Students

This year's team consists of twelve students from the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology, medicine, biomedicine, physics, chemistry and philosophy!
During the summer we have been split up into five subgroups, three labgroups and two theoretical groups. One labgroup has been working with the development of the photosensor, one with hyperflagellating the bacteria and one with creating the retinal generator. The two theoretical groups have been focusing on modelling and biosafety, respectively.

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Christian

I am a 2^nd year medical student out of my element, doing synthetic biology for an entire summer and fall. It's been good to get away from the books, to do actual experimental work on something live. My main interests are in neurology and cognitive development, but the thought of tinkering with E. coli and fruitfly DNA was enough to get me out of my comfort zone, and into something that has shown to be more challenging and engaging than most other things I've had a chance to involve myself in.
In this years competition I've been working on the retinal part, although I've tried to involve myself as much as possible in all aspects of the project. I can't wait to show it all off in Boston!

Eddi

Eddi is 22 years old and is studying physics on his fourth year. He has done a great job modelling the system together with Glenn.
When Eddi isn't working on iGEM, he spends a lot of time with his girlfriend. He is a very caring boyfriend and they live together in a small house. Eddi reads a lot and is very engaged in his studies. He impressed us all by studying on the bus all the way to Paris (16 hours) when we went to the European iGEM workshop.

Glenn

Glenn is 24 years old and studies physics on his fourth year. He is one of the modelling guys and he and Eddi have done an incredible job battling the math that wouldn't allow our system to exist.
Glenn has a fantastic ability to convey really complicated informatioin in a way that makes it sound interesting and relevant. No matter how tired or hungover we were at our weekly update meetings, we always woke up and paid attention when Glenn spoke. He is an excellent presenter and is always enthusiastic and truly catches his audience.
Glenn is always very busy but he still has a big smile on his face, even when he's frustrated. We would love to illustrate the correlation between his level of excitement and the number of hand gestures per minute, but the only one who knows how to do the math is probably Glenn himself.

Lars Christian

Lars Christian is 21 years old and one of our medical students. Originally, his lack of lab experience caused him to take the position of Maria's lab bitch. Over the summer, though, he has learned fast during his work with the photosensor part and is now ready to spread his wings and fly out into the world as a real boy.
Despite his tendency to whine, he is a highly valued member of the team, as he has also done an incredible piece of work on the digital part of the project. He is responsible for the awesome layout of the wiki and he has almost singlehandedly kept the blog updated over the summer. During the conference in Paris in the spring, he live-blogged incessantly, and his efforts were rewarded with a call from the Danish radio program Harddisken.
In the long hours spent waiting for PCR reactions and gels, he has enjoyed racing against Sheila and Christian in MarioKart on an old-school Nintendo 64. These races revealed him as a very sore loser. If you beat him in a game (any game), you've certainly cheated!

Louise

I am 23 years old and a 4^th year biomedicine student. I heard of iGEM first time in February this year, when Christian told me about the competition. I instantly thought it sounded interesting and a few months later LC, Christian and I started to spread the words (the words being: iGEM is awesome! Be there or be square!). And obviously we ended up uniting a fantastic team!
Through this past half year I have learned many things, including how to write and (partly) understand HTML-text! which, I think, is a grate accomplishment.
iGEM has been quite time consuming and the little time of the 24-hour day that is left (approximately 4-10 hours whereof I'd like to sleep at least 6 hours!) I like to spend with my family and friends or just lying about in my sofa, watching TV.
I'm not entirely sure what the academical future holds for me, I hope to write a Ph.D maybe concerning cancer development but that is many years ahead, and I'm not a plan-far-ahead type of person. Things change and nothing is certain.

Maria

If you are roaming the halls of SDU after midnight and you find yourself being spoken to in the imperative by a small woman, ordering you to fetch her more pipette tips, you've probably met Maria.
She is a 5th year biochemistry and molecular biology student. She is currently 24 years old but plans to change that some time in March next year. She shares a house with Sheila and their cat Clive. None of them are lovers (as far as we know). Maria has been heavily involved in the lab work, and although her main focus has been on developing the photosensor, she has been busy answering questions from all corners of the lab, earning her the title of Lab Mom. Additionally, she has accumulated a significant number of nicknames, such as Queen of Unfunny Land, Shorty, Hamster, the Little One and Eagle Eyes. Don't even ask.
When she's not being benignly bullied by her teammates, she enjoys walking, baking cakes and folding her clothes with disturbing precision. In the future you will probably find her bossing people around in her own lab, while simultaneously answering never ending phone calls from confused lab rats.

Marie

Marie is 20 years old and has just begun her third year of studies of biochemistry and molecular biology. Her work in the iGEM project has primarily been focused on creating the retinal generator along with Tommy and Christian, which has probably been quite a handful.
In the rare hours when she'e not working on iGEM, she earns a little extra money in IKEA by helping people find the bookcase that’s exactly right for them, or she spends time with the people closest to her. When she's alone, she knows of nothing better than to sit in a comfortable chair with a good book, jazz on the radio and a glass of white wine.
Apart from intending to become a famous scientist and the first single person to win a Nobel prize thrice, she also aspires to becoming an author, probably of slightly supernatural novels for grown kids and young adults.
She is the youngest member of the team and the only one not allowed to drink alcohol while in Boston, which is cause for mild irritation for her and great fun for the rest of us.

Pernille

Pernille is 24 years old and studies biomedicine on her fourth year. In iGEM, her work has been focused on hyperflagellating the bacteria.
Pernille loves going to concerts and being swept up by the hordes of people around her, all being entranced by the same music.
She is very opinionated and isn't afraid of demanding to be heard. When refusing to participate in Adult movie Thursday, she acquired the title of the team's prude. Pernille is perpetually envied her delicios lunch packs, often involving avocado, while the rest of us struggle with our dry bread and leftovers.
She is currently working on her bachelor project where she studies gene mutations in breast cancer.

Sheila

Sheila is 24 years old and she studies biochemistry and molecular biology. She has just begun her fifth year of study. She lives in a house with Maria and Clive (still not lovers). She has primarily focused her iGEM related work on hyperflagellating the bacteria.
Sheila has a great knowledge of films and series and she is the main provider of visual material for Adult movie Thursday. If you say a quote, however small and nondescript, she will know instantly what film you are referring to.
Sheila's baking skills have been greatly exercised over the summmer due to her tendency to get out of bed five minutes too late. At least.
She enjoys jumping around in the lab to the sound of "I don't feel like dancing" which is slightly contradictory.
She wants a Ph.d. degree in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology, not in the least so that she can call herself "Doctor" in the USA.

Sif

Sif studies philosophy, but in reality, she is a natural scientist in disguise.
When forced to make a decision about her education, she was fascinated by so many things, she couldn't decide. In the end, she chose to start at the base of all science and study philosophy. Nonetheless, she attended the lab crash course intending to be a part of the daily lab work.
When she isn't working on iGEM, she practices aikido, a Japanese martial art, and is generally interested in Japanese philosophy and culture. She is very educated and masters eight languages at the age of 25, largely due to several years spent abroad. She has lived in South America for half a year and in Japan for a year, and these stays have made up the foundation of her mastery of Spanish and Japanese.
She has a great passion for mushrooms which she collects, dries and displays in glass jars. She is also a vegetarian.

Søren

Søren is the other of our philosophy students, and, as opposed to Sif, he is a true humanist. Although he is only 22, he is easily pictured sitting in a large, cushioned chair by the fire, smoking a pipe of fine tobacco and pondering the mysteries of life.
He has been a inexpendable asset in the development of our human practice project. He has made a great effort to understand all the details of microbiology before we started the serious part of our project and has been invaluable as a mediator in our discussions, particularly in the discussion about watermarking.
When he's away from his cushioned chair, he enjoys listening to heavy metal and playing Munchkin.

Tommy

Tommy is a hardcore chemist, and during his four years of study, all the chemicals have taken their effect. He is the funny guy on the team, entertaining us all with homemade words such as his favourite swear: “Craparoo”. There can be no doubt about when Tommy has finished an experiment. He loudly exclaims “Done!” in a way that only he can reproduce.
In the lab, Tommy has been a great help calculating concentrations.
Tommy dreams of becoming a famous black rapper called Dr. T (another thing only he can say properly), but he’ll probably end up actually using his education and become the leader of a high tech lab.
When he’s not spending his time on iGEM, he enjoys drinking, gossiping and spending time with his lovely girlfriend.
By the way, he’s 24.

Clive

Clive, also known as pSB1C3, is our team mascot. He was only a tiny kitten when he joined the iGEM team but has grown into a rebellious teenager in the meantime!
While his mothers, Maria and Sheila, spent all the long hours in the lab, Clive lived in our students' association room, enriching all who entered with much joy and numerous scratches.

A portrait of the people behind Flow-E. Aren't we pretty?