Welcome to AptaVita newsletter!
Welcome to our very first newsletter. A bit further delayed due to getting covid myself, but we are finally here!
A quick recap for you from the past few months: In February, the 10 of us were chosen to be part of the iGEM 2021 team. We were all really excited, and trying to get to know each other whilst it all being online. We did sometimes work in duos at someone’s place, as that was still allowed. So we also know each other’s households now ;). After a few weeks, we heard that there was someone new interested in joining, which first seemed impossible due to logistics. We pushed it a little, and now we’re real glad to have Fede on our team! Outside of team building, we’ve had endless brainstorms about the topic. And slowly but slowly… It became more clear what we were going to do.
It started with a paper recently written, where they talk about a new way to create biosensors. More specifically, they found a way to find RNAs that can bind to different substances. These RNAs are called aptamers. And the great part is that you can choose a substance, and then find an RNA based on that substance!
So which substance did we choose? You probably already heard about it, but it’s 
vitamins. We’ve considered a lot of other things, for example, molecules that indicate cancer. However, this was never done before and obviously, we also wanted to focus on something that can really happen. And that turned out to be vitamins!
The more we got into it, the more excited we got about vitamins. We started to truly understand their importance, and especially the hurt deficiencies can do in developing countries. Intrigued by this, we also decided to mainly focus on the developing countries.
And with the topic, we also started to divide the team roles! This was actually a pretty smooth process. Everyone had already unofficially found their position, and now we just had to name tag it. There were some difficulties, like how we had nobody specifically interested in Finance/Sponsorship. Well… Pim sacrificed himself for the team, but he is absolutely thriving now as our money bird!
With our new team roles, things really started taking shape. The whole concept behind our project has really developed into something concrete. Laura & her wet lab team ordered all materials, got lab training, and are currently running the experiments. Boyd & his dry lab team are working on models, programs & analysis. They also work on the paper-based chip (yes, we are trying to let it all work on just a piece of paper!) – and got the first ones printed & working. Miriam & her Human Practices team have had toooons of interviews, every single one adding new insights into our project and its impact on society. Milou & her Outreach/PR team have started the education & social media part. And not to forget, Pim & his sponsorship team have really kicked it off – calling companies every Wednesday and getting the last sponsorships in.
In the past few weeks, also an Entrepreneurship team has formed, led by our Strategy Manager Loulotte. Koen is fully integrated into the team and developing our Hardware with the Dry Lab team. Fede created a house style and brand around “AptaVita”, which is, as you hopefully agree with, really aesthetically pleasing! And Riko is kicking it with the Wiki, as this is becoming more and more important…
With all those great things happening, we’ve also had to face the first difficulties. These include the lab closing for 2 weeks, not getting some sponsorships we had counted on, still not seeing each other on a daily basis, several quarantines, and the first team frictions & frustrations. But these are all part of our learning experience. And at the same time, the team is having a great time together, from Loulotte’s chicken sounds, Minke “being hot” to Fede’s amazing tacos. Looking forward to showing you more of our journey!
Cheers,
The iGEM TU Delft 2021 Team
Milou, Fede, Mathijs, Miriam, Laura, Loulotte, Pim, Boyd, Minke, Riko, and Koen
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July in the eyes of our Team Manager Nick
“Over the last few weeks we have, in addition to entering the lab, been able to meet more regularly face-to-face with one another, while of course maintaining the appropriate social distancing. Now we are starting to get the first glimpses of what our hard work is creating – and it’s exciting!
While experiencing some of the “all you can eat” restaurants in Delft, we have also been able to get to know each other on a more personal level. This has been really nice as it has allowed us to enjoy the true iGEM experience; we learned about our different backgrounds and our shared passion for synthetic biology. It’s is one of the aspects that’s really bringing us together as a team.
As we approach the halfway mark of our full-time project, the team has managed to take a short holiday break here and there to help ensure everyone is refreshed and energized. We can now focus on presenting a project that encompasses everything that we have learned and is an expression of who we are as a team. As we look to the second half of the project, we are all enthusiastic and ready for the hard work ahead of us during the coming months – “bring it on!” as they say.”
Newsletter
Do you want to know more about what our HP, Dry Lab and Wet Lab teams have been up to? Check out our newsletter!
International genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) is the largest international competition in synthetic biology. Students are given the opportunity to come up with innovative, SynBio based solutions to current problems and present these at the giant jamboree in Boston. Unfortunately, this year is different due to COVID-19. This year’s iGEM competition will not be held in person, rather, online. Considering the gravity of the pandemic, many teams around the world have not had access to lab facilities. This has lead the iGEM requirements and judging criteria to change, with a focus on dry-lab components as well as Human Practices and Education, to give all teams a fair chance to compete.
For us, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have lead us to work from home since March. Yet as the current pandemic continues, so does our iGEM experience. Having chosen our project in the beginning of March, we have put all our effort into giving our iGEM year the best shape possible.