Hi, this is Berke Gürkan from METU iGEM team 2012. I am a '12 graduate from Middle East Technical University department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. It is my second year in iGEM. I met synthetic biology and iGEM during my Erasmus year in The Netherlands, Groningen; where I immediately fell in love with the whole idea of creating genetically engineered machines that are able to do the tasks which I program them to. Believeing synthetic biology is one of the key subjects for taking biological sciences one step further and creating the lifestyle of tomorrow I started the iGEM 2012 team in METU. Through the process I learned even further and had a greater vision of synthetic biology which keeps fascinating me every single day. It is just incredible to design a biological system which can help the world get rid of the problems they normally cannot by physical means. This year I had quite a lot of fun working on the project with the most awesome team members. All together we hope to add a notch to synthetic biology in the upcoming years.

I am Özge Özgüç, a second year student at Molecular Biology and Genetics department in METU. I am at wet lab part and human practice part of our team. My reason for being a member of an iGEM team was that it has been my dream since my high school days. Although I haven’t decided what I will study yet, studying synthetic biology is one of my thought about future and iGEM has an important role on this. I am happy with being a member of this team because my team friends are really enjoyable people and I am also happy with working on this project because WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE WORLD BETTER TO LIVE.

I am Ekin Saglican, a third year student in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at METU. I also have a minor program in Logic and Philosophy of Science. This is my first year in IGEM as a part of the lab-team. I’ve really enjoyed working in the laboratory and gained a lot of experience. For new IGEM teams, this is not an easy competition and you should work very hard, but i believe it will worth working for.

I’m Gözde Arabaci, a third year student at the department of Molecular Biology and Genetics in METU. This was my first year in iGEM and I contributed my team in the lab work. I heard about iGEM two years ago, in my first year at METU and I became interested in synthetic biology. That’s why I want my future studies to be in the field of synthetic biology. It was great to be a part of an iGEM team because I learned so many new things and of course I had so much fun. That’s why for the new iGEM teams I can say that, work hard but don’t forget to enjoy every minute of this competition.

I'm Melike Dönertas, a third year student at Molecular Biology and Genetics Department. I am also studying Information Systems as minor program. This is the first iGEM experience for me and I am very enthusiastic for the following years :) I mainly worked on modelling part of project. I am very happy to be a member of iGEM team because while I was learning so many things I also had lots of fun. In this competition we are in charge of project and I think that is very important. iGEM is also a very important opportunity to learn how to overcome obstacles during a study and how to be a team.

I am Buse Isbilir , a third year student in Molecular Biology and Genetics Department in METU. This year is my first iGEM experience and I think I will be in next iGEM teams of METU. This year I contributed to mostly the modelling part of our project and had a little contribution to lab work. I am happy to be a part of iGEM, because in this competition you are the captain of your ship. This sense of freedom is just my thing.

I am Kübra Narci, currently started Ms in bioinformatics at METU and just graduated from department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, METU. This year with my friends and me, we constitute a new IGEM team and build a new lab for us, so we guaranteed the success already in the competitition! In future, for sure, I want to do something about synthetic biology and contribute in some way to new teams..

I am Alisan Kayabölen. I’ve just graduated from Molecular Biology and Genetics department and this year I’m starting my master study at Biomedical Engineering, METU. Until this summer, I couldn’t do anything at “genetics” side of my own department. I studied on stem cells and tissue engineering fields during my internship and special project course. So, iGEM was a huge chance for me to study genetics and learn many techniques about synthetic biology. My dream is to be able to combine tissue engineering and synthetic biology fields. I’ve worked mainly at wet lab part of our team. And, I also tried to find sponsors for our project, but it is difficult to say that I was very successful?

My name is Özgün Kirdar, a second year student at the Biology Department in METU. I am a wetlab asisstant and also responsible for human practices and sponsorships in our team. Before deciding what I want to do in future, I want to learn and experience the fields of biology as much as I can. Why iGEM ? Because I think iGEM is the best option for me to gain experience at synthetic biology. I don't have a good suggestion to new iGEM teams, because I am also new to iGEM. I can only say '' Do your best and try to have some fun. ''.

I’m Emre Ilpars, a second year student at the Department of Biology in METU. In our team, I have mainly worked on wet lab as an assistant and helped to my friends in human practices. As a Biology student, I didn’t know the basics of molecular biology but these lab experiences really helped me to learn new information and techniques from the seniors. Because there are a lot of field in Biology, I haven’t decide what I am going to do in future but thanks to my iGEM experiences I am started to think that I will study on synthetic biology.

My name is Burak ÖZCAN and I am a senior student in Biology department in METU. I have mainly worked in wet lab part of iGEM team but I have also take a role in the sponsorship and the human practice parts of our team. I think being an iGEM member is a great challenge to overcome and the experience of working on a project of our own is a unique gift for an undergraduate student like us. Solving problems of our own is another crucial opportunity that we could achieve. I believe on the light of these experiences I will fallow path that leads me great success.

Hi I’m Selin :) I’m a senior student at Biology department of METU. I have also minor in Molecular Biology and Genetics. I mainly take charge in wet lab part of the team but I also participate in human practice part and I really enjoyed :) I think our time is “-omics” era and I want to built my future carrier in this world via using knowledge that I learned from my iGEM experiences. Because I think iGEM is a very good opportunity to learn how to overcome to obstacles while you keep moving on your own way.

I’m Oguz Bolgi a second year student at the Molecular Biology and Genetics Department in METU. My position in our team is that of an assistant actually, I try to learn the techniques from our seniors by assisting them and later on I get my hands dirty by trying out my new learned techniques. I want to learn as much as possible because I want to continue in the field of synthetic biology. To the question, why iGEM, I have only one answer, why not? My suggestion to new iGEM teams would be to work hard, buy lots of coffee and have tons of fun. .

I am Seda Koyuncu. I graduated from Molecular Biology and Genetics department at METU this year, and I’ve started to work as an Ms student in the same department at Bilkent University. I did my internship on genetic mechanism of Alzheimer’s Disease at Graz University. My goal is to work on neurogenetics field by using synthetic biology techniques, and I think iGEM provides me a big opportunity to have sufficent experience on synthetic biology.

My name is Hasan, I graduated from Computer engineering, Hacettepe University. Currently, I work as a Researcher in TUBITAK and also started to MSc program in Computer Science at METU. Since, I have indeed interest in bioinformatics, I decided to be part of the iGEM team and make contributions in Software works.

Hi! My name is Ahmet Çaglar Özketen. I am a graduate student at Biotechnology Department of METU. I have a bachelor degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics at METU. My interest in Genetics arises from the cloning of Dolly(R.I.P) and the movie’ Jurassic Park’ in my childhood. Then, my admiration shifts toward synthetic biology and the best way to gain experience in this field is to be part of iGEM competition. I am advisor of METU-IGEM2012 team. I am responsible of providing necessary environment to build team spirit and competitive mood and advising them in molecular cloning process and ‘wiring’ genetic circuitry. I have experience in this field and iGEM competition helps me to gain more. Furthermore, it gives me chance to transfer bottom-up approach of synthetic biology to my teammates and inspire them to work in this field.

I am Taylan Beyaztas.I graduated from Istanbul University.After that, I did master program in Ankara University.Now I am a phd student in METU. Because of my helps to wetlab team unofficially, they chose me as team advisor.

Hi, I am Gökhan. I am a Computer Engineer. And this year, I’ve started studying bioinformatics at Middle East Technical University, as a graduate student. This is my second year in iGEM. Last year I got a Best Use of Registry award in MIT, with a software project. Although I'm a computer scientist; I always like genetics and working in the lab environment. I think iGEM is a perfect way to improve my knowledge on genetics. In our team, I am advisor of software sub-team and I am responsible of managing the team to develop a biological model. On the other hand, I am giving advices to develop team wiki. That's all for me. Good luck for all teams! :)

I am a Research Assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences at Middle East Technical University. I received a BS (2008) and an MS (2011) in Biology at METU. I am currently a PhD student in the same program. I have been providing experimental mentoring to the students this year. This was my first time at iGEM and it won't be the last after involving in such a precious team-work.

I have been the instructor of the METU iGEM teams over the years. Currently, I am a Professor of the Chemistry Department. My research focuses on plant pathogen interactions, interested in identifying genes, proteins and miRNAs involved in disease formation and resistance mechanism by pathogens in plants. I am a former graduate of The Ohio State University, OSU Biological Program, and worked at USDA-ARS and NIH-NCI as postdoctoral fellow and as a senior scientist prior to joining to METU. All of the METU iGEM teams that I worked with including this one are always the sole creators and doers of the projects. I am just enjoying getting to know the young, bright minds and being a guide as much as I can.