After finishing his bachelor studies in Madrid Autónoma University with a bachelor thesis in directed evolution of dihydroxyacetone kinases, Alejandro spent a year working in the Biocatalysis department of a Japanese company with the program Vulcanus in Japan. Currently he pursues the master program on Molecular Biosciences with major in Systems Biology in Heidelberg University. One of his strongest reasons to join iGEM was the unique opportunity of combining science with creativity, something that does not happen very frequently. He thinks that synthetic biology can help mankind take steps forward at the same time it provides some insight about the basic principles of life.
Aleksandra (aka Ola) is a student of Molecular Biosciences majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Heidelberg. She completed her bachelor degree in Biotechnology within Job Creation Oriented Biotechnology Program held by a consortium of European universities in Perugia, Italy. Working in labs at K.U.Leuven, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, EMBL Hamburg and ZMBH allowed her to gain wetlab skills. She considers iGEM challenging and great experience.
Dima is a Master student in Molecular Biosciences with the major in Molecular and Cellular Biology, here in Heidelberg. The topic of his Bachelor thesis, which he completed in National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv was production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies specific to FGFR-1. Before applying to iGEM he thought it would be mainly focused on lab work, however it turned out to be amazingly interesting adventure, where everyone worked side by side to achieve the goal.
As member of the first iGEM team Heidelberg, he participated in the iGEM competition in 2008 and is in love with the concepts of synthetic biology and iGEM eversince. After completing his bachelor thesis on synthetic chemotaxis fusion receptors, Dominik did an internship in the research group of Dr. Richard Cohen at Boston University in summer 2009. Being back on the iGEM-track now, Dominik is very happy to be a member of the team Heidelberg 2010 again and he is looking forward to work in this years creative and motivated team and to a throughout great and fun iGEM summer.
Elena completed her degree in Biotechnology at the University of Florence, with a thesis in synthesis of new NGF-agonists deriving from D-phenylalanine. She spent 1 year and a half working as research assistant at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in a project which aim was the remediation of lands contaminated with plutonium. Currently she is a student of Molecular Biosciences, major in Systems Biology at the University of Heidelberg. Elena is very enthusiastic about being part of iGEM 2010, because she considers it a very challenging and unique experience.
Jan-Ulrich has finished his bachelor thesis about a systems biological approach to TGF-beta induced signaling in the biology program at the University of Heidelberg. He is now in his 3rd semester of the masters program Molceular Biosciences with the major Systems Biology. The fascination about promising possibilities for alternative energy production using synthetic organisms attracted him to the field of synthetic biology. The important interplay with systems biology for the design of more effective organisms is where he wants to participate in the future. He likes iGEM as it is open source, rewards creativity and brings together pretty funny people.
Laura has just completed her Bachelor's degree in Biology at the University of Heidelberg this summer before joining the iGem team. For her bachelor thesis she was working on the evolution of transcription factors in the zebrafish retina. Her laboratory experience has so far been focused on neural differentation, development and marine biology. She will further her studies in the major Developmental Biology within the Master's program Molecular Biosciences in Heidelberg. Laura joined iGem in order to experience a novel field of biology and because she is interested in the scientific as well as the socio-cultural implications of synthetic biology.
Systems Biology is the major curriculum and the most intriguing scope of science for Lorenz. Now, he is a student of the international Master's program of Molecular Biosciences at Heidelberg University. His Bachelor Thesis focussed on bacterial chemotaxis networks in silico and in vivo. It is an honor for Lorenz to be a member of the iGEM Team Heidelberg which allows to get insights into the nascent discipline of Synthetic Biology. Engineering biological circuits attracts exceptional interests of theoreticians and experimentalists alike. Lorenz wants to benefit from offered interdisciplinary collaborations to illuminate the design principles of life.
Marcus was smuggled in the Heidelberg iGEM team by a fundamentalist animal protection and anti-genetic engineering movement to destroy the system from within, to burn it to the ground and to leave all participants with angst (Hegels 'Weltgeist' is descending and it will confuse all of them!) ...
Besides such community services he's studying History and Philosophy at the Universitiy of Heidelberg within the old system for a Magister (graduate degree) and a teaching degree. In oder to pay it's rental fee Marcus works as a museum education officer in the UNESCO-World Heritage Monastery Lorsch and beforehand in the concentration camp memorial Mittelbau-Dora. He joined iGEM to elevate his philosophical studies to a more practical level and to apply his knowledge in bio- and technology ethics.
Rebecca studies Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Heidelberg and just recently finished her bachelor thesis on drosophila microRNA binding site identification.
Currently, Thomas pursues the master program Molecular Biosciences with major in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Beforehand, he acquired his bachelor in Molecular Biotechnology at the Technical University of Dresden, already with focus on genetic engineering. In his opinion the fundamental modification of the living world is not only a huge chance for mankind, but also absolute determination. Synthetic biology is the motor that drives this development. Thomas took the opportunity to participate by joining Heidelberg's iGEM team. Besides wet lab work he is also in charge of the graphic design and aims for an appealing presentation of an ingenious project.
Xiaoting finished her Bachelor studies in Molecular Cellular Biology at the University of Heidelberg and she will go on with her Master studies in Molecular Biosciences (Major Cancer Biology), which is a cooperation between the University and the German Cancer Research Centre. During her studies Xiaoting got highly interested in gene therapy due to several internships at the German Cancer Research Centre, different departments of the University of Heidelberg and Imperial College London. In her opinion, synthetic biology can revolutionize gene therapy by creating non-existing parts which will reduce side effects and increase the efficiency of gene therapy methods. She is glad to work with a nice group of students & advisors and is looking forward to the jamboree!
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