Team:UPF Barcelona/Collaborations

Team:UPF Barcelona - 2021.igem.org




Human practices

Collaborations

From ARIA Team we have collaborated in all sorts of ways with other teams, either by filling out surveys or translating texts, or in a more artistic way by recording videos or participating in a photo collection. In addition, we have also hosted a virtual meetup and arranged a partnership.


At ARIA iGEM Barcelona we believe that collaborating with other teams is as important as any other field within science. Within collaboration we can understand both sharing knowledge and participating in joint activities, not only of a scientific nature, but also in a creative way, in order to promote an innovative and entrepreneurial work environment. Due to the current pandemic situation, in which in the last year and a half contact with other teams in person has been more complicated, all kinds of activities and communications have been promoted at an international level thanks to social networks and the Internet.

After the novelty of 2020, 2021 has been a year in which we were more technologically prepared and had more experience with the media and although we have not been able to live the same experience as other teams in years prior to the pandemic, thanks to these telematic means we have also been able to participate and enjoy various activities, in addition to meeting other groups within iGEM. These collaborations have given us a broader vision of teamwork and community at a global level and have motivated us to believe that we are not alone in defending our cause: the fight against antibiotic resistance.


  • Video collaboration

    We collaborated with iGEM Darmstadt in the iJET challenge. Their objective was to unite as many iGEM teams in one video as possible through a paper plane. It was an amazing idea that made it possible to feel the proximity of more iGEM groups despite the COVID-19 times we are currently living in. It was such a funny video that was great to record!

In the image stand two members of our group, Auba and Loreto, dressed in lab coats and throwing a paper airplane

Figure 1: iJET video organized by iGEM Darmstadt.

  • Survey filling

    We did fill some surveys for iGEM TAS_Taipei, about blood donations, and for iGEM GO_Paris-Saclay about endometriosis. It was such a cool initiative to create surveys and send them to other iGEM teams to know the amount of general knowledge about these topics. We discovered many aspects that we were unaware of after conducting the surveys. We hope that they received good feedback to improve the divulgation of their projects to the general public.

The image shows two logos, one belonging to the Tas-Taipei team, a group that is working on Blood Type Conversion, and another logo belonging to the iGEM GO Paris-Saclay team, which is working on Endometriosis detection.
Figure 2: Logos of the iGEM teams to which we filled in the surveys. (A) iGEM TAS-Taipei (B) iGEM GO Paris-Saclay.

  • Instagram game

    We participated in an Instagram game organized by iGEM Aix-Marseille consisting of deciphering other iGEM projects only with emojis. It was fun and entertaining and also helped us to learn about other teams' projects.

The image is about two screenshots of instagram stories belonging to the game organized by the iGEM Aix-Marseille team. In the first story you can find our project ARIA described with the emoticons of: a pill, a cross, a bacterium, a magnifying glass and an eye. Below the description there is a box to write the answer guessing the team behind the project. In the second story is written the description of the project: "Our project consists of characterizing the mechanisms underlying antibiotic resistances by combining synbio and AI. We are ARIA (Antibiotic Resistance Inference Array)."
Figure 3: Capture of iGEM Aix-Marseille’s instagram stories. (A) First story published, representation of the project with emojis. (B) Answer and description of our project.

  • Wiki workshop

    We met, together with UNIZAR, with two afterigems from last year's iGEM Hormonic Team. They advised us and gave us some small tips on how to write the wiki. We are very grateful for the advice they gave us as it has helped us when we have developed our wiki. More details in the education page.

The image is a slide from the wiki workshop where the contents of the activity are described. The first point was the introduction where the rules for writing the wiki were discussed. The second point was about the design and the third one about the programming of the wiki. Finally, the fourth point was about useful tips and takehome messages.
Figure 4: Table of contents of the Wiki Workshop by Hormonic, iGEM 2020 team.

  • Photo collection

    We participated in the project “expARTiments” organized by NOUS iGEM sending our collection of lab contamination fungi. Although it may seem unpleasant, the photos were nicer than one would expect. In fact, thanks to these photos, another team, iGEM Estonia, also wanted to have them because every year they print science-related photos and hold an art exhibition.

    We think it is a great initiative to bring science and art together, since there is a lot of art in the science we do.

The images show 4 different fungi of different shapes and colors corresponding to different laboratory contaminations.
Figure 5: Lab contamination fungi collection. (A - C) Unknown fungus by Dimitrie Ivancic. (D) Unknown fungus by Teresa Castaño.

  • Script translation

    We translated some questions and answers given by children in the iGEM Bielefeld CeBiTec education project. We found it a very interesting project and of course we did not refuse to help them!

The image shows the logo of the iGEM Bielefeld team, who are working on a project called "P.L.A.N.T" (Plantbased Ligand Activated Noxious Agent Tracker).
Figure 6: iGEM Bielefeld’s logo.

  • Erasmus Youth Exchange Program

    We had a meeting with Elisavet, a member of iGEM Thrace who explained to us how the Erasmus Youth exchange worked. We were delighted to learn about this great initiative that takes place every year in Alexandroupolis and it was a pleasure to meet the group. In the end we could not participate in the exchange but we liked the proposal anyway.

The image is a capture of a virtual call with the iGEM Thrace team. The order of the participants shown, from left to right, and starting from the top row is: Elisavet, from the Greek team, Auba and Laisa, Isaac, Marc, Joel and Laura, all members of our team.

Figure 7: Virtual meeting with iGEM Thrace. Top left is Elisavet, a member of the Greek team. The rest of the participants are members of ARIA iGEM.

  • Meetings with our Europe Ambassador

    We had several meetings with our ambassador, Claudia Troncone, to get to know each other and for her to explain the dynamics and operation of iGEM. In one of these meetings, all the iGEM teams in Spain attended, it was amazing! In addition to these meetings, we also keep in touch through a WhatsApp group created for all iGEM groups in Spain.

The image is a capture of a virtual call with Claudia Troncone, iGEM European ambassador and representative of Spain. The order of the participants shown, from left to right, and starting from the top row is: Claudia, the European ambassador, Teresa, Isaac, Lídia, Auba, Laura and Joel, all members of our team. On Isaac's shoulder there is a canary, our team’s mascot

Figure 8: Virtual meeting with Claudia Troncone (top left), Europe ambassador representing Spain. On Isaac's shoulder there is our team’s mascot.

  • Partnership with iGEM UNIZAR

    We have also entered into a partnership with iGEM UNIZAR, a Spanish team from Zaragoza which has developed the RECONBY project. To read more about this special collaboration, we link you to the Partnership page.

The image shows the logo of iGEM UNIZAR, a team that is working with nanobodies in its project called "Reconby".
Figure 9: RECONBY Logo.

  • Hybrid meeting

    Finally, we also organized a hybrid meeting as a conference named "Tools to avoid the future antibiotic resistance pandemic". This was a hybrid meeting, where there was the possibility to access both in person and through a telematic link. To read more about this virtual meeting, we link you to the Education page.

The image is a poster of the conference we gave. The title is "Tools to avoid the future antibiotic resistance pandemic", which was held on Friday, the 15th of October at 10.00am CEST at the UPF Poblenou Auditorium.

Figure 10: Conference flyer.
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Email: igem@upf.edu