The selection process for the 2023 Ashesi Ghana iGEM team started in April 2023, and the final team was chosen on April 11th of that year.
Final list of the 2023 Ashesi Ghana iGEM team and roles they applied for:
Anne Achieng - Entrepreneurship
Anthonio Vera Honam - Entrepreneurship
Chalton Mandaza - Hardware
Daniel Byiringiro - Software/Modelling
Martha Chaitezvi - Dry-lab
Marvellous Chapfura - Dry-lab
Maxwell Nyimbili - Web-development
Mohammed Elmir - Web-development
Nana Adwoa Ewudziwa Newman - Hardware
Netanya Anila Bhakta - Hardware
Tendai Machaya-Software/Modelling
MAY
In May 2023, the newly formed Ahesi Ghana iGEM team met with their PI, Dr. Rosca, and their advisor, Prince Edem Samoh. They discussed the scope of their project options and the expectations for the upcoming iGEM competitions. In addition, a specific date was scheduled for the team to begin their preparations for the upcoming iGEM competition.
JUNE
June
WEEK 1 - JUNE 5th TO 9th
MAIN FOCUS OF JUNE: RESEARCH
We brainstormed project ideas and settled on having the
project tackle lithium detection, mining, and recycling. Furthermore,
we began research on how we could use bacteria to facilitate our project idea.
With regards to safety in handling the bacteria, we concluded that the bacteria should be enclosed
in microgels. This would allow the bacteria to collect the lithium, for detection, mining, or recycling,
without leaking into the environment.
We brainstormed team names and mottos and settled on the name BioLith,
and the motto “mining lithium the sustainable way”.
Additionally, we began working on the application for the impact
grant and the team’s infographic.
Kick-off day in Ashesi University's Bioengineering lab
BioLith had a synthetic biology tutorial session,
with the team's PI, Dr Rosca. Thereafter, the team looked
into lithium-sensing riboswitches to assess feasibility of
lithium detection, mining, and recycling using
bacteria. Therefore, the team went through a scientific
report titled Lithium-sensing riboswitch classes regulating the
expression of bacterial cation transporter genes by Neil White,
Harini Sadeeshkumar, Anna Sun, Naarasimhan Sudarsan & Ronald R. Breaker.
The team was introduced to Benchling, and as an activity, performed
annotation on the nhaA-I, one of the riboswitches used in the scientific
report we recently went through. The team was also introduced to restriction
enzymes: Type I, Type II, and Type III.
Gene annotation tutorial session
WEEK 2 - JUNE 12th TO 16th
The team started looking into current lithium mining
techniques. In addition, the team researched on lithium-pathfinder elements, which
include Potassium, Calcium, Rubidium, Strontium, Tin, Caesium,
Rubidium, Arsenic and Gallium. And at this point, the web development
team, a sub-team of BioLith, started working on a prototype for the
team's website.
Development was made with our detection strategy of lithium. We would use
bacteria that change color in the presence of lithium. We decided that
the bacteria would change to a blue color. The hardware team, a sub-team
of BioLith, started working with Raspberry Pi to develop a camera that could
capture the color change of the bacteria.
The Dry-lab team, another sub-team of BioLith, looked into genetic engineering,
Bacteria streaking, Transformation, Agar preparation, Media preparation and Competent cell.
These are some of the techniques needed to develop bacteria with specified traits.
The web development team had a prototype for the home page and began working on the Project's description
page of the website. The team submitted the impact grant application and completed the team’s infographic.
Furthermore, the team began working on the design for the team logo.
BioLith logo design
WEEK 3 - JUNE 19th TO 23th
The modelling team started working on how we could
interpret the pictures captured by the camera, put together
by the hardware team, to determine the concentration and likelihood
of lithium presence. The hardware team started working on how to add
GPS location to the images captured, using the GPS module with Raspberry Pi.
The web-development team began uploading parts of the website onto iGEM's GitLab
repository.
The dry lab team had a tutorial session on pipetting and agar preparation.
BioLith Lab team
Tutorial session with Prince
The dry-lab team had another tutorial session on cell competency and
overnight culture of BL-21 cells and AE-Blue bacteria. The AE-Blue bacteria had plasmids
that gave them the trait of turning blue. The dry-lab team went on and conducted
sub-culture and then performed mini-prep on the AE-Blue bacteria, to
collect their plasmids. Furthermore, the plasmids were added to the BL-21
cells to also give them the trait of turning blue.
The hardware team were able to link a GPS location to an image taken. The modelling
team came up with a model using the Python programming language and blue
pixels to represent bacteria that turned blue, to calculate the probability
of lithium presence. The entrepreneurship team,
another sub-team of BioLith, completed the problem statement and our proposed solution. Their next steps
were then be to generate a SWOT and STEEPLE analysis.
The web-development team completed the Project’s description page and the home page of the team's website,
and started working on drafts of the Team page and the Notebook page of the website.
GPS module
WEEK 4 - JUNE 26th TO 30th
All sub-teams: Hardware team, Entrepreneurship team, Dry-lab team, Modelling team and Web-development
team, gave updates on work completed to that point. Research on lithium mining, biomining and lithium
detection continued. Furthermore, the modelling team began research on mathematical bioleaching models.
We also found DNA gene sequences that could be used for the detection of lithium Pathfinders,
we then put them in Benchling.
The Hardware team transitioned from using Raspberry Pi to an esp32 cam. Therefore, the modelling team began the transition of writing their algorithm in the C programming language, instead of the Python programming language, to fit the esp32 cam.
The Entrepreneurship team started looking into the Total Available Market (TOM), Serviceable Available Market (SAM),
and Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) of lithium mining and recycling.
JULY
July
WEEK 1 - JULY 3RD TO 7TH
MAIN FOCUS OF JULY: DESIGN
During a virtual meeting with our project leader, Dr Rosca, we decided on
a date for an upcoming meeting with Cultivarium. Cultivarium is a company
that aims to provide open-source tools for life scientists to access new
microorganisms, as mentioned in their description. In addition, Dr Rosca sent an email to Atlantic Lithium to suggest potential collaborations.
Our Entrepreneurship team compiled their research
into a handbook, which will provide a more comprehensive
understanding of our business model.
BioLith Ashesi Ghana was awarded the
Impact Grant! Furthermore, we began generating ideas for the promotional and presentation videos for the BioLith project.
The list of the impact grant winners.
CultivariumBioLith met with Cultivarium, who agreed to help the team with Bioleaching data
of the Acidothiobacillus ferrooxidans bacteria. In exchange, Cultivarium requested
two feedback sessions, one in September and one in November, each lasting 30 minutes. Cultivarium recommended showcasing the BioLith team on their social media platform.
However, this can only happen once the Ashesi Communication Department grants approval
to the team.
Meeting with Cultivarium
WEEK 2 - JULY 10TH TO 14TH
All the sub-teams within BioLith provided updates on
their progress. The team kept on coming up with ideas
for Human Practice activities. The laboratory team created Chloramphenicol LB agar
plates and used four chromoproteins from the iGEM
distribution kit, which were tsPurple, amaiLime,
gfasPurple, and asPink, to transform bacteria.
Martha, one of the lab team members, making the Chloramphenicol LB agar plates
BioLith team shared their descriptions to be featured on the social
media platform of Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT).
The Hardware team focused on designing the PCB and routing
mechanisms. They also created a wireframe of the component
layout to ensure a portable and compact design.
Meanwhile, the website team addressed feedback by resolving
issues on the website. The team had a tutorial session about
parts and sequences with Dr. Rosca, and their advisor, Prince.
Tutorial session with Dr Rosca and Prince
The Hardware team explored the idea of utilizing electromagnetism
to insert and retrieve the device from the ground. Additionally,
they shared the PCB design with a former Ashesi Ghana iGEM member
for review.
The team made sure that the gene sequences were accurate and
recorded the various parts for effortless identification for
future purposes. The website team began working on the Parts
page of the website. The laboratory team began preparing
the overnight culture.
WEEK 3 - JULY 17TH TO 21ST
The website team received feedback and resolved issues with the Parts page.
The team settled on a date to meet with another iGEM team, Penn State for
collaboration purposes. The laboratory team proceeded with the overnight culture while the Hardware
team utilized Fusion 360 to create a case for the components that are set
to be placed on the PCB they recently constructed.
Lab team members working on overnight culture
During the progress update meeting,
the various sub-teams within BioLith
shared their latest developments.
The hardware team suggested creating an
app to complement the project's design.
BioLith also had a meeting with the Penn State iGEM team to explore possible
collaboration opportunities.
In addition, BioLith sought advice and feedback on their project
from Ginkgo Bioworks, who are a group of mentors specialized in
supporting iGEM teams throughout the competition.
Meeting session with the Penn State iGEM team.
Meeting session with Ginkgo Bioworks
WEEK 4 - JULY 24TH TO 31ST
The website team completed the Atrributions page of the website. Entrepreneurship team made updates to the stakeholder and competitor's analyses. The first drafted script of the promotional video was completed. The wiki team started working on a wireframe for the Human practice page of the website.
The lab-team had a first attempt at making hydrogels with guidance from the teams PI DR Rosca, and subsequently, made hydrogels of different concentration to determine which concentration would favor more bacteria growth and would also be visible for image processing by the modelling/software team.
First attempt at making hydrogels with Dr Rosca.
AUGUST
August
MAIN FOCUS OF AUGUST: DESIGN
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH
We transitioned from recording the notebook weekly to Monthly.
The lab team conducted experiments on Hydrogels
to determine the concentration of sodium alginate,
the substance used to make the hydrogels. This will
help ensure the highest efficiency of bacteria activity
in detecting lithium in the ground. The results of these
experiments led to changes in the hardware designed to
encapsulate the hydrogels.
We recently had the chance to present our project to the directors
of Engineers and Planners Co Ltd with the hopes of collaborating
with them in the future. During the meeting, we received valuable
feedback regarding the placement of the biosensor and its impact
on detecting lithium and associated elements. Additionally, they
provided suggestions on how to enhance the retrieval process and
prevent the holes from collapsing after inserting the biosensor into the ground.
Meeting session with Engineers & Planners directors.
SEPTEMBER
September
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH:
Wiki team created the Sustainable development page and made some edits to the Human Practices page.
Software and Modelling team updated some functionalities on the software such as the synthetic biology learning page with a chat bot as well as order screen and payment type.
Lab team performed tests to prove that the bacteria would be alive after five days and also begun hydrogel tests for GFB (green fluorescent protein).
OCTOBER
October
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH:
The hardware team commenced a diffusion experiment to determine how long it takes the lithium and arsenic ions into 1% agarose by using dye. Furthermore, the team performed a mechanical testing on agarose which was a trial test to determine how easily it could break considering that it would be placed in the ground and could potentially experience some kind of loading.
Diffusion tests on the Agarose
The team submitted the team booth safety form to get approval on bringing our built hardware to our booth at the grand Jamboree. Info session with Ashesi University students to inform them more about synthetic biology, share our project with them and encourage them to enroll in synthetic biology elective if interested. And some team members journeyed to East Airport International School to have a synthetic biology info session.
Lab team performed a mini prep, made another batch of hydrogels for testing and also checked hydrogels for fluorescence. Entrepreneurship team made final touches to the business plan and interviewed students who stay in mining communities better understand the negative impact of mining on their lifestyle and environment as well as hear their any concerns they may have about our bacteria-based solution. The hardware team continued the mechanical testing, diffusion test and commenced their documentation and calculations. Electrical hardware team also begun making the PCB
Info sessions at Ashesi University and East Airport International School
Software and Modelling team updated some functionalities on the software such as the synthetic biology learning page with a chat bot as well as order screen and payment type.
Lab team performed tests to prove that the bacteria would be alive after five days and also begun hydrogel tests for GFB (green fluorescent protein). Furthermore, we had an interview with The Unit Manager for Exploration of Gold Fields to learn more about the current exploration and detection methods of gold and to pitch our project and receive some feedback.
