Science Communication Collaborations
In collaboration with iGEM ULaval, academic researchers, and industry leaders, we hosted two online panel discussions on sustainable nutrient production on Earth and in space.
2020 ULaval iGEM Team
Affiliation: Laval Univeristy, Quebec
Sustainable nutrient production
Synthetic biology
This year, iGEM ULaval and iGEM Concordia are both using genetically engineered micro-organisms to tackle the food sustainability problem. Seeing that we are both passionate about educating the public on the importance of synthetic biology in solving some of the food industry issues that are taxing our environment, we co-organized and hosted two successful online panel discussions on the topic of synthetic biology applications for sustainable food production on Earth and in space. With over 150 attendees, these events sparked a fruitful exchange between iGEM members, industry leaders, academic researchers, and sustainability groups members.
Collaboration NotebookiGEM ULaval wiki
Learn more about our panel discussions
Michael Selden
Affiliation: Co-Founder and CEO of Finless Foods
Sustainable food production
Cellular agriculture
Michael Selden was a speaker in our online on panel discussion on August 19th. He discussed how Finless Foods uses cellular agriculture to produce fresh, delicious, and sustainable seafood for everyone...
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Dr. Luchino Cohen
Affiliation: Senior Space Exploration Scientist at the Canadian Space Agency, Paris XI University
Space Exploration
Experiments on the ISS
Dr. Cohen gave the introductory speech to our online Canadian Mini Jamboree. He discussed the importance of synthetic biology in advancing outer space exploration by providing innovative solutions to challenges faced by the Canadian Space Agency...
learn more about our Mini Jamboree
Dr. Karen McDonald
Affiliation: NASA, Division Lead at the Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space, UC Davis
Biomanufacturing in space
Microgravity research
Dr. McDonald was a speaker in our online panel discussion on September 3rd. She discussed how her research group is using plants can be used as "drug factories" to biomanufacture medicine in space...
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Dr. Michelle Oeser
Affiliation: R&D manager at Lallemand
Yeast strain improvement
Biomanufacturing nutrients
Dr. Oeser was a speaker in our online panel discussion on August 19th. She discussed sustainable research and development initiatives at Lallemand and the range of biomanufacturing applications in yeast offered by this global leader...
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Morgan Irons
Affiliation: Founder and Chief Science Officer of Deep Space Ecology, Cornell University
Microorganisms in microgravity
Space farming
Morgan Irons was a speaker in on our online panel discussion on September 3rd. She discussed the importance of using quasi-closed, agroecological systems for sustainability in extreme environments and long duration space habitation...
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Ahmed Khan
Affiliation: Founder at CellAgri
Cellular Agriculture
Science Communication
Ahmed Khan was a speaker in our online panel discussion on August 19th. He discussed the importance of cellular agriculture in future of food as a sustainable solution for the food production industry...
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Scot Bryson
Affiliation: Founder of Orbital Farms
Space Farming
Synthetic Biology
Scot gave the introductory speech to our online Canadian Mini Jamboree on the second day of the weekend-long event. He discussed the importance of the role of synthetic biology in building closed loop farms that can produce food & vaccines anywhere on earth today and in space.
learn more about our Mini Jamboree
Dr. Marie Filteau
Affiliation: Research & professor at University of Laval, Food Science
Sustainable nutrient production
Synthetic Biology
Food scientist Marie Filteau was a speaker in our online panel discussion on September 3rd. She discussed the use of synthetic biology in improving the quality of maple syrup and reducing waste...
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4th Space
Affiliation: Concordia University
Science Communication
4th space was also a co-host of our online panel discussion on both dates. They setup online event registration and the zoom webinar. They also connected us with Concordia News for event promotion and they moderated the technical aspects on zoom...
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Women in STEM
Affiliation: Concordia University
STEM
Equity
We collaborated with Women in STEM for a "hashtag" social media campaign to raise awareness about STEM women in our own team and our university STEM departments. More information can be found in our inclusion page.
learn more about our collaboration
InterLab Collaborations
We have collaborated with a number of researchers from around the world to build our microgravity simulator, design our wet lab experiments, and build our AstroBio software and web application.
Dr. Richard Barker
Affiliation: NASA's GeneLab, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Astrobotany
Microgravity
Bioinformatics
Dr. Richard Barker collaborated with us on the development of AstroBio. Specifically, he directed us in implementing meta-analytics of our transcriptomics datasets to help illustrate the differences and similarities of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in various biological states that complement his work with Arabidopsis thaliana. Dr. Barker also showed us various resources for processing RNAseq data and interactive visualizations that he developed for NASA's Gene Lab. He also suggested best practices for employing these methods. We will continue to seek his advice to better understand the needs and concerns of microgravity researchers.
Dr. Corey Nislow
Affiliation: NASA, University of British Columbia, Genetic Networks LLC
Microgravity
Yeast
Radiation
We will be testing Dr. Nislow’s disposable rotating wall vessels next year in tandem with our microgravity experiments to help standardize his innovation, as well as to compare results with our microgravity simulators. Dr. Nislow has also generously agreed to share his protocols for space applications such as freeze-drying and RNA-later testing for cell fixation. We will be continuously consulting him and his lab as we progress.
Dr. Brandiff Caron
Affiliation: Assistant Professor and Associate Chair, Centre for Engineering in Society at Concordia University
Ethical and social implications
We collaborated with Dr. Brandiff Caron to conduct our Real-Time Technology Assessment (RTTA) in order to analyze the ethical, legal, and social implications of AstroYeast. We had an initial meeting where he explained how the RTTA works and once we performed our research, we presented our findings and he provided us with constructive feedback and advice on how to ensure the safe of our project. The RTTA collaboration can be found here.
Dr. Edval Rodrigues de Viveiros
Affiliation: Centro Universitáro Católico Salesiano Auxilium - Araçatuba, Brazil, University of Paris 8
Engineering microgravity simulators
Robotics
We consulted Dr. Edval Rodrigues de Viveiros as part of our background research for building a microgravity simulator. Dr. Rodriguez generously shared his previous designs with us, discussed important engineering considerations, and shared tips and lessons learned from his early designs. He is also advising us during the engineering process of our microgravity simulator throughout 2020 and 2021.
Education Collaborations
In collaboration with iGEM judges and committee members, District 3, and the STEM Fellowship, we hosted the Canadian Mini Jamboree. Other iGEM Teams attended a number of free workshops offered by our collaborators.
Patrick Wu
Affiliation: Patrick Wu, iGEM Executive Judging Committee
Web & Graphic Design
Science Communication
At our Canadian Mini Jamboree, Patrick lead a workshop on graphic design for iGEM's deliverables. He provided design techniques that help iGEMers enhance their messaging and clearly communicate their ideas...
read more about our Mini Jamboree
District 3
Affiliation: District 3, Concordia University
Entrepreneurship
Pitching for success
District 3 offered a workshop on pitching for success during our Mini Jamboree. They provided a plethora of resources and interactive exercises to our iGEM audience to help them communicate complicated synthetic biology concepts in a clear, concise and effect way...
read more about our Mini Jamboree
Asal Golshaie
Affiliation: iGEM Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Inclusion
Diversity
Asal conducted a workshop during our Mini Jamboree on how to build an inclusive iGEM project. She shared a number informative examples and tips that helped our participants understand how to incorporate inclusion within their research groups...
read more about our Mini Jamboree
Danya Kallas
Affiliation: STEM Fellowship, Concordia University
Science Communication
STEM
Danya Kallas gave a workshop on empowering young scientists with scientific research skills and teaching them how to visually communicate their research findings effectively. She demonstrated the DOs and DONTs of scientific poster design...
read more about Mini Jamboree
Our 2020-2021 iGEM project is generously supported by
