Macquarie University and Tsinghua University joined forces to build a better biobrick!

Tsinghua and Macquarie iGEM Teams have strengthened their bonds with Sydney Meetup and demonstrated a good example of Human Practice.

On 27 September, on behalf of Tsignhua iGEM Team, GU Xiang has paid a visit to Macquarie University. Yagiz Alp, leader of Macquarie iGEM Team, has welcomed GU Xiang and introduced him to other iGEMers at Macquarie. They caught Hilal on action in the lab. “I am so excited to finally see each other” said Hilal. They have visited the “iGEM Labs” at Biology and Chemistry&Biomolecular Sciences Departments. Bright scientist of Tsinghua was amazed by the technology used at Macquarie. Then it was time to get into action. Two teams have been helping each other for a long time and there were many questions to be asked many topics to be discussed.

They have started with biosafety and ethics topics related to the iGEM. Since Tsinghua Team is an experienced follower of iGEM, GU Xiang shared his team’s ideas about biosafety then Macquarie Team has explained what necessary precautions and action they took before starting their experiments. GU Xiang was surprised to see how strict the biosafety regulations are in Macquarie. After highlighting the essential points on biosafety and ethics, it was time for GU Xiang to demonstrate his expertise in Wiki-design. He shared his experiences with Macquarie Team how to build an effective and efficient wiki. Then presentation of projects took place followed by mind-blowing brainstorm and discussions. It was climax of the day when Yagiz Alp asked “why don’t we use our light switch system to screen and select your antibodies?”. Because the Macquarie’s E. coli light switch is designed to serve as a fundamental biobrick to be used in variety of biomolecular applications including screening and specific selecting of proteins and Tsinghua’s antibodies requires a simply screening and selection method. GU Xiang was very pleased to hear about that suggestion. After discussing the specific ways that how Macquarie can help Tsinghua Team to screen and select their antibodies, GU Xiang kindly accepted Macquarie Team’s offer which was the beginning of two teams’ collaboration.

Hilal, Yagiz and GU Xiang in Collaboration

They took the first step of their collaboration together by running that day’s experiments with GU Xiang at Macquarie iGEM Labs. “It was the one of the best moments of my day to help Macquarie Team with their experiments in their world- leading class level labs” commented GU Xiang. “By integrating such an important part of our projects, we, not only help each other but also complete each other’s project with harmony which is the best that we can get out of the iGEM” said Hilal. They have finished the day with social activities where they found chance to learn scents from Chinese and Aussie cultures.

Macquarie iGEM Team is honored to have GU Xiang in Sydney and cooperate with Tsinghua Team.