Building confidence through engineering biology: Reaping the rewards of 10 years of iGEM
by Emily Mount. UCSC iGEM (2018)
Last year I had the honor of being one of the speakers for “Celebrating 10 years of iGEM at UCSC” (University of California, Santa Cruz) Baskin School of Engineering. I found it hard to believe that so many years had passed since I first learned about iGEM and ultimately became the co-captain for the 2018 UCSC iGEM team. So many memories came flooding back as I was reunited with my fellow teammates and our mentor/PI David Bernick. It’s not an overstatement to say that my iGEM experience changed the course of my life and led me to where I am today.
I first heard about iGEM in 2015 when I was a freshman at UCSC. At that time, I didn't know what I was capable of, or what it meant to be a scientist. I happened to see a post about recruitment for the 2015 UCSC iGEM team and sent an email to Professor David Bernick, or Dr. B as many of us now call him. The thing about Dr. B is that he sees the potential in every student and encourages them to see it in themselves. Not only is he an excellent mentor, he conducts the iGEM program in a way that fosters curiosity, empathy, and confidence. Dr. B encouraged me to join the team when I felt ready and try my hand at engineering biology to address 21st century grand challenges.
I spent the next two years throwing myself into my course load and soaking in everything I could learn that might be useful. I found myself thinking during each lesson and lab about how I could turn those things into tools that could help me shape impactful projects or find creative solutions to ongoing issues in the world. My classmates and I began to know each other better and bonded over tough projects that took hours of teamwork and creativity to complete. After several quarters of hard work, many lessons learned, and more friends made, I felt more ready to try to apply myself to solving a bigger problem during iGEM.
As recruitment for the 2018 UCSC iGEM team began, Dr. B encouraged me to apply to be co-captain of the team. I’ll be blunt … I didn’t think I was qualified to be a co-captain because there were so many people on our team who were so smart, so thoughtful, and probably had more leadership experience than I did. I was shocked that I ended up in that role because I very much had imposter syndrome, which still rears its head now and then.
Our project that year was PoPPY, or Portable Progesterone Production in Yeast, which addressed the global lack of family planning services in resource-constrained communities. By engineering a progesterone-producing yeast strain that grows on dairy, our team created a sustainable and affordable “grow at home” contraceptive for women anywhere in the world. Among the many highlights for me was finding a group of people so passionate about using what they knew, and learning what they didn't, so they could do something that had potential to help people. Reading the impact statements from women around the world who might benefit from our work had a profound impact on how I thought about science and what could be done, if given the opportunity.
My iGEM experience taught me a lot about the world of engineering biology, and about myself. Not only did I learn essential and extensive laboratory skills that are difficult to squeeze into traditional undergraduate lab classes, iGEM also helped me build character and gain confidence in my abilities as a leader. I learned to trust myself and to always continue investigating ways to make life better, whether for myself, my team, or the world.
In the few years since graduating from UCSC, I have played a critical role in an NCI program for the discovery of canine cancer antibodies, including the design of immunogens, screening of antibody libraries, and production and quality control of proteins to be used as tools and therapeutics. Today, I work at Novartis as a Senior Scientist in Biologics Discovery and Automation where I am developing new technologies for improving antibody discovery and screening processes.
I attribute much of my success, my adaptability, and my continued curiosity to the iGEM program and to Dr. D’s mentorship. I wish every young scientist or engineer could have the opportunity to experience iGEM, and to learn about themselves and how they, too, could harness the power of biology to make a positive difference in our world.
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