Pre-meetings

Mr. Cachianes and his seven students met with iGEM coordinators Ben, Oliver, and Raquel once every week after school. There, we learned more about iGEM, and what was expected of us. We also had lectures on cell biology, like cell signaling and chemotaxis. We were assigned homework that was due next week. The homework involved readings of scientific papers largely on cell motility, independent research on cell signaling proteins such as G Protein Coupled Receptors, and brainstorms on how to build a cellular robot. Aside from the meetings with Ben, Oliver, and Raquel, we also met with Mr.Cachianes to start the pre-project. The pre-project taught us new lab techniques such as gel purification, and involved cloning and purifying plasmids.