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Press

Strategic Process Biotechnology 2020+

The Strategic Process Biotechnology 2020+ was hosted by the German Ministry of Education and Research in July 2011. This strategic meeting is organized every year. The purpose is to bring research facilities, companies and politicians together to discuss the development of biotechnology and synthetic biology in Germany in the next ten years.

The day started with an introduction from State Secretary Dr. Helge Braun and talks from different industry representatives. In the late morning we participated with a poster presentation together with this year's iGEM Bielefeld Team as well as the last year's Freiburg and Weimar-Heidelberg Arts Teams.

Throughout the poster presentation we had many interesting talks about iGEM. We discussed our idea with various people in terms of potential and application. Different thoughts were proposed about the project and about the Microviridin cluster. The feedback was great and encouraging. We also gave an interview to biotechnology.tv to promote our concept to a wide range of people (see youtube video below).

The lunch break was followed by a podium discussion about the scientific advantages which have been made throughout the past year. Highlights were presented and discussed by the speakers. In the afternoon several workshops took place. In the relaxed atmosphere novel applications and innovations were designed in role plays. It seemed that the search for novel natural therapeutics is a main focus in the arising decade of biotechnology in Germany. This poster presentation on the Strategic Process Biotechnology 2020+ was a great opportunity and we are very thankful for all the ideas and new impressions. We would like to thank everybody and especially wish all the best for the iGEM Bielefeld Team.

biotechnologie.tv

Press Report

Young scientists from University of Potsdam participate in an international synthetic biology competition

For the first time an interdisciplinary group of students from University of Potsdam takes part in the international iGEM competition (international Genetically Engineered Machine). This competition is arranged by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge for international teams every year since 2005.
The junior scientists from Potsdam develop a system for the detection of novel peptide based agents for therapeutical applications in human. In the process they use the properties of bacteria, in that case of cyanobacteria. These bacteria are capable of linking short protein parts in an unusual way. These properties are transferred to bacterial laboratory strains and optimized. As a result the students hope to find inhibitors, which e.g. can be used in regulation of blood coagulation.
The 15 students from 4th to 8th semester are guided by Dr. Kristian Müller and Prof. Katja Arndt, whose former groups were able to win gold-medals and special awards. The biochemistry students plan and perform the lab work. They are supported by physic students, contributing to the design of models, and informatics students, developing an application for smart phones. The work is aided by Dr. Elke Dittmann, Professor of microbiology. Moreover the students discuss the possibilities and borders of synthetic biology with the publicity and work on financing the project.
In the beginning of October all results and projects will be presented during the European Jamboree in Amsterdam and evaluated by a jury. The final round takes place in November in Boston.

University of Potsdam (German)
http://www.uni-potsdam.de/pm/news/archiv/up/date/2011/07/04/2011-135.html