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From 2010.igem.org

Team members

Students

Nina Schiller

E-mail: nina@igem.se

Hi!

I am one of the team-members of Team Stockholm, my name is Nina Schiller and I am a master student in molecular biology at Stockholm University. It is the endless possibilities and opportunities in the field of synthetic biology that has caught my attention to put together our iGEM team: Team Stockholm. To me, this field of research and iGEM competition drives science researchers and students to gain better insight and take advantage of the diverse and powerful characters of living organisms. This summer, I will together with my team mates work our hardest to combine biology, chemistry and engineering in order to understand, harness and imitate the complex phenomena of biological life and finally build innovative and useful biological systems.

My goal with iGEM is to challenge myself to think “out of the box” and seek for ways to put together bits and pieces in science in order to design organisms that would prove useful in the obstacles in modern life. I look forward to build up my science knowledge and laboratory experience. Of course, with a great idea in our luggage, both my and the whole teams goal is to win the iGEM competition!

Andreas Constantinou

E-mail: andreas@igem.se

I first came in contact with synthetic biology in 2008, when I heard about attempts to create a petroleum-producing bacterium to be used as an alternative energy source. Immediately fascinated by this idea and the synthetic biology concept and methodology, my aim has been to study this interesting field ever since. This has now led to the founding of a Stockholm-based team in the 2010 iGEM competition.

What fascinates me most about synthetic biology is that it links biology and engineering together. With a great interest in both, I see iGEM as a unique opportunity for me to combine my creativity and knowledge in molecular biology to design and build a biological machine that can be used in every-day life.

With a revolutionary idea, dedicated and hard-working team-members and a large portion of self-confidence, Team Stockholm is ready to fight for the 2010 iGEM Gold Medal!

See you at the jamboree at MIT in November!

Johan Nordholm

E-mail: johan@igem.se

Greetings!

Synthetic biology is all about putting engineering into biology. And I think there is a small engineer hidden in each and every one of us. As with the ever-increasing understanding of how the building blocks of the cell function and are put together, so is our capacity to redesign the building blocks and the way they are put together. This has immense potential, I guarantee it can change our society as much as the computer industry has the last decades. This summer, I will do my best to apply existing biological knowledge to hopefully solve a scientific problem, if even a very small one. I am currently in my third and last year in the bachelor program of molecular biology at Stockholm University. As I have not yet undergone any research traineeship or degree project, my time spent in the lab is limited. I therefore find this project as a tremendous opportunity to change that. What makes this even more fun is that my teammates are some of my best friends.

Emmelie Lidh

Hi!

My name is Mimmi, right now I’m finishing my bachelor in molecular biology.

I have always been fascinated by the origin of life. By how the genetic code can produce so many different life forms and make the organisms adapt to so many different niches and environments. Now, this competition is about using different traits nature invented and put them together to create new useful functions in an organism. I think this is an amazing way to study and learn more about the complex network of genes and at the same time produce a helpful organism.

Hassan Foroughi Asl

E-mail: hassanfa (at) kth.se

Hi,

I'm a Masters student in Computational and Systems Biology at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and a member of the Stockholm University team for iGEM competition. My first contact with iGEM and synthetic biology wasn't so long time ago. I got introduced to iGEM competitions in 2009. Then Synthetic biology attracted my attention and it became more interesting to me when I started to study about biological circuits and how these circuits are chosen by evolution. Here I will offer all my knowledge and effort to bring our ideas and plans into reality and solve the problem with a great success.

Mentors

Prof. Elisabeth Haggård

Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology Stockholm University

Prof. Gunnar von Heijne

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics Stockholm University

Assistant Prof. Robert Daniels

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics Stockholm University

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Co-advisors at Stockholm University: Prof. Lars Wieslander, Prof. Marie Öhman, Prof. Neus Visa and Prof. Roger Karlsson.