The International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition, or iGEM, is an annual event in which teams, mostly comprised of undergraduates, will compete against one another to design and create novel applications in the field of synthetic biology. The atmosphere surrounding the competition and the projects is a refreshing one: they offer enticing visions of how the field of synthetic biology can grow, and how the science can be communicated in an exciting, approachable and often colorful way. Furthermore, the iGEM teams are often highly interdisciplinary, featuring biologists, programmers, mathematics, and even artists (for communication and design).
Below are my impressions from the annual end of the year jamboree in which teams present their work. Last year, iGEM was organized into regional jamborees, with the finalists from each regional group being allowed to participate in the championship jamboree in the Stata Center at MIT. In an earlier post at this blog, you can find my impressions of the 2013 championship jamboree. This year, all teams participated in one giant jamboree, held in the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA. This jamboree was very well organized and was a very enjoyable event to attend, a testament to the efforts of the iGEM staff and volunteers.
Although every team and project is unique, many share similar themes. The jamboree this year was organized into several tracks, such as Energy or Health and Medicine. Within each track (or even across tracks), several teams had similar projects. Some of the more common themes this year included:
- Modification of Bacillus subtilis to detect and/or eliminate pathogens (plant or human pathogens, usually fungal in nature)
- Engineering strains of bacteria (typically E. coli) for bioremediation or biofuel production
- Creation of packing material, patterned paper, and even clothing out of bacterially derived cellulose (or other microbe-derived products)
In the remainder of this post, I discuss some of the iGEM team projects in detail, and some other impressions of the event. Please select 'Read More' to see the rest of this article. I also attended the 'Funders Panel' session. This panel featured leaders of community labs, members of large budget teams, and even a science minister / official for Slovenia and Canada (the former featuring a perspective on funding science and iGEM teams with a limited budget). Even representatives from business and capital investment firms were present.
What was your favorite iGEM team or project this year? Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments below!
