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My iGEM Experience

Having come to the UK from Nigeria when I was just 15, it was quite difficult as I had to adapt to a new system of teaching and learning. I had done several biology experiments both in my Nigerian high school, and in the UK during my A levels and as a medic, but none of these truly prepared me for what I was going to face in iGEM.

I was told about iGEM during the second year of my A levels by my friend Fatemeh who had participated the year before me. Although I applied to St Andrews to study medicine, I looked forward earnestly to iGEM, with a vague idea of the work ahead of me. So far, I have learnt a lot, not just about biology, but also about working in a team. As a team member, I learnt the importance of division of labour and learning to work with others, as well as trusting them to do their very best knowing that we all have the same interest in mind and we’re all working together to achieve it. I have also become versed in the use of various lab equipment and basic lab protocols such as ligation, transformations, amongst others, most of which I had only a very fundamental knowledge of before iGEM. Neither my Nigerian high school, nor my A level biology knowledge, had prepared me for the skill needed in the lab.

In Nigeria, the biology lab work consisted mainly of drawing, identifying and classifying organisms such as earthworms. In the UK however, it was a bit more hands on as we grew microorganisms on agar plates, but we never had to make one ourselves and most of the lab work involved sampling insects or other organisms.

We were taken through a basic tutorial of how to use the lab instruments before the start of iGEM, including making agar gels, pouring plates, amongst an abundance of other things and this helped greatly to bridge the gap in my knowledge. Nevertheless, my knowledge of Biology from A levels as well as my first year of medicine did make a major difference in understanding the theory behind the different procedures we had to carry out.

In retrospect, I am delighted that I did this project, as I intend to do a research project as part of my dissertation in the third year of my preclinical training, and this has most definitely boosted my interest in research as a whole. Also, being a part of a new and exponentially growing branch of science is definitely a privilege I am very grateful to have.