiful commitment would be to make this system accessible to all communities, particularly in regions with limited healthcare infrastructure.
We are quite proud of our collaboration. We feel it showcases the iGEM community's basic ideals of collaboration, innovation, and problem solving in the real world. We hope that by demonstrating our collaborative efforts, we will inspire other teams to reach out to one another and perceive each other as friends, working together to change the world, brick by brick.
