Thank you to the many individuals who gave their time and expertise to guide our project.
It has been incredibly thought-provoking and informative to see our work through the eyes of experts in various areas of plant synthetic biology and agriculture.
Internal Team
Wet-Lab:
Brenda Ma, Ali Murtaza, Anjali Parthasarathy, Edward Li, Oliver Hong, Hannah Illing, Parneet Sekhon, Janella Schwab, Alice Hong
Dry-Lab:
Kimia Rostin, George Tang, Umar Ali, Piyush Awasthi
Human Practices:
Alice Hong, Anjali Parthasarathy, Parneet Sekhon, Janella Schwab, Max Yang, Kimia Rostin
Wiki Design & Development:
Patrick Lee, Kimia Rostin, Hannah Illing
Finance:
Janella Schwab, Parneet Sekhon, Brenda Ma, Anjali Parthasarathy
Graphic Design & Videography:
Meriwether Morris, Janella Schwab, Max Yang
Advisors:
Kevin Ao, Laura Gonazalez Campos, Ian Coccimiglio, Sibyl Drissler, Evan Gibbard, Kieran Maheden, Rodrigo Vallejos, Abishek Wadhwa
Principal Investigators:
Dr. Steven Hallam, Dr. David Oliver
Other Student Support:
Helia Jafari, Myles Osenton, Michaela Samanta, Aden Chan
Other Advisor Support:
Emilia Chen, Madina Kagieva, Samuel King, Athanasios Kritharis, Sarah Ng, Ariel Qi, Cecilia Yang
External Expertise
Guus Bakkeren, Andriy Bilichak, David Kim, Kerry Ward:
For helping our team obtain wheat seeds that we could grow into wheat plants for our protoplast proof-of-concept experiments.
Dr. Andrew Riseman (Associate Professor of Applied Biology and Plant Breeding, UBC):
For providing essential insight into working with wheat plants at the correct stage of development and informing us on the importance of considering the intricate relationship between heat stress and drought stress.
René Inckemann (Doctoral Research in Synthetic Biology, Max Planck Institute, Germany):
For helping us affirm the most feasible and effective method of testing our plasmid constructs, and for his advice in the challenges of working with cell-free chloroplast systems vs. protoplasts.
Dr. Liang Song (Assistant Professor of Botany, UBC):
For informing us on the intricacies of protoplast isolation, suggesting methods to reduce plant stress during the procedure, and also for inspiring our climate modelling efforts.
Fei Luo (Co-Founder and CEO, Liven Proteins):
For urging us to consider the commercial viability and societal impact of our project as well as the purpose of using engineering biology to address the problem of heat stress in plants.
Samir Hamadache (Co-Founder and CEO, Forest City Synbio):
For his entrepreneurial insights into considering the scalability and commercialization potential of our project.
Ela Dudek (VP of Research and Development, Future Fields):
For her participation as a speaker in the first episode of our podcast, focusing on her journey as a research scientist and the sustainability measures undertaken by Future Fields.
Bryce and Jill Rashleigh (Saanichton Farms):
For sharing the impact of heat waves on their smaller-scale family farm and welcoming our team members into their lovely home for a delicious home-cooked meal.
Kyle Mitchell (Field Five Farms):
For giving our team a wonderful tour of his wheat fields and sharing key information on the quality and protein content of wheat produced under different climate conditions.
Clayton Fox (Silver Rill Farms):
For his insights into the social perceptions surrounding GMO crops and the utility of conventional farming compared to organic farming.
Dr. Sandra Yanni (Research Scientist in Irrigation and Energy, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada):
For informing us on the most sustainable and effective methods of reducing heat stress in plants and for affirming the importance of utilizing heat-resistant crops in areas where irrigation may not be accessible.
Dr. Budong Qian (Research Scientist in Climate Change Impacts, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada):
For providing feedback on adapting crop production to address climate change and for emphasizing the need for drought and heat-resistant plants especially for dry, arid regions where irrigation may be costly and unavailable.
Kelly Boles (President, Center Field Solutions):
For providing information on grain production trends in terms of variety innovation in Canada, and how well-received our project’s product would be against other varieties being developed.
Carla Berquo (Director, Canada's Food & Agri-Tech Engine):
For providing insight on current trends in agricultural innovation and funding opportunities, and feedback on how well our project fit into the current market.
Ezequiel Marochani (Technology Sourcing Manager, Bioceres Crop Solutions):
For providing feedback on our project product’s premise in terms of considerations for proof of concept beyond protoplast validation.
Aden Chan (Undergraduate Student, UBC Vancouver):
For developing an interactive game of our research journey for presentation at the Grand Jamboree.
Education & Outreach
Dr. Stefan Linquist (University of Guelph), Dr. Katie Koralesky (UBC), Jennifer Hubert (CropLife Canada), Steven Druker:
For their incredible engagement as speakers for our "Let’s Talk GMO" panel and for fostering an open, insightful discussion on the public perceptions of GMOs.
Dr. Pawan Dhar, Dr. Scott Pownall, Dr. Luis De Stefano-Beltrán, Alex Kyabarongo:
For their participation as speakers for our International Accessibility to Synthetic Biology Innovations’ panel and providing different perspectives in our discussion of infrastructural barriers and support for synthetic biology innovations across the globe.
The C.O.D.E. Initiative Foundation:
For their collaboration in teaching our "Bits of Bio: The Science of Life" workshops to both neurodivergent and neurotypical children and youth, to expand the inclusivity and accessibility of STEM topics.
Yard Garden Harvest Project:
For their collaboration in providing our team members with experience in small-scale organic gardening of local fruits and vegetables.
Melius Mentorship Network:
For their collaboration in partnering with us so our team members could present an interactive genetic engineering workshop for newcomers and refugee youth in Surrey, BC.
iGEM IISER-Pune:
For their continuous partnership in establishing our Dry-Lab climate modeling component, and for their collaboration in co-organizing and co-hosting our "International Accessibility to Synthetic Biology Innovations" panel.
iGEM Patras:
For their contributions to organizing the second episode of our Sustainable Development Goals podcast series.
UBCO iGEM:
For fostering a mentorship relationship with us and allowing us to provide advice to a first-ever iGEM team. Our aid in team structure, project development, and logistics created a relationship where we could freely consult Jamboree and project inquiries with each other.
Lab Support
Hallam Lab (Life Sciences Institute, UBC Department of Microbiology and Immunology):
For graciously hosting the UBC Vancouver iGEM wet-lab work. We would like to thank the entire lab for letting us use one of their benches and share some of their equipment.
Li Lab (Michael Smith Laboratories, UBC Department of Botany):
For allowing the team to grow wheat plants in their lab. A huge thank you to advisor Kevin Ao, who made this possible and advised the team on wheat growth and protoplast isolation.
Administration & Team Development
Susan Palichuk, Odette Rivers, Resmi Radhamony (Hallam Lab, UBC):
For their help with team finances and management of funds.
Dr. Steven Hallam (Hallam Lab, UBC):
For constant feedback and advice on project selection and progress, providing contacts and opportunities for the advancement of our project, and providing laboratory space for our Wet-Lab work.