Team:Edinburgh/Team
Team
Fiona Bunn
Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology, MSc
Laboratory
My name is Fiona and I am the student leader for our iGEM team. I previously studied Biochemistry, and my main interests are in sustainable biotechnology and using scientific innovation to work towards a more circular economy. My laboratory work focussed on silica-tag mediated immobilisation of GFP and keratinases.
Baifern Wongthanaroj
Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology, MSc
Laboratory
My name is Baifern and I am the laboratory leader for the team. I also led the video and wiki creation. I am originally from Thailand, and have experience working in molecular biology, and a BSc in Biochemistry from Chulalongkorn University. My lab work focussed on upcycling applications of amino acids, producing glutathione using a cell-free system with ATP regeneration. During this project I have learnt how to model biological systems.
Charles Wackwitz
Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology, MSc
Laboratory
My name is Charles and my lab work focussed on directed evolution of immobilised cellulases. I am also team leader for the iDEC competition.
I am a Dutch national, a graduate in BSc Biotechnology from University College London and a recent graduate in MSc Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Edinburgh. My main interests lie in the practical application of our knowledge of biology and the environment in developing a truly fair and sustainable circular bioeconomy.
Davide Annese
Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology, MSc
Laboratory
My name is Davide and I worked on directed evolution of keratinases (MtaKer).
The power to harness the natural code of life and bend it to achieve our goals is something that has always appealed to me...I moved to another country to invest in a master in this field. I truly believe that in the coming years synthetic biology will acquire more importance day by day, from the industry to the everyday use and the mass food production. Therefore, I really wanted to be part of this revolution. Indeed, I have been dreaming about Synthetic Biology and its principles ever since I heard of it and this year, finally, I met what makes me fall for biology: Dolly the sheep, conserved at the Edinburgh’s National museum of Scotland.
I like to think that I am a pretty imaginative person and that this is fundamental in our field as the applications in food production, health and sustainable industries are limited by someone’s imagination only. At the same time, I always pay attention to the social and ecological sphere of this field as I am also passionate about wildlife and botanics, with a particular soft point for parrots which I used to breed at home. In fact, this must be related to my degree in Biology at the University of Turin which gave me a wide education also including subjects as Ecology, Bioethics, zoology and botanics, beside the more specific molecular biology-related subjects.
Finn Slattery
Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology, MSc
Laboratory
My name is Finn. I previously studied BSc Marine Biology at the University of Tampa, and am also a keen swimmer, diver and overall enthusiast of the marine world. My research interests lie in biomaterials and my project focussed on the biological extraction of chitin from crab shells, and directed evolution of the enzymes involved. I was also social media co-ordinator for our project.
Chenghang Dong
Bioinformatics, MSc
Modelling
My name is Chenghang and I produced a model to predict improvements to the thermal stability of cellulases using directed evolution.
I major in Bioinformatics and have an interest in informatics and artificial intelligence since I'd like to apply AI to the understanding and effective use of biological and biomedical data. One year ago I just completed my undergraduate study with a Bachelor degree in Veterinary Medicine. But that was not what I wanted in my heart. Thanks to my university, Zhejiang University, I took lots of non-credit courses in computer science and informatics. Working with computers has always been fun for me so then, I found my passion in bioinformatics, an interdisciplinary field that incorporates computer science and biology. Bioinformatics is very exciting. I feel like it has the potential to change the world for the better. I love bioinformatics and choose to pursue my career in it.
Emily Oliver
Biotechnology, BSc
Modelling
My name is Emily and I worked on structural modelling and developed our implementation designs. I led the undergraduate members of the team.
Ritupreet Kaur
Biotechnology, MSc
Laboratory
My name is Ritupreet and I worked on worked on the degradation of PET (plastic) using Si-tagged PETase and our Parts registry.
I am from India and studied MSc Biotechnology from the University of Edinburgh. I am just so amazed with the concept of combining Biology with Engineering and iGEM provided me the perfect opportunity to work on my this passion.
Zachary Bloxham
Biochemistry, BSc
Modelling
My name is Zac and I worked on structural modelling and implementation designs.
Muhammad Arman
Biotechnology, MSc
Laboratory
My name is Muhammad and I worked on chitin deacetylases. I was responsible for our project safety forms.
Xinyue Chen
Immunology, BSc
Human Practises
My name is Xinyue and I led the human practises team. I am fascinated by how synthetic biology can deal with real-world problems. That’s why I chose to focus on the human practices aspects.
Na Dong
Biotechnology, MSc
Laboratory
My name is Na and I worked on silica-tagging of cellulases.
Tijs Van Kampen
Biotechnology, BSc
Human Practises
My name is Tijs and I was part of the human practises team.
Marina Pilukova
Biotechnology, BSc
Human Practises
My name is Marina and I was part of the human practises team.
Sen Sen Lin Quan
Biotechnology, BSc
Human Practises
My name is Sen Sen and I was part of the human practises team. I am from Mauritius, and I am currently in my final year studying a BSc. in Biotechnology at the University of Edinburgh. My interests involve the use of industrial biotechnology and synthetic biology to solve current global issues.