Team:CU-Boulder/Outreach

We had a lot of difficulty getting things to work in the lab at the start of the summer, so we devoted a large amount of time to developing reliable protocols for a lot of the standard techniques used in BioBrick assembly. Our initial goal was to try and make our findings readily available to future iGEM teams so they don't have to experience the same struggles that we did, but it evolved into something much bigger. We started by submitting one of our favorite protocols to the registry as a "false" part.

• Check out our Protocol in the Registry

Then we sent out a survey to this years iGEM teams to see if they had experienced similar troubles, and if they thought that it would be helpful to expand the registry and medal requirements to include protocols. We received an incredible amount of feedback (62 responses!), and we want to thank all of the iGEM teams that participated.

Wouldn't it be awesome if all the protocols that are needed be successful in the iGEM competition were centrally located in the Parts Registry? This would also allow teams to comment on the effectiveness of these protocols so that future teams will have validated (or even improved) protocols at their fingertips and can focus solely on developing the innovative ideas that make the iGEM competition so amazing. We liked this idea so much that we decided to send a formal proposal to iGEM headquarters, asking them to incorporate protocols into the part submission process and to amend the bronze and silver medal requirements to include protocol submission and characterization.