Team:Sevilla/Team

pablo

My dream when I was a little girl was to become an astronaut and travel through outer space. Therefore, I am a clear example of EVOLUTION; but because I’m quite attached to my life here on Earth, I exchanged giant planets for minute bacteria. For as everybody knows, the best perfumes come in small bottles.

Evolution always leaves traces: I do sometimes have my head in the clouds, but I know I made the right decision. As a Biotechnology student I enjoy working with “small things” and I’m sure this will give me great satisfaction, both during this project and throughout the rest of my career.

If I hadn’t been able to study Biotechnology I would have had a serious problem, because I really can’t see myself researching anything else. I love what I do - or what I try to do - I should say, because it’s an extraordinary fusion of all the subjects I liked when I was child.

A biotechnologist can cut out, paste onto, turn over or colour anything in GFP green; but most importantly they know why they’re doing it. I don’t know what I’d like to be in the future, each year I discover a new branch of Biology that hooks me more than the previous one, so for now I’m just enjoying the lessons and the practical projects I’m involved in.

There were myriad reasons why I chose the degree I’m currently studying; and hope to finish soon. I’ve always liked to build new devices from simpler components. Actually, the fact that all my Lego, Kennex and Mecano pieces fell apart at the age when hair started to appear under my armpits, made me think I needed new, improved pieces to work with.

Getting involved in this project means having a great opportunity to “play” again and develop amazing constructions not only for me, but for everybody to enjoy them. Who knows? Maybe what we’re doing today will be useful tomorrow for somebody to create even bigger, more complex biological machines. Working with such components might lead me to reconsider a thought I used to have: studying some kind of engineering. But that, apart from studying Physics and Chemistry before, will happen only if I win the lottery, or maybe if some great gentle patron contacts me thanks to this project... :)

It wasn’t until I was teached by Mario Pérez in the subject Computation and Computability that I discovered the link between computer science and biology. The last part of the subjet was about natural computing, the introduction of a genetic algorithm, neural networks and p-system. Since then, I’m sure that the future of computation lies in biology, so I asked my teacher for further information. And now I’m here, getting involved in this interesting project, of which I expect I can learn a lot about both biology and computation.

But... what about me? I am a creative, curious person, who likes web projects and getting results. If you want to know more about me, follow me!

Though I’ve always been considered a “science girl”, I can’t say my vocation was always Biotechnology. Actually, I didn’t even know of its existence until a year before starting the degree. Undecided between languages, medicine or maths, I eventually chose this new degree, which was apparently challenging and promised lots of further opportunities for research.

And what a great discovery! I can’t help but admire how all the different scientific branches intertwine, right down to the deepest element to form a whole that works just like a programmed clock. I was far from imagining to what extent we have managed to gain control over nature on so many levels, especially taking into account how unpredictable, and downright powerful Mother Nature still proves to be. And what’s better is how fascinating and erratic she is even nowadays. As each new year in my degree goes by I keep changing mind about what to do in the future; I guess I may have to keep studying for the rest of my life...

Unlike the majority of the group, I’m studying Information Technology at the University of Seville, though when I came to make the final choice I was in serious doubt over which degree to do as Biology, Maths and Chemistry were also extremely appealing to me. So, when Pedro called me that evening to meet up and talk about the project they were involved with, I had no option but to give a categorical YES to his proposal of joining them.

In the three or four months since I’ve learnt so much about different fields of Biology, such as Genetic Regulation; about management and about people that I otherwise wouldn’t have known. If participants are from the field of biology, they’ll find enterprising people with original ideas. Equally, if they’re from another specialism, they’ll benefit from teaming up with Biologists: if there’s one good thing about Synthetic Biology it is the fact that any project needs people from several disciplines. Four pairs of eyes can see better than two, especially if they are looking from different perspectives.

I have loved science since I was a little girl; maybe the documentaries I watched with my mother had something to do with my passion. I was much older when I went to a conference about embryonic stem cells which featured Bernat Soria - a famous Spanish expert in stem cells – talking about their use for the treatment of diabetes, and at that moment I decided that I wanted to devote myself to the study of the smallest and most complex mechanisms found in life.

When I think that all the living organisms that surround us have appeared because of thousands of years of evolution I can’t help feeling dizzy. And there are still so many things left to understand and discover that we will never finish learning. That’s why synthetic biology is so awesome.. I am very proud to be able to contribute to the improvement of technology and further our knowledge in this field.

One of the things I like the most about biology is how incredibly complex it is. And I don’t mean complex as in difficult to understand, but as in how vast the subject is. I’ve often thought how fascinating it must have been to be a scientist 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago, when all the great findings we now take for granted were still undiscovered. Even though we’re clarifying our basis of knowledge little by little - which means becoming more and more specialized - biology still offers a huge amount of challenges to undertake. I think that’s the reason I know researching biology is my vocation, the sheer size of the subject matter and something which occurred naturally – by chance - on our planet.

I’m currently studying Biochemistry at the Faculty of Biology in the University of Seville, after having completed the first three years of a biology degree.

I have been interested in life sciences since I was a little child, when I used to bring home every small living creature that I found in the playground. My mother was not so happy about these adventures, but someway I managed to study Biochemistry and I got more and more interested in laboratory research. So I packed my things and went to the North of the world, to Norway, and did my PhD on human misfolding diseases. At the moment I am a postdoctoral research fellow at the Biomedicine Institute (IBiS) in Seville, Spain, working on synaptic transmission of the nervous system in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. You see? Still taking care of the small creatures of the world (both the worms and the students).

Post-doc working on Computational Systems and Synthetic Biology. I design gene regulatory networks to induce desirable phenotypes in bacterial colonies.

Since I first set foot in a laboratory, I have been cutting and pasting DNAs, doing what had always been called “molecular biology”… and a few months ago a couple of students came to my lab and told me that they would like to “copy&paste” DNAs with direction, that they intended to create things that don't exist in any living being, that they would like to do “synthetic biology” in order to participate in a competition, which was unknown to me at that time, the iGEM. I haven't been able to get iGEM out of my life since then, but most importantly, only good things have happened to these and the other students of the team: interviews in the newspapers and in the national TV; meetings with very important people (vice-deans, minister of science, directors of scientific agencies...). And, of course, hard work in the lab during three months. I have only one thing to say: I am proud of these students, for what they have got and done and for what they will be able to get and do.

Hello! My name is Curro. I´m 22 years old and I´m Sevillian. I have a very busy life dedicated to looking for the sense of this thing we call life, and I believe I´ll never get to know it. But meanwhile, if some day you want to achieve your objective, don´t let the candel of hope fall from your hand.

I never thought I would pass my summertime in a lab nor that I would enjoy these months as I have! My cat friends think I´m crazy, but I´m a very lucky cat. Not only for being golden or getting everything I want, but for being the oficial mascot of Arcanum Project. Althought they didn´t feed me very much (I´ve lost some weight during the last few months)I know I have been a very important part of the team this summer. LET´S GO ARCANUM!!!