About

Let’s Change How We Perceive Science

Learn more about my scientific background, my iGEM journey and the reason for starting this blog.

Marjolein Crooijmans

Hi! My name is Marjolein Crooijmans and I am a PhD student with a passion for Synthetic Biology at Leiden University. I recently started my PhD project at the Claessenlab under the supervision of Dennis Claessen and Han de Winde. My research is focused on exploring the factors involved in creating cell wall-deficient bacteria, also known as L-forms.

News

Find out what has been happening lately. News articles, fun stuff and other updates.

Publications

Learn more about my scientific publications and awards/prizes I have received over the last years.

Book List

A full list of all the books I have read since 2020 including a short summary and recommendation.

What's the Story?

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My Scientific Story

After finishing my Bachelor degree in the field of Biology, I specialized in Biotechnology and Business Studies during my Masters at Leiden University. Afterwards, I worked as a Research Analyst as well as a Education Assistant before starting my PhD project in 2020 at the Claessenlab. I have always been fascinated by microorganisms and their response to various types of stress. We, humans, experience a vast amount of social driven stress, because the risk of dying of a deadly disease, eating something poisonous, or freezing to death are very small. Therefore, our day-to-day worries are mainly focused fitting in with the other people, high expectations you set for yourself or just general anxiety because of the crazy stuff that is happening to the world right now. Microorganisms on the other hand, have basic responses to basic types of stress, pH changes, temperature changes, nutrient starvation, etc. Without adaptation, these cells wont survive. It is a beautiful thing to study, in my opinion.

My iGEM Journey

You have probably heard of the iGEM competition if you are interested in SynBio research, I am here to tell you why you should join as a student, a mentor or start your own team as a PI. iGEM is a synthetic biology competition for overgrad, undergrad and high school students worldwide. What started 18 years ago as a month-long course at MIT with just a couple of students has expanded to a yearly competition with 5.000 participants in 350 teams from universities all over the world. The community has reached over 50.000 iGEM alumni in over 40 countries who all support each other through new initiatives and helpful committees. As a student, I was a member of the iGEM Leiden 2018 team and a supervisor for the 2019 and 2020 teams. I have been involved in the iGEM community as a judge twice and been part of several iGEM committees. This year I am the Co-Chair of EPIC, the Entrepreneurship Program Innovation Community, a year-long program for iGEM alumni who are interested in continuing their projects as startups/spinoffs after the competition has ended. Our program ranges from crashcourses bio-entrepreneur, mentorships, coaching sessions and a big startup showcase during the Jamboree. iGEM has given me enthusiasm for science, hope, friendships, and a lot more. I hope to convince you to also take part in this exciting competition as well, as we take charge in changing the world together.

This Blog Story

My goal is to make SynBio accessible to everyone, no matter your age, background and education level. I strongly believe that science should be available for everyone. Most academic research is funded by the government and even though the outcomes are published in scientific journals, hardly any knowledge makes it back to the tax payers. That’s not fair, right? Even opensource data is difficult to interpreted. I hope to be able to build a bridge between academic knowledge and SynBio enthusiasts out there. Motivation is key! Let’s meet in the middle?

DISCLAIMER

These posts are written by me and contain my own opinion. The purpose of my blog is to share my own experiences as a human, an academic researcher, and a former student and for entertainment purposes only. I try my hardest to be respectful, truthful, and kind on MCSynbio.com and ask the readers to do the same. Therefore, rude, offensive, or mean comments will not be tolerated and deleted immediately upon review.

Safety and precaution are always top priority, and never use my scientific advice outside a certified laboratorium. I am 100% against at home bio-hacking. Science can only take place in a controlled and safe environment with the right supervision. Don’t be stupid.

Want to be part of the team?

Are you interested in helping out the blog? Got an eye for design? Would you like to be a guest writer? Feel free to reach out to mcsynbio (at) gmail (dot) com.