In late may, the Arizona State University (ASU) team contacted us in hopes of a collaboration due to our projects similarities in filtering out water containments. It is at this time that the QGEM team suggested we build a partnership throughout the iGEM season.
Our major collaborative initiative was our podcast series. Our teams worked together from June to September to interview multiple professionals who research synthetic biology and water containment issues. These interviews not only helped our team dive further into the real-world applications of our projects, but also serve as an educational resource for future iGEM teams. For example, during our interview with Dr. Stephen Brown, we thoroughly discussed the industry standards for drinking water diagnostic technologies which greatly influenced the future steps of our team. In the same interview, Dr. Brown postulated the barriers in place regarding the usage of biofilm water filters, which ultimately shaped the ASU team’s project.
Dr. Stephen Brown
On July 5th, our podcast was grateful to speak with Dr. Stephen Brown, an expert on the biochemical perspective of water diagnostics. Dr. Brown covered a variety of topics regarding bacterial testing in drinking water, new innovations in viral detection through wastewater, fluorescent detection, and the ethics behind water monitoring.
Dr. Arul Varman
On July 15th, our podcast interviewed the wonderful Dr. Arul Varman who shared his expertise in the field of bacterial metabolic engineering. Dr. Varman shared the trials and tribulations of working with bacteria, as well as the future of metabolic engineering. This podcast encapsulates many aspects about this up-and-coming field in synthetic biology.
Dr. Rosy Krajmalnik-Brown
On July 18th, our podcast had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Rosy Krajmalnik-Brown, a researcher who uses her knowledge of civil and environmental engineering to excel in the world of biotechnology. Dr. Krajmalnik-Brown shared incredible insight into the management and upkeep of microbes, along with their helpful role in bioremediation.
Dr. Lalitha Sundaram
On August 31st, our podcast interviewed the remarkable Dr. Lalitha Sundaram who discussed her wisdom in the field of biology risk, regulation, and governance. While Dr. Sundaram discussed many important aspects of risk assessment in biotechnology companies, she also shared her experience working on an arsenic bio-detection project.
MIT_MAHE was the very first team we reached out to this iGEM season. The MIT_MAHE team had also established a project based on waterborne diseases, however, their focus was aquaculture health, not human health. Their team aimed to improve coastal aquaculture operations through targeting Vibrio parahaemolyticus. It is one of the most prevalent bacteria associated with spreading the Vibriosis disease in fish. Their project involves targeting MAM7—a widely distributed adhesion molecule responsible for initial pathogenesis in many gram-negative bacteria.
Our similarity in waterborne issues led us to the creation of a two-part webinar series to explore the perspectives of academics and entrepreneurs in the water diagnostics industry. This initiative led us to achieve shared goals related to educating the iGEM community, and global public, on international water crises and synthetic biology solutions.
We were proud to host over 50 participants in our first webinar with guest speakers Dr. Mamatha Ballal and Dr. Cecilia Gimenez. Dr Mamatha Ballal is a professor of Microbiology, and Head of the enteric diseases division at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India. She has 133 publications in reputed national and international journals. She is an undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD examiner at various universities in the country. Furthermore, she has presented her scientific papers in 15 countries worldwide. Dr Ballal is an editor, editorial member and reviewer for many national and international journals of repute. Her research expertise is in infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, alternative medicine, Gut Microbiome in health and disease, and Helicobacter pylori. Dr. Cecilia Gimenez is a postdoctoral student with the Dr. Terebiznik lab at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus. After acquiring her PhD in her home country of Argentina, Dr. Gimenez continued her work with viruses at UofT, but has now also expanded into water-borne bacteria such as Salmonella, Legionella, and Campylobacter. We were grateful to have Dr. Ballal and Dr. Gimenez speak about infectious containments in water and how they impact human health.
We were proud to host over 20 participants in our second webinar with the guest speaker Sandra Dworatzek. Sandra Dworatzek has been working with SiREM since its inception. SiREM’s mission is to bring unique, science-based products and solutions in support of the environmental remediation industry. SiREM works closely with its academic and industry partners to further understand remediation technologies and develop enhancements to improve technology performance. SiREM provides treatability testing for enhanced in situ bioremediation (EISB), in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO), in situ chemical reduction (ISCR), monitored natural attenuation (MNA) and sediment remediation technologies. We were grateful to hear Sandra’s insight into entrepreneurship in the scientific world, as well as cutting-edge bioremediation strategies.
Overall, our webinar series allowed both our teams to spread awareness for the issues for which our projects are attempting to overcome, as well as educating the public on new advancements in synthetic biology.
During the course of our partnership, we also strengthened our connection by participating in other initiatives that our teams were producing. For example, QGEM submitted an entry to be publsihed in the MIT_MAHE Geo Book. In the spirit of sharing and understanding seafood within the context of different cuisines and localities, MIT_MAHE's iGEM team decided to collaborate on a compendium of dishes that involve aquatic animals! The main aim of this Geo Book is to celebrate diversity and bring more recognition to what affects our favourite plates of seafood. Also, MIT_MAHE participated in QGEM’s bacteria book, Biome, as described above. Helping each other achieve goals outside of our main initiative left both of our teams feeling supported throughout the iGEM year.
Igem-MIT-MAHE
