While still a high school student in Singapore, Yang Choo spends a summer academic internship immersed in science, reading nature journals and working with stem cells. The experience leaves him convinced that the world is on the cusp of a biological revolution—the first artificial cell has just been created—and he wants to be part of it.
But first things first, starting with college. He chooses Carnegie Mellon, in part, he says, because of its reputation for encouraging interdisciplinary research, which is exactly what synthetic biology involves.
Not long into the fall 2010 semester, his freshman year, he looks into forming a team to compete in what’s considered to be the world’s premier undergraduate synthetic biology competition, iGEM, which stands for International Genetically Engineered Machine. But he learns that of the many competitions Carnegie Mellon students enter, iGEM just isn’t one of them. Although disappointed, he has no time to despair, what with his double majors in chemical and biological engineering.
During his sophomore year, he gets a university email asking whether any undergrads are interested in the 2012 iGEM competition. He immediately responds, YES!
The day after the 2011-12 academic year comes to an end, he joins his new teammates, Peter Wei (E’15), Jesse Salazar (E’13), and Eric Pederson (S’15), in the lab that will become their home for the summer’s duration. They manipulate elements of DNA and RNA, clone cells, and often skip lunch when they are really onto something. They end up creating a biosensor, a tool that can report the course of biological processes taking place within cells.
The day before the October deadline, the group spends hours in the lab only to go home and spend most of the night emailing one another to make sure they all agree on their material.
By sheer coincidence, the regional iGEM competition is taking place in Pittsburgh, not far from campus, which makes for a sweet moment when the hometown team finishes as a gold-medal finalist in the Americas East portion of the Jamboree, winning Best Experimental Measurement Approach.
In November, the four undergrads head to the world championship in Cambridge, Mass., where the Tartans finish in the top 16 and win Best Foundational Advance Project. Not bad, Choo and his teammates agree, for Carnegie Mellon’s inaugural team, which competed against 190 teams from around the world.
—Elizabeth Shestak (DC’03)
Related Links:
Carnegie Mellon Students Compete in International Genetically Engineered Macine Competition
Multidisciplinary Student Team Advances to iGEM's World Championship
