Reading University IGEM

Your University iGEM team needs you!

• Do you want amazing work experience?
• Working in the lab and running an interdisciplinary, student-lead research project?
• A chance of lifetime trip to Boston, USA?
• Taking part in a worldwide synthetic biology competition with over 200 universities?

We need a group of first and second year students to lead Reading’s team to victory in the 2015 International Genetically Engineered Machines competition in Boston (http://2014.igem.org/Main_Page).This year, the University's iGEM team won a bronze medal for work on the cyanobacteria–based, solar–powered fuel cell, combining genetic engineering of cyanobacteria with building a fuel cell providing electricity just from light, CO2 and water. We need to get better next year!

We are looking for Engineers, Mathematicians, Biologists, Computer Scientists, Designers and anyone who is willing to get involved. If you're passionate about PR, fundraising, science communication or are really good in designing wikis, we need you!

We need to start brainstorming a potential next project ASAP and take it forward into lab work over the summer for the annual competition meet up at the end of September. This is a great opportunity to stand out and get amazing work experience!

If you’re interested please come to a meeting on Wednesday 14th of January in Palmer 105 between 1 -2pm for further information on the project and getting the team together.

Main Page - 2014.igem.org The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) is the premiere undergraduate Synthetic Biology competition. Student teams are given a kit of biological parts at the beginning of the summer from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. Working at their own schools over the summ…

Well done all!!

An awesome journey to get here but at last the closing ceremony of iGEM 2014

Nailed the presentation and now lunch, whilst networking with start ups and reviewing laptop labs

Final preparations before the presentation

Some of the team at the convention centre, preparing for their speech at 1200 (EST) (1600GMT)

The a portion of the team are travelling to Boston this week to participate in the giant jamboree, send your thoughts to those travelling via New Jersey

We had a great time yesterday, meeting new prospective students and explaining iGEM and our project at our university's open-day.

Cyanobacterial Photovoltaic Cell Mk. II !!

Transformed all 12 of our E.coli cultures with positive-control plasmid pUC19 last Friday to work out which cultures are viable for transformation (and therefore competent) and which are not. This was probably the best plate - colonies which took up the plasmid are white, while those which didn't are green. A high ratio of white:green plates is what we were looking for. :)

Set up a new fuel cell with our cyanobacteria last Friday - this time we're measuring voltage as well as current!