Team:RHS-Calgary/Collaborations

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• Home
• Project
  • Description
  • Implementation
  • Contribution
• Notebook
• Wet Lab
  • Experiments
  • Results
  • Engineering Success
  • Parts
  • Safety
  • Sustainability
• Human Practices
  • Human Practices
• Team
  • Collaboration
  • Attributions
  • Members

Collaboration

collaborating with the uCalgary iGEM team

RHS-Calgary has focused on creating an environment that is supportive, impactful and open. We have been able to achieve this through many different means, all of which have changed our project for the better. We were fortunate enough to be mentored by the University of Calgary iGEM team. During our weekly Zoom meetings, where the different team members were able to communicate, catch up and pose questions, the University of Calgary members provided unbiased feedback and information from their personal experiences. For example, when our team was first coming up with our project idea, we were able to discuss the next steps with the members of University of Calgary iGEM. Having this resource improved our communication skills, our ability to explain information to other individuals and our ability to understand our project in depth. For example, when we were confused when working on our safety form, the U of C team was happy to guide us through the details and purpose of this form. There were also many instances in which they asked us questions regarding small aspects of the project. These simple questions helped us reflect upon the skills, in both biology and in communication, that we have acquired. Along with this, the University of Calgary team provided us with stories of their iGEM experiences to help us get a better understanding of what is expected of us and how we would be able to reach that goal. We discussed how our project would be the best implemented into the real world and truly understand the reason we choose to do this project. Through their mentorship, we were exposed to many resources, support systems and opportunities.

community collaboration

Community, to us, is one of the most important aspects of making a difference in the world of biology. Our team aimed to achieve this by spreading the word and raising awareness about our project through the creation of social media networks in order to reach a larger group of people. We created an instagram page (under the username @renert.igem) in hopes of reaching a larger audience. We were able to reach a following in the hundreds and meet people of different iGEM teams around the world. We were able to learn more about their projects, share some information about our own and, among that, provide each other with feedback to continue to improve our projects. Having such a broad outreach has allowed us to hear other concerns and perspectives. Through this, we have been able to adjust our project and create one that is the most marketable, beneficial, and sustainable possible. Through smaller symposium activities within Alberta, our team has been able to observe other teams' presentations and provide them with feedback. In Particular, we have worked with the Lethbridge High School team. A huge aspect of our team is the ability to not only make our project the best it can be, but also help other teams reach their full project potential. We hope to inspire, aid and help other teams create the best and most beneficial product they possibly can. Being a part of this competition is not about winning, but about helping solve real world problems through a scientific lens. Being able to provide others with the feedback and advice we were so fortunate to get from the UofC iGEM team, has helped us reach that goal of helping others. Another way in which we collaborated with other iGEM teams was through our collaboration with the Isreali iGEM team who provided us with the enzyme we have been using for our project thus far.  

collaboration with experts

Our team would not have been able to create GlucoLitter without the influence of many different individuals and organizations that guided us through the process. We have been mentored, not only by several different individuals from the Tech Futures Competition, but also by the University of Calgary’s undergraduate iGEM team. Additionally, we have been aided by a variety of veterinarians and clinics which has helped us to further our project, ensuring that it can be as impactful as possible. We connected with many stakeholders through interviews, and our collaboration with these outside sources proved to be beneficial. Through interviewing experts in the field, we were able to expand on our team's knowledge of feline diabetes. For example, it was quite difficult to determine what concentrations of glucose are considered to be concerning and an indicator of feline diabetes through research alone. Our interview with veterinarian technician Ms. Emily Chorwood provided us with valuable data points. We asked her what level of glucose in cat urine her clinic finds concerning. This number was crucial in our project as it formed the basis of the majority of our calculations and lab work. We also met with students from the University of Calgary regularly through biweekly meetings, where they gave us advice, reviewed our project ideas, and guided us through the iGEM competition process, mentoring us on how to best approach each aspect of this competition. The Renert High School team has also collaborated with the Israel iGEM team for an enzyme, namely glucose oxidase, that is vital to our experiment. While designing our own enzyme is on the horizon for future plans, it was not something that we were able to do with the time available to us. Their version of glucose oxidase was a wild type from A. niger and a BioBrick Prefix and Suffix which optimized the gene for cloning in E. coli. While the part wasn’t included in the materials shipped to us from iGEM, the registry page made by the team gave us all the information that we needed to order the plasmid through a company. In order to make the part compatible with a standard BioBrick plasmid we only needed to add the appropriate sticky ends, which made the designing of our plasmid much easier. Our team has also participated in meet-ups with other teams to build connections, get feedback, and practice important presentation skills. Through competitions such cGEM (Canadian iGEM) and the Tech Futures Challenge, we were able to gain valuable insight into what other teams were trying to accomplish with their projects, as well as important inquiries and thoughts about our own project. Thus, we have benefited greatly from the feedback and mentorship that we received from stakeholders in our project and members of the iGEM community.