Team:UCSF/Background

Biotechnology Program and Abraham Lincoln High School (ALHS)

The ALHS Biotechnology Program is a two year pathway developed by George Cachianes and co-taught by Julie Reis: Lincoln High Biotech Webpage

The curriculum during the program can be broken down as follows First Year: Introduction to biotechnology, DNA cloning, and the industry and career opportunities 

Second Year: Students study and perform several lab protocols including running polyacrylamide and agarose gels, western blots, DNA minipreps, column chromatography, etc.

The UCSF iGEM team is chosen from students that have completed this 2 year class.

Our 2011 UCSF iGEM Team consists of 6 students that just graduated from ALHS and two first year college students that were members of the 2010 UCSF team!

Motivation for the UCSF iGEM 2011 Project

Our inspiration began from articles we read during our first meeting at Abraham Lincoln High School:

Invention Awards: Eco-Friendly Insulation Made From Mushrooms

Beer Brings Yeast Together

Beautiful, Deadly Biofilms

After reading these articles we began a 2-week bootcamp to learn more about molecular biology techniques and the life cycle and growth of S. cerevisiae, the model organism we would use for our studies. More information on the lectures and activities held during our bootcamp can be found on our personal wiki page: 2011 Bootcamp Schedule The bootcamp culminated with a Team Challenge to determine the exact project we would pursue for the summer.

Photographs from our exciting Team Challenge and the presentations we made to the UCSF community afterwards can be viewed below.