Team:AFCM-Egypt/Partnership
Partnership
Team ABSI_Kenya
Welcome on board ABSI_Kenya
Developing a partnership with another iGEM team is one of the check points that we get really excited about every year. It allows our team the chance to work with other iGEMers of different backgrounds from all over the globe, which definitely broadens and enriches our iGEM experience.
The AFCM iGEM team has been a pioneer in the MENA region. During the past years; we were used to getting called upon from other teams in the region for guidance regarding entering the competition and for help through other various aspects.
In 2021, we decided to advance the other way around by reaching out to new iGEM teams in the region. ABSI_Kenya was the only fellow team in the African region and since it is their first year in iGEM, we took the initiative to contact them and find out about any struggles they might have encountered. It all started by arranging an online meeting with them where the two teams got to know each other. Our teams presented their work and then we exchanged ideas on how to improve our projects and enhance our vision. The AFCM team consists mainly of medical students and biologists, therefore we thought forming a partnership with another multi-disciplinary team such as team ABSI would add a great value to us.
Sharing awareness channels
In light of our educational enhancements, this year we were trying to connect to as many people as possible and to spread awareness campaigns against breast cancer in Africa. Thanks to team ABSI, we were able to successfully deliver our content to Kenya as they allowed us to utilise their awareness channels. They were able to tape an awareness video highlighting the high incidence of breast cancer, importance of early detection, symptoms, and notations on when to see an oncologist. These videos were displayed among breast cancer communities in Kenya.
Mathematical Modelling and circuit design
The meeting of the mathematicians took place when ABSI’s team member Jacob contacted Ahmed Mattar, the mathematician of our team, asking him for guidance in some points concerning their mathematical modelling and circuit design. They inquired about software tools for drawing their circuits to develop a deeper understanding of circuit design and logic gates. Therefore, Mattar provided them with tutorials on SBOL canvas and Pigeon Synbio tool. Regarding logic gates, he recommended using Logisim to help in clarifying the used truth tables. Furthermore, he introduced them to previously published literature illustrating the usage of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and advised them to simulate the results using MATLab or python; as they inquired about how to perform the mathematical modelling of their project. Moreover, he recommended searching through BMSS2 software which is a unified database-driven modelling tool for systematic model selection and identifiability analysis, which aided them in illustrating the kinetics of their circuit.
Human practices approaches and documentation
As the wiki freeze approaches, teams often seek assistance and counsel from one another. Mary Muturi (ABSI) and Saif Wahba (AFCM), both handling human practices, fixed an online meeting where Mary made sure whether the ABSI human practices were adequate through revising the medal criteria with Wahba. Wahba then shed light on the importance of documentation and how it should be implemented over the course of the season and disclosed it by giving documentation examples from AFCM’s human practices approaches.