Aalto-Helsinki 2023


WHAT IF STUDENTS RAN THEIR OWN RESEARCH PROJECT?

The Aalto-Helsinki 2023 is a multidisciplinary and international team consisting of 10 students from the University of Helsinki and Aalto University. We are excited to participate in the world's largest synthetic biology competition iGEM with our diverse team with backgrounds in various fields of biosciences and technology. Our aim is to develop an innovative and impactful synthetic biology project that advances scientific research and benefits society.

To help up in this, we have the support of our PIs Heli Viskari, Aalto University lecturer, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, and Markus Linder, Aalto University professor of Biomolecular materials. Additionally, we have been supported by staff scientist Sesilja Aranko, academy research fellow Rahul Mangayil, postdoctoral researcher Salla Koskela, and doctoral researcher Natalia Kakko from the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, Aalto University, and postdoctoral researcher Alesia Levanova from the Molecular and Integrative Biosciences Research Programme, University of Helsinki.
A full list of people who have shared their time and knowledge with us is available on the attributions page of our wiki.

Apart from this website, you can follow our journey on our Instagram and Facebook.


Our Project

Plastic pollution and food scarcity are major global challenges. Our project, called PET-2-Protein, aims to provide a sustainable solution to address these issues by developing a proof-of-concept approach to upcycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into single-cell proteins.

PET hydrolases are promising biocatalysts for the development of enzymatic PET degradation. One such PET hydrolase, IsPETase, was discovered back in 2016 from a novel bacterial strain isolated from a Japanese landfill (Yoshida et al., 2016). Since then, new variants such as FAST-PETase have been developed, and have been shown to exhibit improved enzymatic activity (Lu et al., 2022). Furthermore, the degradation products have potential to serve as carbon sources for natural and genetically engineered microbes alike (Tiso et al., 2022).

In the first stage of our project, we focused on expressing the FAST-PETase enzyme which is required for depolymerizing PET into ethylene glycol and terephthalate. In the second step, we investigated the ability of wild-type strains such as Rhodococcus opacus and Comamonas testosteroni to utilize these monomers as a carbon source through adaptive laboratory evolution. Lastly, we also drafted plans to engineer Pseudomonas putida for the task.

The full description of our project can be found on our wiki.


Results

We are happy to announce that PET-2-Protein was awarded a gold medal at the 2023 Grand Jamboree, with additional nominations in the overgrad category for:

Best Environment Project
Best Education
Best Wiki
Best Integrated Human Practices

See the full results of the 2023 iGEM competition here.

THE TEAM

Aino

Aino Kuusimäki

Team Co-Leader

Aino is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Microbiology and Microbial biotechnology. BSc degree in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Helsinki.

Sevda

Sevda Dilmaghani

Team Co-Leader

Sevda is a student at Aalto University pursuing an MSc degree in Chemical and Process Engineering. BSc in Chemical Engineering at the Amirkabir University of Tehran.

Aniqa

Aniqa Anwar

Team Member

Aniqa is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Translational Medicine.

Chau

Cao Minh Chau do

Team Member

Chau is a student at Aalto University pursuing a BSc degree in Data Science.

Cleo

Cleopatra Siders Silva

Team Member

Cleopatra is a student at Aalto University pursuing a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Bioinformatics.

Debby

Debby Agustin

Team Member

Debby is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology. BSc in Biology at Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia.

Emilia

Emilia Miettinen

Team Member

Emilia is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing a MSc degree in Genetics and Molecular Biosciences. BSc in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Helsinki.

Henri

Henri Sundquist

Team Member

Henri is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Bioinformatics and Systems Medicine. BSc in Computer Science at the University of Helsinki.

Paula

Paula Pastor Muñoz

Team Member

Paula is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Neuroscience. BSc in Genetics at Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.

Rafeul

Rafeul Hasan

Team Member

Rafeul is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Genetics and Molecular Biosciences, specializing in Molecular and Health Analytical Biosciences.

Background:
Tuomo Saali, The Sense of Smallness 2015-16

Aino

Aino Kuusimäki

Team Co-Leader

Aino is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Microbiology and Microbial biotechnology. BSc degree in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Helsinki.

Sevda

Sevda Dilmaghani

Team Co-Leader

Sevda is a student at Aalto University pursuing an MSc degree in Chemical and Process Engineering. BSc in Chemical Engineering at the Amirkabir University of Tehran.

Aniqa

Aniqa Anwar

Team Member

Aniqa is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Translational Medicine.

Chau

Cao Minh Chau do

Team Member

Chau is a student at Aalto University pursuing a BSc degree in Data Science.

Cleo

Cleopatra Siders Silva

Team Member

Cleopatra is a student at Aalto University pursuing a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Bioinformatics.

Debby

Debby Agustin

Team Member

Debby is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology. BSc in Biology at Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia.

Emilia

Emilia Miettinen

Team Member

Emilia is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing a MSc degree in Genetics and Molecular Biosciences. BSc in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Helsinki.

Henri

Henri Sundquist

Team Member

Henri is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Bioinformatics and Systems Medicine. BSc in Computer Science at the University of Helsinki.

Paula

Paula Pastor Muñoz

Team Member

Paula is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Neuroscience. BSc in Genetics at Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.

Rafeul

Rafeul Hasan

Team Member

Rafeul is a student at the University of Helsinki pursuing an MSc degree in Genetics and Molecular Biosciences, specializing in Molecular and Health Analytical Biosciences.

iGEM

International Genetically Engineered Machine iGEM is an international synthetic biology competition originating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA. The iGEM competition challenges students to design and implement a project within a short time frame using innovation, design, experimental work and modelling applications.

The broader purpose of our project is to promote and increase the understanding of synthetic biology in Finland and around the world. Synthetic biology is a field of science and technology that combines biology with engineering principles. The basic principle is to design new genes, genetic devices, metabolic routes and entire organisms to create novel products and production pathways. Standardization is also a key component of this process, which is why one goal of the iGEM competition is to maintain the "BioBrick part registry" - a library of standardized genetic parts.

Synthetic biology has the potential to provide valuable solutions to many of today's problems. However, media and the general public still sometimes see genetically modified organisms rather as a threat than an opportunity. We work responsibly and take safety and ethics carefully into account in our project design and laboratory work. We conduct research that is safe for us and the environment.

SUPPORT US

We are an independent, student-driven team of passionate students, who have a strong will to create new synthetic biology solutions. However, this could not be possible without the support of our partners. If you or your organization would like to support us in any way, contact us at team@aaltohelsinki.com. All our supporters will be mentioned on this page, and in some cases also in our presentations and posters. Additionally we provide social media visibility.

CONTACT US

We are a student-driven team that will participate in a synthetic biology competition: International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM). We believe that science has great potential if practiced responsibly and safely. We are happy to discuss our project, synthetic biology, the competition, or science in general. You are welcome to reach us on Instagram or Facebook. We also intend to organize workshops and present at events.

If you would like to interview us or write about us in the media, feel free to contact us through our team email team@aaltohelsinki.com. We are more than happy to help.