Communication and exchange is one of the fundamental aspects of modern scientific research, and combining research efforts can often lead to totally unexpected, but quite some fruitful new ideas and insights on both sides. This is why we are very happy to have been able to have a partnership with the iGEM Team IISER Tirupati 2022 throughout this iGEM year and thereby improve both our projects in a cooperative manner.
Our initial contact started on the Global iGEM Slack Account, where both our team and the team iGEM IISER Tirupati got in touch, as we were both looking into RNA-based technology as well as Microfluidics systems: Team IISER Tirupati’s project AptaSteles focuses on the a diagnostic kit based on Microfluidics, while our team focuses on developing an siRNA based therapeutic. This means there were two major areas in which we could each consult each other about different lab protocols or technical details when e.g. creating different parts of a device.
After our first meeting, we agreed on scheduling monthly meetings from June till October, where we extensively discussed literature and exchanged ideas, as well as gave updates on our project, did troubleshooting together, and had a lot of fun together too. We also opened a joint channel on Discord to keep in touch and contact the other team whenever questions or ideas arose which could be beneficial for the other team as well.
We were very glad to have found an iGEM team also working on microfluidics, a technique not so common in iGEM at the moment, and throughout our sessions often exceeding the originally planned time, we were very happy to share our knowledge and experience with the IISER Tirupati team. Furthermore, as the Tirupati team had a close collaboration with scientists on campus working on microfluidics, we were able to receive answers to even very specific questions, drastically cutting down the time of either trial and error or long literature search.
While talking about our projects, our team spontaneously had the idea if we could tweak our microfluidics device in such a way that besides size and PDI, the device could also measure the encapsulation efficiency automatically. This would require aptamers to specifically bind and recognize the unencapsulated siRNA in the solution; and in the following meetings, we set out to further explore this idea with the IISER Tirupati Team. Their expertise on aptamer design was of great help to us in this process, and although in the end we realised that one would have to detect the free siRNA indirectly, and due to technical difficulties we couldn’t try out proposed tools like MAWS or NUPACK, we still believe them to be promising candidates for the future.
We also discussed about the Human practices aspects of our projects, and how our device can be optimised to the needs and interests of its stakeholders. These included aspects such as user-friendliness (e.g. easy operation), safety (e.g. how do keep the system sterile) and ecological awareness (e.g. what parts can be made reusable? How can one in that case clean them, and if a part needs to be replaced, how can one dispose of it in the best way?). Both teams received valuable input from this discussion and implemented these aspects into their final product design.
Throughout the year, we were very thrilled to be able to engage with such a motivated and helping team as Team IISER Tirupati and knowing that whatever problem you might face in your project, you are never alone. Together, we managed to inspire and contribute in various ways to each other’s projects, and worked hand in hand in developing both RNA-based technology as well as microfluidics. We are very glad to have been able to help a lot in the area of in vivo RNA production as well as many technical details to microfluidics devices, and we received lots of valuable input to siRNA-sensing via aptamers and in-vitro systems too. Together, we also had an inspiring exchange on various aspects related to the human practices dimensions of our project, and in conclusion, we believe this once again shows important and rewarding close collaborations in science and synthetic biology can be.
