#uwigem

ANOTHER GREAT YEAR OF OUTREACH

iGEM is as much about spreading synthetic biology as it is about practicing it. Every year, we educate K-12 students in synthetic biology, promoting interest in the biological sciences and sharing our love for research with younger members of the community.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered or visited us at outreach this year :D

Although previous UW iGEM teams preferred taking an abstract approach to outreach activities (e.g. http://2012.igem.org/Team:Washington/Outreach) , we decided to go more hands-on with an interactive strawberry DNA extraction.  This is actually a great activity for other iGEM teams and really anyone interested in doing a biology demonstration. 

Strawberries are octoploids, meaning each of their cells carries eight copies of DNA!  That’s a lot considering we’re diploid organisms, each of our cells only carries 2 copies. Thus, it should be really easy to see the strawberry DNA once it is extracted.  

IGEM is a wonderful opportunity for student scientists, but it wouldn't be possible without help from others. Together we raised $1,100 in just 9 days! May 1st was the registration deadline for our 2016 team and we made it, thanks to all of your support!  

You’ve helped fund novel biotech research, give students the opportunity to change the world through bioengineering, and engage the greater community in the art of synthetic biology.  As a certain team member likes to put it, you have “saved the world” and for this, we thank you.

We raised money not only through our crowdfunding campaign but also with these flyers.  We printed a stack of them to bring to each outreach event, raising awareness of our education program and gaining support for our team.  Feel free to print some of your own to post in other places :D 

iGEM is an international synthetic biology foundation and competition dedicated to fostering education and an open scientific community.

The UW team is recruiting new members. We welcome people from various academic backgrounds and no previous lab experience is required!  Compete with teams from around the world, meet other budding researchers, and learn more about synthetic biology, engineering design, and their real-world applications.

The dawn of a new season is upon us!  Join us on Tuesday or Wednesday to learn more about what we do as a team and how you too can get involved in hands on biotech research. 

If you are interested, attend one of the info sessions:

Tue, Jan 26 @ 6:00pm in Foege N130

Wed, Jan 27 @ 7:00pm in MolES 115