Ms. Bartz's doctoral research focuses on the application of spider silk in medicine, specifically on how to create biobased support materials for tissue replacement from spider silk.
Especially in cases of bone fractures, tumors, lung damage and osteoporosis, tissue replacement material is needed that can support the healing and natural function of the tissue.
Because spider silk is very strong, light and elastic, naturally degradable and antibacillary, it is a very interesting option.
The goal of Ms. Bartz's research is to develop an optimal support material for bone and lung injuries and then test it in a clinical setting.
We talked with Ms. Bartz about the difficult production of spider silk and its possible applications, especially in connection with her research.
The spider silk that Ms. Bartz is currently researching stems from spiders from the zoo and we are allowed to accompany her during the next harvest, which we are already very excited about.
This year we are not the only team working on the production and use of spider silk. The iGEM Copenhagen, Vienna, Hestia and Exeter teams are also working on projects related to spider silk, so we met with them in a digital meeting and talked about our projects.
It was very interesting to learn what problems the teams are trying to solve with the spider silk and to share our problems in manufacturing and lab work.
Coming soon: Talk with experts from a wound healing center
We have a network of Katholisches Klinikum Bochum that specialize in the treatment of chronic wounds. Next week we have a meeting with doctors from the katholisches klinikum Bochum and have the chance to learn more about poorly healing chronic wounds.
Meeting with Dr. Bargel from the University of Bayreuth
We had a meeting with Dr. Bargel from the University of Bayreuth, his research group is concerned with the production and use of various biopolymers, including spider silk. Dr. Bargel works on different spinning processes (wet, electro and biomimetic spinning) and kindly had time for an exchange with us.
We talked about the difficult cloning phase and subsequent fiber formation in spider silk and how his research group addressed these problems.
We also talked about an exciting mutant of the C module: normally the C module is negatively charged, but the kappa variant is positively charged.
Thus, this variant of the silk proteins can better interact with the negatively charged outer sides of the cells.
In addition, we got the tip that the used E. Coli production strain has a very big influence on the yield and that it is worthwhile to experiment with different strains.
He was also very interested in the concept of iGEM in general, since it has not been widespread at German universities for so long.
Finally, we talked about the different spinning methods and that the liquid protein solution in electrospinning has to be concentrated to about 3 % before the spinning method works well.
He also kindly agreed to forward questions we had to his colleagues, including specifically questions about the plasmids they use and the yield.
Besides all the tips and advice on lab work, Dr. Bargel also found an error in our illustrations for the cloning work, which we were able to improve thanks to his input.
In general, the talk was very interesting and we were able to take away many new ideas for improved lab work.
Figure 2: Meeting mit Dr. Bargel from the University of Bayreuth
Meeting with Dr. Raphaela Meißner, zdi network IST.Bochum
Dr. Raphaela Meißner is the Head of the zdi network IST.Bochum (“Zukunft durch Innovation” = Future through Innovation), which is a joint Federal State initiative to promote young scientific and technical talent in North Rhine-Westphalia.
With over 5000 partners from industry, academia, education, politics and social groups, it is the largest of its kind in Europe. There are over 41 zdi centers and 24 zdi student labs throughout the country.
There are zdi offerings in all districts and independent cities in NRW. More than 70 Schüler:innenlabore (student labs) offer children, teenagers and young adults the opportunity to experience mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology, or MINT (STEM) for short, to pursue their enthusiasm for STEM and to learn about training and study courses.
In addition the zdi networks offer various activities, including workshops at elementary schools as well as well-known other extracurricular learning sites at research institutions and companies. The zdi is supported at the state level by several ministries, with the Ministry of Science taking the lead.
The zdi partners, which include around 25 percent of all secondary schools as well as the regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency, offer joint measures along the entire educational chain from kindergarten to the transition to a course of study and a career. The zdi networks currently reach around 300,000 young people each year, about one-third of them through the zdi centers' and labs' own activities, and the rest through activities coordinated by the zdi networks and their partners.
The main goal of the zdi network is to attract more young people to pursue STEM studies and thereby to secure young STEM talent on a regional level in the long term.
We talked with Dr. Meißner about possible corporations and planned to integrate our presentation “What is Biotechnology?” into their ongoing courses, with an additional practical workshop in the lab. Dr. Meißner gave us helpful advice about how we could best organize the presentation and which lab work would be realistic.
We also plan to give an overview of the career opportunities for biologists and insights into our university life. The presentations and workshops are planned to continue into next year and beyond the period of this year's iGEM competition.
Through the advice of Dr. Meißner, we revised and adapted our school lecture and added a practical part (DNA isolation of strawberries).
