test

Here's the home page of the SLC.

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http://synberc.org/content/pages/slc-test

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The New York Times is running a long piece on one team's efforts in the 2009 International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition at MIT:

Imagine!

• Replacing nonrenewable energy sources with solar-powered bacteria
• Curing diseases with engineered microbes
• Producing new biochemicals and materials in cells

These are some of the goals of synthetic biology, a new field that seeks to design and build novel biological systems to accomplish specific tasks.

On August 12 visitors and researchers from around the SF Bay Area packed into the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) seminar room. They weren’t coming to see a renowned scientist or the director of a Federal research office. They came to hear the story of six unassuming and slightly shy high school researchers who spent their summer in a biofuels lab.

The Student Leadership Council (SLC) had its third industry visit in coincidence with the Fall Retreat at MIT on September 14, 2009. Kevin Madden of Microbia (http://www.microbia.com) generously offered to host us for a company tour and presentation/Q&A.  Microbia is a leader in industrial biotechnology to create renewable sources of products that either displace petrochemical-derived chemicals, or create novel biomaterials with commercially desirable properties.

“SynBERC’s Student Leadership Council (SLC) has established an excellent, inclusive organization which works well across the laboratories and disciplines of the Center.  Students utilize tools such as web cams and video conferencing to maintain communications among the laboratories. The SLC is providing leadership to the ERC on the issues of biological risk, ethics, and safety and plans to expand that leadership to the larger community.”--from the NSF Site Visit Team’s 2009 Site Report.

On July 15, SynBERC Deputy Director Wendell Lim participated in the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus Briefings with a talk entitled “Kids Can Do Science! The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition.” He spoke about his experiences working with a team of students from San Francisco's Lincoln High School.  The iGEM competition offers a unique way to engage young students in science.  Conversely, integrating these students can inject creative ideas and energy into a high-level research team.

The Introductory College Level Experience in Microbiology @ UC Berkeley is an eight-week paid summer internship program for high school sophomores and juniors interested in learning about biotechnology. The program seeks to broaden students' understanding of biotechnology and the careers available in this field. We follow a hands-on approach to learning, and we are committed to providing each student with academic tutoring, mentoring, and any assistance necessary to ensure that he or she can suceed in this program. Students should be prepared to work hard!

SynBERC students from UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley were among the finalists in this year's International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Competition, sponsored by SynBERC and hosted at MIT. Of the 57 teams from universities around the world, UCSF and UCB were selected as two of only 6 finalists.