Team:Toulouse France/Collaborations
Follow us @
Collaborations and Meet Ups
Our Collaborations
Protocol videos
Our team decided to create protocol videos in order to help young scientists to manipulate.
When people are working on Genetic engineering, there are several basic experiments that have to be mastered.
During our experiments, we filmed 4 steps of cloning: PCR, digestion, ligation and transformation.
By watching it, people will see how to manipulate safely.
We asked other igem teams to translate the protocols in their mother tongue.
We obtained protocol videos in English with the Imperial College team,
in Spanish thanks to the TEC-Monterrey team,
in Dutch with the Leiden team,
in Chinese with the BIT team,
in Portuguese thanks to the EEL team,
in German with the Hamburg team and
in French with the collaboration of the Bordeaux team.
We wrote the entire script in English and we added some guidance in red (minutes for each paragraphs for instance). Teams had to translate and record the script.
Now, we possess the four protocols explained in six different languages, accessible to everybody on Youtube and on our wiki.
Digestion
This video presents the protocol to do enzymatic digestion of a DNA sample. This technique is useful for usual clonings but it also have larger applications in genetics because it is used to characterize DNA.
Ligation
When a DNA fragment is digested with restriction enzymes, it is possible to ligate its extremities with another digested fragment, if the extremities are cohesives. This method can be used to add an insert in a vector or a backbone.
PCR
PCR, or Polymerase Chain Reaction, is a technique that amplifies a DNA sequence by using primers and DNA polymerase. Throughout this video, you will see how to perform a PCR. A theoretical explanation of why PCR is possible ends the video.
Transformation
Transformation is a method that allows inserting DNA in bacteria. Several methods to transform bacteria exist, but we chose to explain a thermal shock method in E. coli.
Growth study of B. subtilis and P. fluorescens
In exchange for recording the script in English, we studied the optimal growth of Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens for the Imperial London College team. First, we did an experimental plan to observe if pH is in interaction with temperature. Finally, the conclusion was that pH and temperature are two independent parameters. So, we ran the experiments again, changing only one of the parameters.
Results
Optimum Temperature (°C) |
Optimum pH |
Doubling time (minutes) |
|
Bacillus subtilis (WT 168) |
34-37 |
8 | 41 |
Pseudomonas fluorescens (SBW25) |
<29 |
7,5 | <80 |
Optimum temperatures and pH and the doubling times are summarized in the table for our two strains.
3D conception
As we added 3D conception to our set of skills, the Bordeaux team asked us to do 3D conceptions and animate them using the Blender software. We gave us short videos to put on their wiki. We did a 3D Conception of their logo.
Model of the plasmid loss
We want to thank Aix-Marseille team for the great help they gave to us. The aim of the model they conceived for us is to assess the evolution of plasmids throughout the culture, to determine which parameters can matter in the loss of those plasmids, and to precise what are the probabilities for a bacterium to loose its plasmids during cell division. As a plasmids can be a disadvantage for growth (because of the energy spent into replicating processes) or an advantage (protection against a toxin for example) this question is hard to answer to. But in this situation, where one type of plasmid can influence on the presence of the other one present (and reciprocally) in the same bacteria, the answer is really tough to get and only a mathematical model can resolve such a interrogation!
Receipt of plasmids
We want to thank the 2012 Munich team for sending us 4 different shuttle plasmids. One of these, pSBBS0K-P, was very useful because we used it for cloning in E.coli and Bacillus subtilis.
Mailing of kit
The 2016 Evry team asked us to send a Ludox solution that was in our iGEM Kit. They stored their own solution at -20°C so it was not usable anymore. But it was important for them to participate to the InterLab project so we helped them.
Protocol translation
2016 METU HS Ankara team wanted to create a database, which consists of different language protocols. They asked us to translate their protocols in French.
Meet Ups
The European Experience
The Evry and Ionis teams organized on the 1st and 2nd of July, a huge meeting that gathered
more than 11 European teams. In different rooms, each team had a space to hang its poster
and set up flyers and communication supports. We explained our project and discussed with
other iGEM members. Some helped us on different aspects like modeling and confinement
of our bacteria. When we were not on our stand, we walked around the rooms and learnt
more about other brilliant projects. We met a lot of nice people from different teams and
we sympathized a lot with every French teams.
The organizers arranged two lectures during the weekend. The first one dealt with the challenges
and the risks of synthetic biology and the second talked about a new economic world.
Different people, like CEOs of company, trainees, young workers, or research scientists
animated these round tables. One of our best memories was to meet the founder of iGEM:
Randy Rettberg. It was an honor for us to speak with him and to explain our project.
We thank very much the organizing teams for these amazing days in Paris! It was for us an
enjoyable experience of what the Giant Jamboree will be in October.
Meeting with Itzel from TEC Monterrey team
One day, on our Facebook page, we received a message from Itzel Guzman, iGEM TEC
Monterrey team member. She was in Toulouse for a few months and she asked us to meet us,
the iGEM Toulouse team. We discussed a long time about our respective projects over a drink and we
sympathized a lot!
We decided to collaborate together on the protocol videos (view more).
Website by Team iGEM Toulouse 2016
