STANFORD-BROWNTEAMUTRASUPPORTFOR

2016BROWNIGEMPARTICIPANTSProfessorGaryWesselProfessor(Adjunct)LynnRothschildMolecularBiology,CellBiologyandBiochemistryBrownUniversityProvidence,RI

SummaryDuringthesummerof2016,theStanford-BrowniGEMteamhastheopportunitytoconductresearchatNASAAmesResearchCenterinordertoexperienceandcontributetotheburgeoningfieldofsyntheticbiology.Theresearchwillhaveanemphasisonidentifying,developingandpresentingproof-of-conceptprojectsthatdemonstratetheroleofsyntheticbiologyinadvancingspaceresearch–humanandrobotic-intothecomingdecades.TheexperienceisuniqueamonginternshipsinthattheiGEMprogramemphasizesstudentteamsthataretoalargeextentself-organizedandmotivated,andthattheresearchisintegratedintoacommonprojectwhichispresentedattheGiantJamboreeattheBostonHynesConventionCenterattheendofOctober.Alongtheway,therearemultipleopportunitiestolearnoralandposterpresentationskillsatNASA,Stanford,Brown,TheCaliforniaAcademyofSciencesandtheBayAreaandNewYorkMakerFaires.Itisafriendly“competition”thatencouragesformalcollaborationswithteamsaroundtheworld,somethingtheStanford-BrownteamhasdoneinpreviouslywithImperialCollegeandtheUniversityofEdinburgh,andinformal“meet-ups”withlocalteams,lastyearheldattheUniversityofNevada,Reno.Theprogramasksthestudentstoconsiderthebroaderimplicationsoftheirwork,whetheritbeethical,designoroutreach,underthecategorythatiGEMcalls“HumanPractices”.TheStanford-BrownteamisparticularlyexcitinganduniqueiniGEMasitallowsstudentsfromtwouniversitiesandagovernmentAgencytocombineresourcesandskillsetstowardsateamproject.Brownisaworldleaderinplanetaryscience,andtheirfacultyhavebeenparticularlysupportiveoftheteam.Finally,iGEMisnotjustamultidisciplinaryprogram,butatransformativeexperience.TwoofouralumnswereinternsatGingkoBioworks,atopsyntheticbiologystartup,andfourstudentsinternedwithDr.Rothschildbeforecontinuingtheirformaleducation.SeveralarenowintopgraduateschoolsincludingYale,MIT,StanfordandColumbia.Othershavere-focusedtheircareerstosyntheticbiology.ThesignificanceoftheprojectiGEM(internationalGeneticallyEngineeredMachine1)isthepremieresyntheticbiologycompetitionintheworld,in2015drawing280teamsfromsixcontinents.Syntheticbiologyisanappliedscience,utilizingengineeringprinciplesanddesignconceptswithinthelifesciences.IniGEM,studentsusestandardized,functionalsequencesofDNAcalled'BioBrick'parts.TheBioBricksenabletheiGEMerstoengineerdifferentbiologicalsystemsusinginterchangeableparts.Teamsdevelopanovelprojectidea,performextensivebackgroundresearchinprimaryliterature,designandcarryoutourexperimentsinthelab,andpresenttheirfindings.Brown’shistoryofparticipationiniGEMisadistinguishedone,allthemoreremarkableasourteamsareyoungerthanaverage.Priorteamshavebeenawardedgold(2007,2011-5),silver(2008),andbronze(2009,2010)medalsforachievement,andgoneontopublishtheirresearch(2006,IETSyntheticBiology;2014;2015CRISPRmanuscripttobesubmitted2).AttheJamboree,theyhavewonbestnewapplication(2011),bestnaturalpart(2012),andbestinmanufacturing(2015),plusnumerousnomineedistinctions.Thetwoyearstherewasa“sweet16”category,

1http://2015.igem.org/Main_Page2CRISPR/Cas9-AssistedTransformation-EfficientReaction(CRATER),anovelmethodforselectivetransformation.LynnRothschild,DanielGreenberg,JackTakahashi,KirstenThompson,AkshayMaheshwari,RyanKent,GriffinMcCutcheon,JosephShih,CharlesCalvet,TylerDevlin,TinaJu,DanielP.Kunin,EricaLieberman,ThaiNguyen,ForrestTran,DanielXiang,KosukeFujishima.doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/027664

theywereincluded.Thepressattentionhasbeenoutstandinggivingthestudentsanopportunitytopresentresearchtothemedia,fromphoneinterviewstofilmingforDiscovery.In2010,NASAbeganasyntheticbiologyinitiativeattheAmes.ItsmissionwastoexploresyntheticbiologyasatooltoaccomplishNASA’smission,withafocusonhumanexplorationinspace,withtheeventualgoalofengineeringbiologicalsystemssuitedforextraterrestrialenvironments.Thesignificanceofthisprojecttothefutureofspaceresearchhasbeenprovenbyeveryteamfrom2011on.ManyoftheseprojectshaveresultedinfundingfromNASAHQforfurtherdevelopment,andone2011and2013projecthasresultedinapayloadonasatellitemission,duetolaunchin2017.TwoformeriGEMershavecontinuedtodevelopit.Theproject'sinterdisciplinaryapproachAstheresearchtopictackledbytheteammustbesettledbytheteamasawhole,the2016projectisnotyetknown.Tounderstandthediversenatureofprevioustopics,pleasenotethesummaryofthe2011-2015teamsunderthethirdquestion.TheinterdisciplinarynatureoftheBrownteamisguaranteedastheiGEMrulesincluderequirementsforlabworkinsyntheticbiology,modeling,thecreationofawiki,presentationandposter,anda“humanpractices”(ethics,design,outreach,etc.)portion.Second,ourteamisparticularlyinterdisciplinaryastheprojectsmusthavearelationshiptoNASA’sinterests,thusguaranteeingalinkwithspaceandearthscience.WeareparticularlyfortunatetohaveworldleadersinplanetaryscienceatBrown.Inparticular,Prof.JimHeadhasmadehisstudentsavailabletoadvise,andhehimselfvisitstheteamatAmesduringthesummerandworkswiththeteamatBrownbeforethepresentation.Prof.PeteSchultzsimilarlyhasprovidedfundingthroughtheRhodeIslandSpaceGrant,andhasvisitedtheteamatAmestogivefeedbackmid-summer.ThelaboratoryexperimentsareconductedlargelyinthelabofDr.LynnRothschild,Ph.D.(BrownUniversity,’85;HoraceMannMedalist2015)SeniorScientistofNASAandResearchfacultyintheMCBDepartmentatBrown.TheNASAlaboratoryfacilitiesforthisresearchexperienceareoutstandingasisthementorshipwithatotalof5facultyand4Ph.D.studentsandpostdocshelpingguidethestudentsintheirpersonalandprofessionaldevelopment.ThisistheeleventhyearthatProfessorWesselhasmentoredtheBrowniGEMteamandthesixthyearthatProfessorsRothschildandWesselhavecollaboratedontheiGEMteammentorship.ThementoringstrategiesandphilosophyofthefacultyinvolvedThegoalofthementorsistoprovideadvice,encouragement,facilities,andbasicorganizationalstructure,andthentoletthestudentstotakeownershipoftheirteam,withthementorsavailableconstantlyasneeded.Wewillrepeatthewinningformulaofthepastfiveyears.Duringthespring,theteamwillconductbi-weeklySkypemeetingswithDrs.RothschildandWesselandtheStanfordstudentsasithonesitsfamiliaritywiththeliteratureandrequisitelaboratorytechniquesandselectsresearchprojects.InMay,thementorswillprovidea“labbootcamp”atAmesfortheentireteam.AstheBrownstudentsareonasemesterschedule,theywillbeginresearchinDr.Rothschild’slabatAmesinmidMay,andinJune,uponcompletionofclasses,theStanfordstudentswilljointhem.Throughoutthesummer,Dr.Rothschildwillseetheteamonadailybasis.AnyadministrativedetailsanduseofequipmentorfacilitiesontheStanfordcampuswillbecoordinatedbytheStanfordBioengineeringstaff.

TheteamwillbeencouragedtoattendtheseminarsavailableatAmesandStanfordduringthesummertoenhancetheirtrainingandunderstandinginsyntheticbiologicalresearchaswellasintroducethemtoNASA’sresearchprograminspaceexplorationandastrobiology.Similarly,thestudentsareencouragedtoparticipateintheStanfordDepartmentofBioengineeringsummeractivities.Inthepastthesehaveincludedahighschoolbootcamp,presentingtofellowstudentsatalunchseminarandparticipatingintheREUpostereventinAugust.Intheautumn,theadvisorswillcontinuetoworkwithmembersoftheteam,includingthosereturningtoBrown,thoughemail,Skype,andinperson,withStanfordstudentscontinuingtoworkinDr.Rothschild’sortheStanfordBioengineeringUytengsuTeachingLabsastheirschedulespermit.SeptemberandOctoberwillbeusedtoconcludetheresearchandfinalizetherequirementssuchaspreparationofthewikifortheiGEMcompetitiontheendofOctober.ThenatureoftheresearchenvironmentwheretheresearchwillbeconductedTheBrownteamwilltakeadvantageofthreeresearchenvironments:primarilythoseofAmesandsecondarilythoseofBrownandStanford.Dr.Rothschildwillmakeavailabletotheteamherfullyequippedandrenovated2000squarefootmicrobiology/molecularbiologylabwithaseniorstaff(graduatestudentandpostdocs),andconsultationwithofotherinvestigatorswithmolecularbiologyexpertiseandinterestsinhumanlifesupportandsettlementinspace,biotechnologyandspacemedicineasappropriate.Duringthesummer,Amesisbustlingwithtopstudentinternsfromaroundtheworld,workinginareasasdiverseasaeronauticsandnanotechnology.Ourstudentsliveandinteractwiththeothers,socializingandparticipatinginAmesstudenteventsandSummerDirector’sColloquium.Amesishosttomanyvisitingdignitaries,acertainnumberwhoaredirectedtotheiGEMteam.Forexample,lastsummertheiGEMteamhostedAndyWeir,theauthorof“TheMartian”,givinghimideasforasequel.ExpectationsforStudentsTheteamwillspendthespringsemestertrainingforiGEM.Studentswillresearchconceptsofsyntheticbiology-itstheoreticalunderpinnings,thebiologyofgeneticmanipulation,thedesignprinciplesofengineering,etc.Additionally,theteamwilllearnpracticallabskillsandsyntheticbiologicalexperimentdesign.Trainingwilltakemanyformsincludingweeklyjournalclubmeetings,lecturesfromiGEMalumni,andgrouppresentations.PriortoarrivalatAmes,theteamwillteleconferenceoneormoretimeseachweekwitheachotherandthefacultyadvisorstoshareprogressintrainingandprojectdevelopment,whiletakingadvantageofinpersonmentoringfromDrs.WesselandHeadasappropriate.Studentswilldesign,modelandimplementbiologicalmechanisms,obtaininghands-onexperiencewiththeresearchprocess,understandingofthedesignofbiologicalsystems,computermodelingandsimulation,andthepracticalconsiderationstocloningDNAandtheconstructionofbiologicalmachines.Theywillmeetregularlywiththeiradviserstodiscusstechnicalmattersandtroubleshootinginthelab,aswellasbroaderissuesofresearchdesign.Thecompleteteamexperience,frombackgroundresearchtoexperimentaldatatopracticalimplications,willbecarefullydocumented(forthecompetitionandfutureteams)andfeaturedonawikithattheteamconstructs(for2015seehttp://2015.igem.org/Team:Stanford-Brown).TheStanford-BrowniGEMteamwillpresentitsfindingsattheendofOctoberattheiGEMJamboreeandcontinueworkleadingtopapers,pressandpatentsasappropriate.AsperBrown’stradition,the2016willbeexpectedtohelprecruitandselecttheirsuccessorsfor2017.