Building the first iGEM Gifu Team in Japan: Lessons from 2014
An interview with Moriyama Akihiro, iGEM Gifu 2014 Founder & Leader.
Interview by: Takashi Yamanashi
Launching the first iGEM Gifu Team in 2014
How did you know about iGEM?
I heard about iGEM for the first time from a childhood friend who was a leader of iGEM Kyoto 2013. At the time, there were no iGEM teams in the middle region of Japan, which is my region. Therefore, I decided to launch my team.
My first goal was to gather students who could be interested in joining the competition. This ended up being easier than I expected. The 1st and 2nd-year undergraduate students at Gifu University, have many lecture-style classes but not many laboratory-oriented courses. Being able to do experiments and then getting the opportunity to present their work in the U.S. were big attractions for many students. (*At that time, The iGEM Giant Jamboree was held in the United States.)
Next, we looked for a PI, which was a big hurdle. At that time, there was no professor at Gifu University in synthetic biology or genetic engineering. So, we reached out to a professor majoring in biochemistry to be our PI.
We needed to show our laboratory experimental skills and explain in detail our theme in iGEM to convince that professor. To improve our laboratory experimental skills, we negotiated with the professor to give us the reagents for the DNA-based experiments conducted in the upper-grade student’s laboratory experiment class and repeated the experiments ourselves. Through these activities, we were able to gain the trust of the professors and their understanding of our participation in iGEM. Finally, the professors accepted the role of PI.
With the PI on board, we started experiments for iGEM. There was a tiny hiccup. We only knew beginner-level experimental techniques and had no idea about how to do genetic engineering experiments, and which reagents to use. We reached out to iGEM Kyoto and IGEM Nagahama, which were nearby to teach us about experimental protocols, and worked on experiments together. Not only did we learn advanced experimental techniques required for iGEM, we also built new friendships.
We eventually participated in the iGEM 2014 Competition and were awarded the Silver Medal.
What was iGEM like for you?
I was able to learn the fun and rewarding aspects of working as a team toward the same goal through iGEM.
In Japan, iGEM is often described as a competition to conduct genetic engineering experiments. However, it was not only a competition to conduct experiments, but also to experience all the elements necessary for research, such as team organization, obtaining a budget, and developing research ideas.
Even if you are not interested in becoming a researcher, iGEM requires you to do a lot of different things, and you need to do them with the right people, with members who have diverse skills. I think the experience of completing a project with all the members is an opportunity for tremendous growth.
iGEM impact on the career
What is your current career?
I am currently working on safety science at a national research institute. I mainly specialize in nanomaterials and chemical safety. In this context, I research toxicity testing and evaluation using cells and animals from the viewpoint of gene expression and molecular mechanisms.
Did your activities at iGEM influence you to pick this career?
When I entered university, I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a doctoral program, and I did not want to be a researcher. At that time, there was only one senior student in my grade who had entered the doctoral program from my department at Gifu University. It was not an environment where many people wanted to be researchers.
In iGEM, students have to do everything related to the project, from securing a budget to conducting research and making presentations. These things led me to become more interested in the work of scientists.
This experience with the team also made many of the team members interested in research as well, and most of them decided to go on to master's degree programs. In addition, four of the team members went on to doctoral programs. This was a rather unusual career choice at my university.
Lessons for other iGEMers
What advice would you give to iGEMers?
If you are going to commit to iGEM, it is a good idea to experience all of the iGEM experiences: generating ideas, solving problems, working with others to communicate clearly, and so on. If you only experience experimentation, you will have only experienced about 10% of what iGEM has to offer. These experiences will definitely help you even after iGEM is over.
What advice would you give to the New iGEM teams?
I think the first reason to start iGEM is that you like to experiment. In iGEM, students have to do many things involved in the project, so it is important to create a team with members who are good at each activity.
When I started my own team, I had three people in charge of experiments, and the rest were people who were good at English presentations and design. At first, there were many men on the team, but by inviting women to join the team and ensuring diversity, I think the atmosphere of the team improved even more. That is how we started the team with about 10 people. If we had started with only five or so science majors who liked to experiment, it would not have worked out well.
Do you have any advice for the stable management of the team?
So far, most of the Japanese teams have disbanded after a period of 3-4 years. I think the main reasons why Japanese teams break up are budgetary and human relations.
It is a very difficult thing to do iGEM with only about 10 students. In the first year, I think we managed to overcome these problems because we had a group of members with a lot of motivation. However, in the second year and beyond, when there is a difference in the motivation of the team members, whether or not they can handle it will lead to the stable management of the team.
The availability of continuous financial support from the university also has a significant impact on the management of the team. For iGEM Gifu, the university and the alumni organization of the faculty supported us and we were able to obtain substantial funding. Gifu University has been able to survive for a long time because of the university's long-term support, partly because relatively few students have taken on such an ambitious project as participating in iGEM. However, at other universities, after three or four years of iGEM, it gradually loses its novelty and funding becomes less and less available due to conflicts with other projects. Therefore, we have seen many Japanese iGEM teams disband due to a lack of funding sources and a decline in team motivation.
How to stabilize the activity of the iGEM community?
In order to continue their activities, it is important to show that they are doing something important for the university and the community. In iGEM, activities on social themes are subject to evaluation. I think this is very good. If iGEM teams report to the university and the community that they are having a positive impact on the outside world by not only conducting experiments but also presenting at open campuses and teaching at high schools, they will have a better relationship with the university and will be able to continue to receive funding.
In this way, I believe that by building a team that is trusted by the university and the community, a good cycle will be created around it, and the team will be able to continue to be active.
Join us in Paris and celebrate the 20th Year of iGEM at the 2023 Grand Jamboree.
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