The student research team of AuTh «iGEM Thessaloniki» in the laboratories of Mandoulides Schools
On 10th October, Mr. Ε. Pilianidis, medicine student of AuTh and Mandoulides Schools alumni, visited the junior-senior high school of our Schools, representing the «iGEM Thessaloniki» team. Mr. Pilianidis presented to students of 6th grade, in the Biology-Chemistry laboratory, the project of «iGEM Thessaloniki» and Synthetic Biology. He discussed with the students about how we can redevelop micro-organisms for the benefit of medicine, agriculture, or processing. He answered their questions, acknowledging that they were far more detailed and interesting than he would expect from students of that age. The laboratory also included the observation of histological samples under the microscope and a lesson on how these function, along with demonstration of bacterial culture in Petri dishes and an explanation on how this procedure can be carried out. “iGEM Thessaloniki” is a research, interdisciplinary team of undergraduates of AuTh, that is going to participate in the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine), that will take place in Paris on 26th - 28th October 2022, representing the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for the fifth year in a row. This year’s project of the team, named «Theriac», concerns the creation of a molecular tool that is specialized in the detection of cancer cells, has a detection signal and releases healing molecules, thus offering, targeted therapy, increased accuracy in targeting and fewer side effects. Moreover, some of the advantages of this tool is its flexibility for application in various types of cancer and the more economical application of the method compared to other existing ones. The project of iGEM is subject to the field of Theranostics, which is increasingly applied in personalized medicine and precision medicine. Currently, theranostics constitute a new, very promising, with several abilities, medicine tool.
