We would like to make use of this opportunity to sincerely thank all our sponsors and partners who
played a pivotal role in carrying project PacMn across the finish line, amidst these difficult times due
to COVID-19. Without their financial support, material supplies, and provision of laboratory space, the
wet lab implementation of our project would have been uncertain. Hence, we are grateful to our sponsors
and partner institutions for supporting us in all ways possible this year.
Academic Partner Institutions
Lab support
Boeckler Lab
The laboratory of Prof. Dr. Frank M. Boeckler at the Pharmaceutical Institute of the University of
Tuebingen mainly works in the field of Molecular Design & Pharmaceutical Biophysics. Their projects
involve understanding the molecular interactions as the basis for chemical biology and drug research and
the application of theoretical and biophysical methods especially in the field of cancer research. The
Boeckler lab contributed by providing us with a lab space during these extremely testing times, when the
possibility of a wet lab project became highly questionable. The initial standardization experiments
were performed in their lab.
Wizemann Lab
The group of Dr. Andrea Wizenmann at the University of Tuebingen studies the molecular mechanisms
involved in regulation of different patterns of proliferation and differentiation in ventral and dorsal
midbrain regions. The group is part of the Institute for Clinical Anatomy and Cell Analysis of the
University. Dr. Wizenmann along with her group members welcomed us with open arms when we were in dire
requirement for a lab space to perform our final experiments. Their organizational support was integral
to our project especially in the last few weeks before wiki freeze.
Organizational and Technical
Advisory
Angenent Lab
With Prof. Dr. Lars Angenent running the show at the front, his laboratory relocated recently to the
Center of Applied Geosciences of the University of Tuebingen from its previous nest in the Max Planck
Institute for Developmental Biology here in Tuebingen. The group works in the field of environmental
biotechnology with projects ranging from recovering carbon as a useful product from industrial waste
gases to investigating the microbial interactions happening within the gut microbiomes. The support and
guidance provided by the group at every step starting from the brainstorming stage was crucial to the
development of project PacMn.
Controlling Microbes to Fight Infections (CMFI)
Cluster of Excellence
The interdisciplinary CMFI cluster of excellence comprises of researchers of the University of Tübingen
who aim to control microbial infections via novel, targeted therapies. Through collaborations of diverse
groups, the CMFI anticipates to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of infections. We are thankful to
Prof. Dr. Samuel Wagner for facilitating the monetary support of the CMFI for Team Tübingen 2020.
Studierendenrat Tuebingen (StuRa)
The Studierendenrat Tuebingen is an organizational body consisting of students and doctoral candidates
representing all students enrolled at University of Tuebingen. It serves for the interests of the
student community and it provides a wide variety of services ranging from maintaining international
student relations, promoting equality, initiating and administering work groups to supporting students’
events and projects financially. With our project idea in our pocket, the StuRa provided us with the
funding for laying the foundation for project PacMn by paying for the team registration fee.
Universitaetsbund
The Universitaetsbund provides with the financial support for teaching, science, and research at
University of Tuebingen. Its funding is largely based on donations from its members, most of whom happen
to be the professors or alumni of the university, as well as the ever-supportive citizens of Tuebingen.
They have offered to provide some monetary support for our project.
Dieter Schwarz Stiftung / Experimenta
Built from the donations provided by the city of Heilbronn, Germany and Dieter Schwarz Foundation (DSS),
Experimenta is Germany’s biggest science center. It presents the world of science in a very interactive
fashion, hosting exhibitions, workshops, games and other events for people of every age. Experimenta has
stood for contributing towards inculcating young minds with an awe for science and research. Owing to
this notion, it serves as the home for the Academy of Young researchers, which is a student research
center where holiday courses and individual support of creative projects are made possible. We are
really thankful for the financial support we are receiving from the DSS this year and hope this
sponsor-client relationship continues in the following years. Furthermore, Thanks to Experimenta for
supporting us once again this year to organize a workshop for school students, which has been kept on
hold due to the increasing trend of COVID-19 and will see the light of day sometime this year.
Industrial sponsors
Monetary Support
Promega GmbH
Founded in Madison, USA over a few decades ago, Promega offers a wide variety of products and services
for life science research, as well as for the discovery and development of biomedical applications. One
of the largest manufacturers for reagents, kits, and device systems in the life science domain, their
products range from the fields of genomics, protein analysis and expression to cellular analysis, drug
discovery and genetic identity. Our sincere thanks to Promega for sponsoring our ticket i.e., the
registration fee for the iGEM Virtual Jamboree this year and for offering us their invaluable support.
Materials and Services Support
Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT)
Being one of the Platinum partners of iGEM 2020, IDT is a pioneer in synthesising customized nucleic
acids that are used in research and diagnostics in the field of life science. Team iGEM Tuebingen is
grateful for IDT’s generous offer of 20,000 bases of Free DNA synthesis, which laid the foundation for
project PacMn. We are also thankful for the valuable technical support that was provided by IDT, while
placing the orders for our DNA, which were crucial to our project.
Tonbo Biosciences
Tonbo Biosciences, founded in 2011 works with a simple principle of providing back to the research
community by supplying high quality, value oriented products. Similar to the concept that we are a
student-organized team, Tonbo is unique in its own way as it is employee owned and operated. Probably
that makes us a perfect union. Thanks to Tonbo for sponsoring us with the Gibson Assembly Master mix
which was a life-saver and did its magic in bringing our constructs together.
Microsynth Seqlab GmbH
Based in Switzerland, Microsynth is one of the leading European companies in nucleic acid synthesis and
analysis. They offer DNA/RNA Oligo synthesis as well as Sanger and Next Generation sequencing.
Furthermore, they offer running outsourced research projects from the fields of Microbiology, Genomics,
Molecular biology and Bioinformatics. Thanks to their generous offer to sequence our samples for free,
we were able to confirm that our constructs worked fine. Their speedy processing helped us work
efficiently during these tough times.
The Twinkle Factory
The Twinkle Factory made it their goal to make biological processes visible through fluorogenic
activation of ligands by the FAST protein. Thanks to their Coral and Lime fluorogen which played well
with our samples leading to emission of results.
New England Biolabs
The company based in Ipswich, United States, is leading in the discovery and development of Molecular
biology reagents. New England Biolabs (NEB) offers various reagents and solutions related to synthetic
biology, DNA amplification, RNA analysis, Next Generation Sequencing, protein expression and analysis as
well as glycobiology and cellular analysis. Furthermore, they are engaging in promoting new technologies
and social and environmental sustainability. Thanks to them for giving us the opportunity to shop from
their lengthy product list. We are grateful for the competent cells and enzymes which did their job
perfectly and helped us do ours well.
Greiner Bio-One
The Austrian-German company is specialized in the field of medical technology. Greiner Bio-One (GBO)
being the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), the corporation is divided into several branches, each
focusing on different aspects. As the OEM, GBO produces laboratory equipment for hospitals,
universities, pharmaceutical industries and more. Thanks to their 96 well-fluorescence measurement
plates, tips, and petri dishes which were used countlessly during the course of the project and helped
us open the door for our results.
Molecular Devices
With over 140,000 devices in laboratories all over the world, Molecular Devices is a leading provider of
equipment for life science research. They provided us with a plate reader and were kind enough to give
us an introduction on the what-to-know-while-we-use-a-plate-reader, which was helpful for us when we
measured the fluorescence readouts.
Absource Diagnostics GmbH
Thanks to Absource, a biotechnology company based in Munich for their Manganese Chloride, which was the
vital ingredient of project PacMn and for the Methylcobalamin.
Fisher Scientific
It would not have been possible without the support of Fisher Scientific, a biotechnology and
laboratory supply company, who provided a range of chemicals starting from the Ultrapure 100%
Ethanol, a sought after commodity this year.
Thermo Fisher Scientific
As one of the World leaders in providing lab-material, Thermo Fisher Scientific is the address you
go to if you want to work on a scientific research project, among other things. Without their
generous discounts on LB agar, LB medium, Agarose, and the most important of all, the SYBR safe
stain, finances would have been even more complicated for us.
Qiagen
Known widely as a pioneer in offering advanced molecular testing applications, Qiagen products for
extracting, purifying, and stabilizing DNA, RNA, and proteins are world leading. Their UCP PCR kits,
Maxiprep kits, and PCR and Gel Cleanup kits let us perform our experiments efficiently and helped us
produce some good looking results.
Zymo Research
Originating from a small garage in Orange, USA, Zymo Research is now one of the leading
biotech-companies in the area of epigenetics, microbiomics, and Next-Gen-Sequencing. Through their
DNA Clean and Concentrator kits we were able to come up with really good nucleic acid concentration
during project PacMn.
VWR International
VWR International provides lab material and equipment for laboratories all over the globe. They
sponsored the loading dye for our gel electrophoresis experiments. Thanks for that, VWR.
Carl Roth
Carl Roth is a supplier of various chemical compounds. They offer products used in the chemical
industry as well as reagents used in life sciences. Thanks to their chemicals and other products,
which were crucial during our experiments.
Eppendorf AG
Based in Hamburg, Germany, Eppendorf supplies laboratories worldwide with consumables and technical
devices. From Pipettes and microcentrifuge tubes to Ultra-Freezers and bioreactors - the range of
products is wide. That’s why we called them when we needed a discount on a wide array of pipettes,
which they happily supplied us. Thanks for that, Eppendorf.
Jena Bioscience
Founded in 1998, Jena Bioscience supplies research and industry with all kinds of reagents. From
chemical compounds to DNA/RNA preparation or Crystallography kits, they offer all kinds of material
used in bioscience laboratories. Thanks to their sponsor kits and RNase A, which were true to their
nature.
SnapGene
SnapGene is a key software that is on the computer of many molecular biology scientists. It
simplifies the visualisation, planning, and documenting of DNA cloning and PCR immensely. Being a
partner sponsor for iGEM 2020, Snapgene was happy to supply team Tuebingen with multiple licenses,
which made designing experiments much easier.
Benchling
Being a data management platform, Benchling offers an easy to use, online Notebook which was
sponsored to all iGEM teams this year. Through making the lab notebook go electronic, Benchling made
working in a team and being up to date on everything that spelled ‘lab’ on it, much easier
considering the difficult times this year.
Twist Bioscience
Another platinum sponsor for this year’s iGEM competition, Twist Bioscience stood to their words and
helped us in accelerating our efforts by providing technical advice on the sequences of the
biobricks.
4base lab
Based in Reutlingen, Germany, 4base lab AG is a biotech company right in the neighbourhood of
Tuebingen University. It focuses on molecular analysis for medical and pharmaceutical applications
and research. Moreover it makes sure our drinking water is clean, by micro- and molecular biological
screening.
On the whole, we iGEM team Tuebingen are grateful to all sponsors who were kind enough to support
us this year in the middle of such testing times. Looking forward to having you with us in the
coming years too. Thank you!!!
