Dry Lab Lead
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
• Supervised a 6-person dry-lab group in a large competitive team representing UBC Okanagan in an international synthetic biology competition. Our project aimed to confer immunity to honeybees against a (-)ssRNA virus by exploiting an immune mechanism present against bacteria called trans-generational immune priming (TGIP).• Conducted literature reviews to determine the feasibility of various heterologous protein display systems in Bacillus subtilis.• Oversaw a team of 6 members performing structural predictions using AlphaFold and molecular docking simulations to assess the binding of our synthetic protein to TGIP-associated enzymes.• Presented results at events, such as the large on-campus open house dedicated to our project, as well as staff events at our sponsors such as Genome British Columbia.• Presented results at the iGEM conference in Paris, where our project was nominated for 3 awards: Best Conservation Project, Best Sustainable Development Impact, and Best Presentation, amidst 400 teams from top universities globally.