Team: Support & Resources
Key Sponsorships & Partnerships
The success of the NeuroSplice project was made possible through the generous support, materials, and mentorship provided by our key industry and academic partners. We owe a debt of gratitude to these organizations for believing in our synthetic biology approach.
Zymo Research Grant Partnership
We were incredibly grateful to receive the Zymo Research iGEM Team Grant, which awarded our NeuroSplice project a $2,000 credit toward essential laboratory supplies. This support allowed us to access key materials like Eppendorf tubes, 96-well plates, nuclease-free water, and long tubes, all of which were vital for running our molecular assays smoothly. Through this partnership, we also had the chance to meet with Aaron Clausen, a Senior Scientist at Zymo Research, and Zoe Hemersen from Zymo’s Irvine branch. They provided thoughtful guidance on how to best utilize Zymo’s products and suggested other tools that could strengthen our workflow. Beyond the funding itself, Zymo’s partnership gave us both the resources and mentorship to refine our experimental approach and bring our synthetic biology project to life.
Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) Gene Blocks
We also received generous support from Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), who provided 10 linear DNA gBlocks, 5 RNA oligos targeting sIL7R, and 5 control sIL7R oligos as part of their free 20 kb DNA offer for iGEM teams. These materials were foundational to our cloning and detection experiments. IDT’s detailed protocols helped us resuspend and prepare each gene block with precision, ensuring consistency and reproducibility in our assays. Their contribution was instrumental in allowing us to design and test our RNA-based diagnostic components efficiently.
Arbor Biosciences TX-TL Partnership
In addition, Arbor Biosciences (Daniel) supported our team by offering an educational discount on their myTXTL® Pro Cell-Free Expression System (300 µL) through our CalUCSF iGEM collaboration. The 2024 myTXTL Pro protocol enabled us to rapidly produce proteins from both linear and plasmid DNA templates in a single-day workflow, eliminating time-consuming cloning and purification steps. This system was especially valuable for our NeuroSplice diagnostic platform, which relied on expressing and testing toehold-based reporter constructs quickly and reliably. Arbor’s support allowed us to integrate cell-free protein expression directly into our design cycle, helping us iterate faster and explore a wider range of constructs with flexibility and efficiency.
Academic & Institutional Partnerships
UC Berkeley Stahl Lab
The Stahl Laboratory at UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources generously provided our team with dedicated laboratory space, as well as essential wet lab materials and equipment. This critical support included access to high-quality pipettes, nuclease-free water, plate readers, 96-well plates, centrifuges, and a NanoDrop spectrophotometer. Having a functional, equipped lab environment was indispensable for conducting all phases of the NeuroSplice project, from cloning and expression to final assay testing. We thank the Stahl Lab for their invaluable commitment to supporting student research and synthetic biology education.
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
We extend our sincere thanks to the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at UCSF for their advisory role and collaboration. Their experts provided critical insight into the neurological and molecular mechanisms underlying the diseases targeted by NeuroSplice. The guidance received from the institute's researchers helped us refine the biological relevance of our diagnostic target (sIL7R) and ensure our synthetic circuit design was grounded in accurate, cutting-edge neuroscience. This partnership was crucial in translating our synthetic biology concepts into a clinically meaningful application.