Coralie TAMBON : At the start of the project, I mostly presented potential subjects for this year and played a role in the bibliographic research for SEA CARE as well as managing the team and meetings. Afterwards, I took part in the Public Engagement team where I managed and prepared activities, events and collaborations. I also participated in the communication part of the project by designing social media posts and creating contents related to the popularization of science. As of now, my main role is to help conceive the wiki and participate in different events.

Clem HEGO : As someone who isn’t a scientist, my involvement was limited to the areas of the project that didn’t require any scientific knowledge. I worked on the finance side of things as the treasurer, accountant, and funding searcher. I worked on social media as one of the community managers on Instagram, posting and interacting with other teams. I also participated to numerous events, and translated our work into english.

Raphaël LAUHON : My first contribution in this team was to look for a subject for this year, I proposed two subjects. Then, when we validated the subject of our team, I realized the bibliographic research in order to find enzymes able to degrade PE, PP, PS. My second participation was to be part of the "Business team" in order to find grants to finance the different needs of the team. Finally, my last help is the web development of the Wiki.

Lucie VILLE : I performed different tasks throughout the iGEM project, which allowed me to develop and deepen certain skills. First of all I participated in the choice of the project and in the bibliographic research like all the other members of the team. Then, I took care of the communication by managing the Instagram and Facebook networks of the association. I was able to propose different publications on the progress of our project or scientific popularization in order to raise awareness about microplastic pollution. It also allowed me to interact with the other iGEM teams and answer questions from people who were following our project. I also participated in the organization of some events in order to communicate about this subject.

Emily LAWENDY : In the beginning of the project, I presented potential topics for the year. Throughout the project, I was in the Social media team. I helped design posts and wrote short descriptions in English and French that could be understood by everyone without a scientific background. I was also responsible for the linkedIn account. Moreover, I was keen to help my colleagues in different teams, especially the events team.

Laureline THIRIOT : Like all the members of our iGEM team I started by looking for potential projects for this year. Following the choice of the project concerning the pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by microplastics, I participated mainly in the creation of awareness social media posts as well as in the sharing on social networks of the different events in which our team participated.

Maureen LARRIPA : As a member of iGem team, I was involved in the microplastics research at the beginning to find a way to eliminate them. Then, I mainly participated in the creation of post on social networks. I developed my creativity by searching for post ideas, creating images and writing post descriptions. I also went to an event on the Mediterranean Sea to find information.

Wetlab team

Fanny BONIL : I took part in various aspects of this project. Besides participating in the brainstorming in finding our new topic, leading to bibliographic research on the soon-to-be chosen problematic, I mainly contributed to the Human practices and laboratory side of it. In the Human Practices Team, I created the logo that was going to be our team image for the year (and more) and most of the microplastics-themed posters. I also participated in all the different events in the hopes of communicating and publicizing our work and defending the project to the largest public possible. To do so, I had to imagine and create different activities to impact people of all ages. I also was in the Wetlab team, where I worked more specifically on producing and testing 14 proteins with a supposed affinity for plastic. On the other hand, I created a quiz game with the help of the iGEM team from Montpellier. Finally, with other colleagues, I helped coordinate the making and design of the project's promotional video created by Francois Reimbold from Litchi Video, with whom the iGEM Aix-Marseille team already collaborated in the past.

Hynde CHAKOUR : I joined the iGEM project in the middle of the year to become part of the "Wetlab team". I worked on peptides with the aim of finding a peptide sequence with a high affinity for PE. To do this, I participated in bibliographic research, various manipulations related to molecular biology and the writing of the results that appear in the Wiki.

Melvin RIHA : For this iGEM project, I started to look for topics to be developed.Then, once the subject was defined, I worked in the Lab part. Effectively, I worked on the laccase part where I did molecular biology and also biochemistry experiments to produce and test the activity of laccases on microplastics. I also contributed to the writing of the wiki.

Susan PARSONAGE : I participated in this project at different levels. Firstly, once the 2022 team was formed, I participated in the brainstorming to find a topic for this year's project. So, I also participated in the bibliographic research once the topic of microplastic pollution was chosen. I was also part of the Wetlab team, in the laboratory I worked more specifically on the research of a VHH antibody with a very strong affinity for plastic, this by the Phage display technique. On the other hand I participated in the search for funding for the project. For this I prepared files, I participated in meetings to present and defend the project and I am in permanent contact with all our sponsors to keep them informed about the progress of the project. Finally, I took part in meetings to design the project's promotional video with Francois Reimbold from Litchi Video.

Hoby RADOARIJAONA : In the beginning of the project, I participated in bibliographic research to develop our project. I took part in the Public Engagement team where I participated in a meeting with a searcher specialized in laccases but I also took part in events such as the Delta festival. As a member of the Wetlab, I did manipulations including molecular biology but also biochemistry. I was mainly concerned with the peptide part, ranging from production, purification and the adhesion test of these proteins to PE and PP plastics.

Chaimae BENKERDAGH : My contribution to the project, after participating in the bibliographic research, was initially based on the modeling of a laccase whose oxidation site is more easily accessible to the microplastic. Once the modeling was finished, I was able to help other members of the lab with their experiments, especially Susan Parsonage with the Phage display technique. At the beginning of iGEM I was involved in the "Ocean University alliance" event which was linked to a project meant to "Restore our oceans and waters by 2030". I participated in meetings with François Reimbold in order to set up the promotional video of our project, finally I contributed along with our team members to the writing of the Wiki.

Recognition

We would like to extend our appreciation for the amazing work done by everyone who supported us. We especially would like to thank our instructors: James Sturgis, Valerie Prima and Julie Viala. They showed leadership qualities that the rest of the team look up to, we could not have done it without your help.

Our advisors gave us a lot of advice, they introduced us to the iGEM universe, and then guided us to the final stretch. They were always by our side and helped us a lot, especially during the research and implementation of the project.

We would also like to thank our sponsors, thanks to their generous donations, this project has become a reality and has proven to be a wonderful success. Last but not least, we would like to thank everyone who participated in this extraordinary project.

We also want to thank the people who helped us, from the professionals who gave us their time for the interviews to each citizen we met during our events. We would like to give a special thank you to Alain Roussel, Lycia Die Morini and Flora Honoré, specialist of the phage display technique, for your advice and your support. .