Team:Debrecen-Hungary/Team
From 2010.igem.org
Our team comprises of a mosaic of cultures and academic backgrounds. Out of twelve university students a broad range of disciplinarians may be found: five molecular biology master students, six students of the medicine faculty and one student of the medical research laboratory field. Culturally speaking, we have representatives from Hungary, Israel and Taiwan (three different continents). Beyond plain laboratory work we got a feel of each cultures work, fun and life definitions. We view our diversity as the pinnacle of our advantage. Click here to read about the different team members
Team Roster
The Nuclear Receptor Research lab, led by Laszlo Nagy, focuses on the molecular and cell biology of lipid activated transcription factors, so called nuclear receptors. We are interested in the molecular details of hormone action. Lipid soluble hormones such as oestrogens and retinoids act via these receptors that bind to and regulate the expression of certain genes. The aim of the ten PhD students, four postdocs and senior researchers, associated with several undergraduate students is to understand the details and molecular determinants of these interactions using molecular and cell biological approaches.
To do so, we target our questions from different aspects, applying high variety of techniques, including basic RNA and protein biology, advanced microscopy, animal models, microarray techniques and bioinformatics.
The history of higher education in Debrecen goes back to the 16th century. The city established the Calvinist College of Debrecen in 1538. The College became soon the most important cultural center of the whole country, where a great number of writers, scientists and politicians received their education. The Medical School has 22 departments of basic sciences and 25 clinical
departments specializing in various fields e.g. clinical chemistry, internal
medicine, surgery, orthopedics, radiology, neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry,
pediatrics, obstetrics and This lively city in the heart of the Carpathian Basin awaits the visitors with a cornucopia of programs and events, from a number of excellent art exhibitions, folk programs to many sports and leisure events. The outstanding collections of the local museums, the historical monuments of the city or the various and imposing programs of local folk traditions enchant all visitors who wish to explore the marvels of Debrecen: choir festivals, folk festivals, carnivals, breath-taking exhibitions, fairs offer their programs and goods for the visitors. At the same time Debrecen, which is a university centre, is also a place for conferences and scientific meetings, and this serves the active and organic cooperation of the city’s economic, scientific, educational and cultural life. This culturally and scientifically active life is combined with a splendid leisure and wellness sphere as well: the recently renovated Mediterranean Aqua Park and the charming Zoo in the centre of the romantic Great Forest offer excellent time for the whole family, while the Aquaticum Wellness and Spa Resort designs exclusive health treatments and wellness care programmes for the visitors as Debrecen is one of the largest centres of mineral thermal water in Europe. This leisure life is enriched by the active sport life of the city: Debrecen has been hosting a number of national and international sports events from national championships to European and World championships. For the lovers of rural country life the Erdőspuszta territories and Hortobágy is a must to visit, because the calm and enchanting atmosphere is an excellent basis for relaxation, while those who seek pleasures in fishing, hunting and riding may also enjoy the region. Thus, this city in the eastern periphery of the country is an unparalleled place – not only because of the flourishing cultural, scientific and social life but because of the dynamic economic and industrial traditions as well, which has established an outstanding and marvellous atmosphere in Debrecen.
The well-known Hungarian 3d puzzle known as Rubik’s cube celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. It was designed in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes have sold world wide making it the world's top-selling puzzle game.The mathematical permutations of the cube are astonishing, the cube is said to house 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possibilities (approximately forty-three quintillion). Grass roots society’s exist solely for the mastering of this unique puzzle. We chose the cube as our logo for several reasons. Aside from being a Hungarian pride, we saw the cube as a metaphor for synthetic biology. At the heart of the game is synthetic design, which allows users to alter it’s predefined shape in order to achieve a unique and colorful three dimensional structure. Our team is coloful mixture of scientific disciplinaries and nationalities, we thought this is portrayed by the cube as well. [http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=rubik%27s+cube&btnG=Search+images&client=similar-images-labs&biw=1495&bih=845 Click here to see contemprary forms of the Cube]. |