Life fascinates me. So as an opportunity to do work related to controlling and engineering life, iGEM was too strong a temptation to resist. I feel fortunate to be working alongside a group of dedicated students who share my interests. As a year 2 Biology major I consider the technical aspects of iGEM a refreshing chance to observe science and engineering operating in parallel. I also appreciate it as a rigorous team activity allowing us to improve our understanding both on what it is to be human as well as the dynamics of the bacteria we manipulate. Over the past months I have joined my sub-group members in building our cell wall expression construct and have conducted interviews in accordance with our human practices plans.

My name is Chan Yat Nok Cola, a year 2 student who is majoring in biochemistry. For me, synthetic biology is an amazing field full of possibilities, mysteries and creativity. It always gives us lots of surprises and inspirations and not to mention the sense of achievement. Thanks to iGEM for providing a chance to work along with group of people who have one goal, and as a platform to learn with pain and fun. iGEM is really “beautiful” in nature.

I am Ka Chun Mok, a year 1 student studying Molecular Biomedical Sciences in HKUST along with my iGEM teammates. In retrospect, I am attracted by the fancy world of biology when I was a high school student. During that time, GM food research was standing in the front line of the scientific field. I was inspired by the magic of synthetic biology that can make many new strains of organisms, which is beneficial for the whole community. After I joined HKUST, I finally have the chance to taste the beauty of synthetic biology by joining then iGEM competition. Frankly speaking, doing iGEM is not just being a part of a competition but enjoying the process of doing synthetic biology. Thanks to that, I am glad to be involved in such a meaningful activity.

I am Shi Tianxing, a year 1 biology student in HKUST. I have always been looking forward to understand more about life science, especially with a group of biology lovers. That’s why I am here in iGEM team to help carry out the whole project. Our sub-group has been working on the recognition and binding of B. subtilis to colon cancer cells throughout the months, and I have been deeply involved in the building of our sub-group’s constructs from the first day. I appreciate that iGEM provides us, science beginners, a great opportunity to explore the world of genetic engineering and to share our experience with our friends, family, and other members of society all over the world.

Carson is currently a year 2 student studying under the Molecular Biomedical Sciences program. He participated as a member of the Cell Wall Binding System wet lab sub-group.

Sapphire is currently a year 2 student pursuing a Biochemistry major. She participated as a member of the Cell Wall Binding System wet lab sub-group.

I am Yu Lai Cheong. My major is Molecular Biomedical Sciences. I am a year 2 student. Thanks to iGEM, it gave me the opportunity to organize things, do research and deal with problem.

My name is Chelsi, currently in my second year in HKUST studying biochemistry. Joining iGEM as a freshman has given me lots of experiences and knowledge, which I will not be able to get in any class. Throughout the summer I worked with Protein Synthesis group to work on constructs which can secrete BMP-2, helped with characterization of pTms and responsible for the completion of 2012 HKUST iGEM Poster.

I am Christopher Lee. I study Molecular Biomedical Sciences, and currently a year 2 student. I would like to join iGEM because it is a golden opportunity for me to decide which experiments to conduct on which particular purpose. It helps me to think carefully and to learn how to convince others with the results obtained. How to think is much more important than how to do. It is easy to know how to do since there are lots of protocols. But iGEM provides me with an opportunity to learn how to think and how to design experiments so that the results of our experiments can convince others. That is a critical skill for all scientists. Mainly I am responsible for protein characterization.

I am a future Chemist, who is currently a year 2 student. Joining iGEM team does not only teach me about what synthetic biology is, but also how powerful synthetic biology can be. Through iGEM, I learnt that synthetic biology could be used in many different ways to solve a lot of world problems, just like our project, which focuses on targeting colon cancer drug. In the HKUST iGEM team, I worked along with protein synthesis group’s members to construct the plasmid consisting of signaling peptide of B. subtilis and BMP-2 (anti-tumor chemokine) gene. I am also helping in the poster design team.

My name is Li Yiming. I am currently a second year biochemistry student. I wish to earn the experience in lab work and enjoy the teamwork when doing iGEM. In this project, I collaborated with my teammates to get B. subtilis synthesize and secrete out the protein BMP-2. Although we came across many unexpected problems, we carried on together. We felt no regret about spending all our efforts in lab, which will be the most wonderful memories in our life.

I am Wang Yuqi but in English speaking community like HKUST, they usually call me Cosmos. As a freshman of biochemistry in the university, I have to swallow a bunch of new information this summer. However, iGEM is about teamwork, and the whole HKUST iGEM team creates a cheerful atmosphere. It allows me along with other members to learn, grow and shine together.

My name is Bida Gu, currently a second year student in Division of Life Science, HKUST. Starting as a freshman, I have benefited greatly from our iGEM team. What I learned was not only lab techniques but also skills of management and communication. During the past several months, I have helped to build one promoter and characterize two promoters for our team. I hope that in the future I will be able to contribute more to the HKUST iGEM team so that more students will be able to appreciate the beauty of synthetic biology.

My name is Qi Yi. I am a biochemistry majoring student, who is currently in the second year of my study. I joined iGEM to learn how to do research and biological lab work. Throughout the summer I helped my teammates to work on RBS+GFP+Terminator construct, including the characterization procedures with cell death group

I am Yu Xiaoying, a year 1 Biochemistry student. My colleagues usually call me Susie. I was an iGEM Asia Jamboree helper last year. The two-day competition was exciting. I listened to several presentations and got the chance to communicate with other teams’ members. I was attracted by iGEM and decided to participate in it. The whole process is tough but fun. I learned a lot through the months of lab work and human practice work. It was the first time that I spent day by day in the lab, planned and carried out some experiment. As an iGEMer you may have the same experience---after weeks of failure, a construct was finally made out and confirmed work. For me that is the most fascinating part of iGEM, of science. I was working on RBS+GFP+terminator construct, promoters-- pVeg, pTms, pXyl, operon contains ydcD/ydcE and human practice part. I really enjoy working with my team and best wishes for our team in 2012 iGEM competition!

My name is Leon Lee, a second year Electronic Engineering student. Well, sometimes I feel like a freak in the team. After all, what is an Electronic student messing up around with a bunch of biologist? Well, the reason is that they need someone to write their Wiki page. Programming has always been one of my interests, and it is a great pleasure for me to design our Wiki page.