NEW PARTS
Modification of GR sequence
We succesfully modified the sequence of GR ligand binding domain to contain a His tag for purification. The GR must be prepared for expression from the vector including a his-tag for purification and attachment to an electrode for later ligand-binding measurements.
See parts pageDevelopment of a cortisol patch
Part of our contribution is a simple prototype for a cortisol patch design, and the process of how we got there. The considerations behind this include being distinctively different from glucose monitoring devices, but similar enough to be mistaken for one, to protect the wearers privacy regarding potential stress monitoring.
Therefore, the design is heavily inspired by glucose monitoring devices and based on a publicly available 3D printable design for glucose monitoring devices from thingiverse.com. The whole process is documented on our Hardware page. Here we show the steps from early conception to adjusting the part for our project, including changing shape and colour. In the future this is the basis for our aimed cortisol measuring device with all included puzzle pieces, such as the receptor protein-carrying electrode, computer chip and microfluidics system.
The iGEM community can benefit from this process by seeing how easy it can be to start on a physical hardware part, even though it may be intimidating. The opportunity to use 3D printing was essential here, but we believe for the first prototype no 3D printer is required. Everything starts with a sketch, and this is a work in progress. We are excited to see where this process will lead us and other iGEMers in the future.
EDUCATION
Educational material and concepts
A core part of our project was the development of an educational concept for a broad audience to invite to delve deeper into synthetic biology, biomedical health, and our project specifically. Starting a new topic simple and with fun is a great way to get people engaged and motivated, which is why we think sharing our concept to the iGEM community to adapt to their project is a valuable contribution. On this page we share a little guide to education concept development and what to be aware of, general advice, and how to adapt our education material.
1. Attraction A great way to get people interested is with bait. People love to play and they love to be rewarded - this is the same for all ages and backgrounds. Especially in contexts of science fairs and school lessons, starting easy with a game or quiz and the outlook to win something for participation, completion or winning against their peers is a great way to get engagement. The reward can be something as small as a sticker or piece of candy. Having people swarm your stand at a science fair also often results in a positive feedback loop as other people will notice you too.
2. Kinaesthetic learning is an adjective describing the need to feel and move. Kinaesthetic learners use movement and hands-on to study and understand. Many people easily remember the inviting and exciting games and visuals after coming home from a museum, rather than reading text and looking at an object. Giving people a task, something to touch and do will help them to remember.
3. Visualisation and Analogies: Especially in science it can be very abstract for non-scientists to understand the lingo. Preparing analogies to the common world allows them to connect the learnt information to something they already know well. A good analogy can stay as a mnemonic bridge for learners. This can be enhanced by having simple visuals connecting the analogy with the complex science.
4. Overcrowding: Overcrowding in any way may be discouraging. This includes many aspects, from having more excited explainers than (now intimated) learners, to overloading them with educational stimuli. Sometimes less is more, and that can mean not to push someone to first play a game, then listen to all the great analogies while looking at the helpful images, and also do the little educational tasks afterwards, no matter how motivated you as the expert are to tell them everything you know. Information should be given in easy digestible bits.
5. Being inclusive: Education is for everybody. Here we want to encourage you to not focus on one specific target group, for several reasons. Inclusivity means engaging with everyone, taking time to explain to someone who is easily discouraged or has difficulties understanding, could mean the world to them and have a great positive impact that changes their life. Additionally, preparing education material for various difficulty levels allows you to engage with a broad audience, keeping those struggling to understand engaged, and challenge those who outgrew the introduction input. More difficult is always possible!
We followed our own 5 pieces of advice when developing 3 pieces of educational material for our stand at the Forskningstorget at the Teknisk Museum, a science fair for students, families, and researchers. You can read more about how this went on our Education page. You are free to adapt your own material for your needs and availabilities.
1. Synthetic Biology - Building a protein
We developed a simple LEGO build that slightly resembled a box. On purpose this build did not look like anything specific, because it symbolised our protein of interest, in this case the glucocorticoid receptor. Most people have never seen what a protein model looks like, so an unshaped LEGO build is not too far off reality. We designed it in a way that a non-LEGO brick could be put into the pocket of the build and - if correctly assembled - a hatch could close over this part trapping it. There are several analogies hidden in this: The LEGO build is a simple receptor protein. Every brick is an amino acid. The non-LEGO part, here an eraser, is a ligand that is not an amino acid. Prepared building instructions serve as genetic information. For synthetic biology specifically we liked to call it a plasmid. The person who builds, following the instructions, becomes a ribosome - or to make it a little easier to understand - a bacterium that was transformed with our plasmid.
2. Understanding the Protein (or any biological part)
In this part we wanted to make visitors understand why the Glucocorticoid receptor specifically was interesting to us. For this we wrote a short story about the endocrine system with specific regards to cortisol in health and disease. Once we had our analogy set up we started writing a story, because stories are easier to remember than dry facts. We told the story of a stressed cell that received too much cortisol in its mailbox, and how the post office in the adrenal glands shut down, causing an insufficiency and endocrine disorder called Addison’s disease.The details of the story can be found on our Education page.
It takes a bit of brain power to come up with good analogies. For hormone signalling specifically we came up with the postal service, where cortisol are letters and the receptors are mailboxes. The story included many pictures that we showed on our stand and could refer to when telling the story. Additionally, we used the international background of our team to translate the story to several languages.
3. Reusing Analogies
Lastly, part of our stand at the science fair we brought a whole mailbox. It sparked attention and conversation. Sometimes this mailbox was the initiator for discussions and in-depth explanations of our project, sometimes the mailbox was the conclusion to building the receptor with LEGO and hearing the story of the cell. Letters with “Cortisol” written on them symbolised the ligand binding and children were eager to put letters into our box. This mailbox played a minor role to explaining the analogies but nicely tied together everything that we wanted to teach that day.
Our advice is to physically prepare some of your analogies to be seen and to spark a conversation. This step relies heavily on your preparation of comparisons and can bring together all aspects of your project.
RECRUITING FOR IGEM
iGEM has a tradition at the University of Oslo (UiO) that goes back to 2014 when they had their first team competing. Since then every year a team has formed thanks to the help of the previous team and the termination of our supervisors to recruit students. And we get to celebrate the 10th anniversary year for representing UiO! This year we had the chance to recruit for 2025 by visiting the new master students in biosciences and pharmacy, and present iGEM and our work. Another such introduction to iGEM for chemistry students is set for mid-October and we are excited to share the work once more.
