Team:Newcastle/Diary/Minutes/0709

Date	07st September 2016
Time	From 15:00
Place	CBCB Level 2 Meeting Room
Attendees	Lauren (chair), Kerry (minutes), Josh, Ollie, Rupert, Jake
Apologies	Emilija (working), Kristina (ill
Previous Meeting	31th August 2016

Meeting Minutes

1. The minutes from the previous meeting were unanimously approved.

2. We recapped the upcoming the deadlines.

1. Team banners are due on the 7th of October

1. Team banners are hung around the convention center and serve as an advert to encourage people to come and see our talk/poster/etc.

2. Refer to the specification for last year's (as the current year's ones aren't on the wiki yet) banners.

3. We should keep the banner in line with the wiki theme and general style of our presentation (i.e. fun, serious, etc.). Think of it as advertising you.

4. Should mainly consist of our logo, tagline and nice image(s). Maybe also include the University and sponsors logo.

2. Judging forms due 14th October

3. Final Safety Form due 16th October

4. 17th October Biology 1st year Undergraduate Talk

1. 10 minutes on what iGEM is

2. 25 minutes on our project

5. The Wiki Freeze is 19th October

6. Part Submissions due 21st October

3. We reported back on the individual sub-teams.

1. Breadboard

1. 3D printed parts of modular breadboard have been made and assembled. There is an issue with the magnets not having a complete connection, so the team will be changing the magnets to flatter ones. Lab work needs to be demonstrated using the breadboard.

2. Component

1. Experiments were conducted to test the conductivity of the heat fluidics chamber, and these have been successful using DC current (previous experiments suggest it should also work using AC). A way to change the source may need to be found, and it was suggested that the breadboard could include a timer with an oscillator that flips the current.

2. Chlorine gas being produced may be a problem and the judges will pick up on it. The team need to work out how much is produced, so that they can determine if bacteria is being killed.

3. The team are currently unable to measure GFP fluorescence because the signal is too noisy when using a photodiode/rhodamine/ photo resistor. They are going to try to find an alternative using either a more sensitive photodetector, or at the very least plating them.

4. There has been a leakage issue, so it was suggested that the team speak to Lucy about making an acrylic version of PCB. All the data from the experiments is on the wiki, but experiment bars need to be added.

3. Alternative Constructs

1. Still waiting on primers for variable resistor. Once these arrive, the team will need to show that the zinc can be taken up.

2. When adding gold (in the PBS buffer) this increased the resistance. The team will need to test the heating effect for gold nanoparticles.

4. Simulation

1. The simulation team demonstrated a prototype. The feedback was generally positive, although the team need to consider the way they describe it to people, and to include more links and references explaining why the team has chosen to do this.

2. The team met with PEALS to discuss ethics surrounding the game. It has been decided to rebrand the simulator as a ‘thought experiment’. Clear links and references need to be made, to show how thought experiments are proven to engage people in topics.

3. The decision has been made to replace the animations following each level, with a narration from an expert in each field. This is to give the impression that we spoke to people first, and to make the human practices section more integrated. The team is going to compile an email, to a contact Anil has in the space industry.

4. They have decided how they are going to integrate Edinburgh's DNA storage scheme into the game and have started building this. They are hoping to complete the first prototype by the next meeting.

5. Wiki

1. Not much has changed on the wiki, still adding content. B-roll footage still needs to be filmed, and will go in various places on the wiki.

2. Bio-Card designs are complete and will be added to the wiki soon.

3. All parts must be documented on the wiki and in the registry. Ask the advisors to check through registry.

6. Battery

1. One of the battery components has been transformed, and the other one has now arrived. The fuel cell is the same as the Redding cell, but yeast has been swapped with E. coli. The mini prep for the battery is still to be done.

7. Bulb

1. The mini prep for the lightbulb has been done, and the construct will be sent to iGEM HQ by the end of this week.

2. The script from BMG still doesn't work, however manually the fluorescence increased by 10% after 20 minutes. The team are going to try starting with a higher OD value, and will test again on Monday using a negative control.

4. We reflected on our progress with respect to the medal requirements.

1. For the bronze medal requirements all that is missing is attending the Jamboree and adding the characterization information to the parts registry.

2. For the silver medal requirements, we need to show that our parts work as expected, we get to define what is "expected". We will be able to choose from the bulb, variable resistor and battery constructs at a later date.

3. Our collaboration with Edinburgh is strong and we don't need to seek any more collaboration opportunities.

4. For the gold requirements we should gear our write up toward the proof of concept rather than the demonstration - i.e. its working individually rather than all together (requirement 3 vs 4) as these are very similar and the first will be easier to reach. Remember that we need only to reach 2 requirements for hold. We will fulfil requirements for proof of concept by demonstrating lab work on our breadboard.

5. Any Other Business

1. Presentation

1. Decide who will present at jamboree, and who will take the lead on the poster.

2. Decide on a script by the end of the month, that we will use for Edinburgh meetup and the 1st year biology talk.

2. Payment

1. Anil and Tom to discuss payment.

3. Travel Arrangements

1. Check on Travel Arrangements.