Collab with iGEM Vienna

On July the 20th, we hosted a virtual meeting with iGEM Vienna via Zoom. In this collaboration, several members from both teams who were contributing to the projects with different roles came together to discuss and exchange ideas for the research. iGEM Bonn-Rheinbach and iGEM Vienna had a similar project goal – reduce carbon emissions. It was of value to us to collaborate with iGEM Vienna because we exchanged useful ideas, information, and sources on how to approach this cyan-energy project.

The virtual meeting was hosted before the lab phase had started, so the outcomes of the discussions were implied into planning and performing the research. For example, iGEM Vienna shared troubleshooting they were working on at that time to aim for optimal growth conditions for cyanobacteria. Although the strains used were different, it may still be implied on our cyanobacteria strain so we benefited from their troubleshooting results.

“I did not know what to expect from the meeting but we got more than we thought we would. We learned a lot,” said Qal, the social outreach leader of our iGEM Bonn-Rheinbach team. Indeed, both teams gave positive feedback from the social aspect of the collaboration and collectively mentioned that it was a fun and cooperative teamwork. The collaboration also led to us creating a pamphlet for the reduction of CO₂. iGEM Göttingen also joined in with the pamphlet because their project is related to biofuels and they wanted to raise awareness on how to reduce CO₂. This pamphlet is created to showcase and share some useful hacks and tips on how to reduce CO₂ from our daily lives’ activities. It can be easily accessed and viewed with a QR-code to educate the public. In addition, a handful of stickers are printed, which will be brought and given out at the iGEM Jamboree in Paris.

Collab with iGEM Waterloo

The following day, on July 21st, we had the opportunity to join a collaboration with a team from North America, iGEM Waterloo based in Ontario, Canada. A member from iGEM Waterloo joined us via Zoom and we were able to get an insight on organizational matters for running such a project. We learned that the team representing Waterloo is a big team, with more than 30 members. Furthermore, the iGEM competition is part of a module at the University of Waterloo meaning that they receive a lot of support from the many advisors they have. Since they are a big team, it was important for us to learn, based on their experiences, how to manage and organize the project. For example, creating multiple subgroups.

Collab with iGEM Gothenburg

We were approached by iGEM Gothenburg for an honorable collab – translating a blogspot for the Transcriptome Blog. This was done by a German-speaking member in the summer, during the lab phase. Since our group is small, we wanted to do something related to education and communication. Therefore, we were really glad that we had the opportunity to help out the iGEM Gothenburg team achieve their diverse and inclusive blogspot, whilst meeting our team goals. The blogspot is accessible and readily available to German-speakers at https://thetranscriptome.com/de/die-zukunft-mit-biodruck/