Biobrick Workshop
Almost every year since 2014, during early stages of iGEM competition, DTU BioBuilders organizes a BioBrick Workshop, a 3-day seminar, where Nordic iGEM teams meet at Technical University of Denmark, to learn more about iGEM. There all the team members have the opportunity to strengthen the iGEM network and connections between the universities, gain knowledge about Synthetic Biology techniques, and polish the practical skills they will need during their iGEM journey. We dived into Wet and dry lab exercises, where engaging both in vitro and in silico experiments.
This year, in the spring of 2024, from 5th to 7th of April, we hosted the 10th annual BioBrick Workshop, where we welcomed teams from 7 Universities, as well as the first ever Danish High School team!
On the first day in the afternoon, we hosted the welcoming ceremony and listened to two lectures that explained to the participants what iGEM is, what it means to uphold the iGEM spirit and what to expect in the coming months, as well as what they will be doing during the workshop. We ended the day with dinner, where we had a chance to finally get to know each other. True Danish hygge.
On the next day, we kicked off at 9 in the morning. After a brief introduction to lab safety regulations and the prepared exercise, we got to work. Throughout the day we had multiple lab rounds. The schedule was prepared carefully to implement all incubations and reaction times, during which the participants had a chance to participate in many other activities. This year Wet Lab exercise focused on familiarizing participants with USER - (Uracil - Specific Excision Reaction) cloning technique especially popular in the Greater Copenhagen region. We prepared a protocol for an expression vector assembly and E. coli DH5-alpha transformation that resulted in expression of a reporter gene. All genetic parts used were derived from 2023 iGEM Distribution Kit. dry lab exercise focused on studying miRNA regulation in breast cancer by BRCA1 gene through the use of bioinformatics tools. Participants had a chance to explore how miRNAs regulate gene expression, and how these interactions are implicated in breast cancer pathogenesis. They worked with tools like TarBase, Ensembl, DIANA-MicroT and miRPath. During the exercise we learned the basics of miRNA and their role in gene regulation, how to use bioinformatics tools like TarBase and DIANA-microT for identifying miRNA interactions, and explored the regulatory role of specific miRNAs in breast cancer, focusing on hsamiR-20b-5p and its interaction with BRCA1. Throughout that day, except for the exercises, we also attended the team presentations about their projects, got lectured on human practices by a former member of DTU BioBuilders, had snacks and dinner, played games and had fun late into the night.
The last day started with an iGEM wiki lecture that was followed by a Q&A and discussion panel with our predecessors, resident DTU Alumni. We talked about various topics, amongst them ones like how to develop a strong team, what are the ways to manage expectations, and general good advice for a successful project. We had lunch and then checked the results of our previous day experiments! The Workshop was wrapped up with the ending ceremony and saying goodbyes to a lot of new friends and colleagues!
The full schedule for the weekend can be found here
DTU Open House
DTU offers high school students the opportunity to come and learn about the university and its activities. On 7th of March, we had the chance to challenge ourselves to inspire young students to be interested in our field.
Usually, we are used to working in the university environment and interacting with people who are familiar with our work; however, this time we had to sharpen our communication skills to effectively engage with high school students.
We spent the day talking to dozens of young people. Many of them showed visible interest in what we shared. Not only did we affect the crucial decision-making processes that will determine the careers of many of them, but we also introduced them to the field of synthetic biology and to our project.
Visits from Abroad Students
On the 7th of August, we had the great opportunity to spread awareness of our project beyond the Danish border. We were visited by a group of bachelor students from the Colorado State University (CSU) from USA. They were coming from various fields but their shared interest was environmental sustainability. In their visit to the DTU Skylab, we explained the nature of our project, the inspiration, our solution, our journey so far, our challenges, and had a brief Q&A and discussion sessions with them.
DTU Orientation week
DTU organizes an event for the new students at the beginning of each year. On 27th of August, we grasped the opportunity to attend and try to promote our project, but most importantly to motivate the next generation of iGEM-ers.
In the morning, most of the people passing by our stand were exchange students. Although, this meant there was a little possibility of them joining our team, we had great conversations with a lot of them and many of them showed great interest in our project. Seeing that a lot of them were already familiar with iGEM, showed how synthetic biology has become a great global community.
In the afternoon, we welcomed the new biotechnology students of DTU. We had many interesting conversations about our project, going into detail with some students about the nature of the competition including what it demanded in terms of time and personal commitment and how it can help students grow academically and professionally. Overall, a lot of people seemed very interested and motivated to join next year's competition, so we are considering this day's activities a success.
DTU Blue Dot Diploma Award Ceremony
The DTU Blue Dot is an initiative from the Technical University of Denmark targeted towards addressing real life sustainability focused challenges, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and promoting innovation through project based learning. The DTU Biobuilders are one of the teams of DTU involved in the Blue Dot Projects, alongside others like DTU RoboCup, DTU WindRacers, DTU Roadrunners. Blue Dot provides support for all these projects, including financial support, making them possible. In that way, it provides many students, including the members of our team, with a hands-on learning experience that goes beyond the standard university lectures.
Every year, they organize the DTU Blue Dot Diploma Award Ceremony, where the teams present their projects and receive feedback. We are looking forward to participating in the upcoming event on the 12th of November 2024.
