Styczynski Lab at Georgia Tech

Our iGEM team got the idea for our project from the Styczinski Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Professor Styczinski and his graduate students are currently working on making a zinc biosensor, but are experiencing problems with overexpression of pigments. This inspired us to characterize the strength of degradation tags and ultimately rectify this issue.
In addition, Professor Styczinski has been a mentor and advisor to us. He has met with us multiple times to revise our project and troubleshoot issues. He has also generously provided materials that a high school lab does not have access to, and has periodically allowed us use of his lab. We could not have completed our project without this collaboration!

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

In order to further understand the impact of our project, we discussed micronutrients with Dr. Ralph Whitehead, a scientist from the CDC. We asked questions about micronutrient deficiencies in multiple regions around the globe. The insightful answers gave a better understanding of the micronutrient problems that plague different areas. We further discussed the specific process of blood analysis for micronutrient amounts and other organizations that are also working on the developing a household indicator for blood analysis. We also touched on the CDC’s specific process for blood analysis in targeted areas.

New England Biolabs Representative (Algae Presentation): Chris Cook

In the spring, a representative from New England Biolabs, Chris Cook, came to our school to discuss research he was doing. He was attempting to harness the photosynthetic energy from algae to make fuels and other materials. His story was very interesting, and taught us about how difficult scientific success can be.

Alverno California

Our team collaborated with Alverno Heights Academy, a fellow high school iGEM team in California. We set up a video call with them and discussed our project. We answered any questions they had about the iGEM process.