May 2

May 2 Navigating New Challenges and Environments: Yuika Matsushita's Journey

An interview of Yuika Matsushita by Takashi Yamanashi

Beginning of synbio journey

My first encounter with iGEM was during my graduate school orientation. I was introduced to iGEM by a person who participated in the team one year before me and then I became interested in the program. I came to Sweden as an exchange student when I was an undergraduate student and then returned to Japan to finish my university degree. After that, I enrolled in a graduate school in Sweden. When I came to Sweden as an exchange student, there were programs and so on, and I was able to interact with other students to some extent, but when I entered as a regular student, there was not much of that. I wanted to join some kind of team to interact with other students. In such a situation, iGEM, which conducts activities related to biology, which I also majored in as an undergraduate, seemed very attractive to me. So I decided to join iGEM Chalmers-Gothenburg team.

What was iGEM like for you?

iGEM was a very interesting experience for me.

In our team, all of us were new to iGEM so we were inexperienced. That made us often run into problems where we didn't know anything and were groping our way through the process to find solutions. Toward the end of the Wiki Freeze, we were required to complete a significant amount of work each day, which proved to be very challenging.

At the time, it was tough, and the hardships were plenty, but looking back now, I have very fond memories of all of it.

Building Your Own Project

What I think was particularly good was that we decided on our own theme and proceeded with our research. In the past, I had conducted research on a given theme while consulting with the teacher. However in iGEM, we brainstormed, discovered issues, and came up with a schedule for the rest of the year by ourselves.

Such an experience was very refreshing. In deciding on a theme, even after finding one candidate theme, we needed to check more background, such as whether the theme was really feasible. Since we had no expertise, we spent several weeks researching and verifying each candidate theme. However, as a result, we often decided that it was not a good idea. Two or three months went by as we kept repeating such decisions. We learned that deciding on a theme is very difficult. In addition, each iGEM team only last for one year. But even with that limited time, finding a theme, doing experiments, and presenting the result became a precious experience for me.

Take the best action even in difficulties

Since it was the year of COVID-19, access to the lab was restricted. Therefore, we had our own discussions about what to do even though we could not go to the lab. In this situation, it was a very important experience for me to think about how to act when faced with difficulties and act independent-minded.
We decided to do our best in Human Practices. I was responsible for education. In education, I decided to hold a DNA extraction experiment class in order to get local students interested in synthetic biology. I had done that experiment before and thought it wouldn't be that difficult. However, I felt that preparing everything by myself required a deep understanding and was very difficult. Also, we sometimes had to do classes in Swedish since the students were Swedish, and that was challenging for me. Even so, I managed to memorize the talk script and was able to complete the class successfully.

Even when we had access to the lab, we were not allowed to conduct experiments with more than two people at a time due to covid restrictions. Many of the team members had little or no experience with experiments, and teaching them basic experiments was very difficult. However, the perspectives from members with diverse backgrounds helped us gain new perspectives and a deeper understanding of the technology.

What are you currently working on?

After graduating from the International Christian University in Japan, I went on to do my Master's at the University of Gothenburg. There I joined the iGEM Chalmers-Gothenburg team and in school, I did research using yeast to make cocoa butter, which earned me a master's degree.

Currently, I work for a company called Melt & Marble in Sweden. We are developing an animal-like fat by using precision fermentation of microbes, hoping that we can produce vegan alternatives for food in the future.

What do you find attractive about your company?

In Sweden, it is common to find vegetarian and vegan options in restaurants and other dining establishments. This is often driven by concerns for the environment and ethical considerations. However, many of these options may lack the flavors and textures of the original. Our company is working to address this issue by providing sustainable alternatives that mimic the taste and texture of animal fat. Additionally, our company has a diverse and international work environment, with English as the official language. If you are passionate about sustainable food production, we encourage you to apply for any open positions.

Melt & Marble - Open positions : https://www.meltandmarble.com/jobs

Introducing Multilingual Science Blogs by iGEMers

We have launched multilingual blog called The Transcriptome on a variety of science-related topics. Even now, iGEMers from many countries are writing and translating. We hope that you will continue to refer to them and support us in the future.

Finally, what advice would you give to current iGEMers?

I would recommend iGEM to all, as it is a place where any person can play to their strengths. I think that when you are in iGEM, you are more or less required to take on challenges. So, if you step out and try, I think you will learn a great deal, even though you may not actually succeed. I have gained such experience through iGEM.

One year of doing iGEM is very short. Try to take the first step and do something new so that you will have no regrets. I am sure you will gain many good experiences.

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