What is iGEM? (part 4): Birthplace of Innovation
by Linda Kahl
If you have been following iGEM for a while, you’ve probably already heard about Ginkgo Bioworks, the first synthetic biology company to spin out of iGEM. All five founders – Tom Knight, Reshma Shetty, Jason Kelly, Barry Canton and Austin Che – have roots in iGEM. Tom was one of the early synthetic biology pioneers that taught the 2003 intersession course at MIT that eventually became iGEM. Reshma and Austin were students in that first course; Jason and Barry joined Tom the following year as participants in the 2004 MIT iGEM team. All five were together on the 2006 MIT iGEM team where their Eau d’e coli project was to engineer bacteria to smell like wintergreen and bananas. Using that experience as a source of learning and inspiration, they founded Gingko Bioworks in 2008 as the organism company.
Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Gingko Bioworks at the 2018 Giant Jamboree
Those early iGEM experiences – both the successes and the failures – served as the basis for Ginkgo’s work in building the knowledge base they use today in designing organisms. Indeed, Ginkgo’s founder’s trace their current work in the fragrances and flavors industry to their iGEM Eau d’e coli project. Today, the company is valued at 1.4 billion USD and spinning out startups of its’ own, including Motif Ingredients, a company that uses Gingko’s design and engineering platform to create food ingredients, and Joyn Bio, a joint venture between Ginkgo and Bayer to engineer soil microbes that provide nutrients and protect plants from pests. Last year, Gingko Bioworks marked their 10-year anniversary by announcing a partnership to celebrate their roots in iGEM:
“iGEM is one of the most important organizations in the field of synthetic biology … 10% of Ginkgo has participated in iGEM as a student participant, advisor, or judge”
As a successful venture rooted in iGEM, Ginkgo’s story is inspiring indeed! But what many people do not realize is the extent to which iGEM is the birthplace of innovation. Every year, over 300 proofs-of-concept are tested at iGEM that lead to future research, PhD thesis projects, and start-up companies. And over 150 startup companies with roots in iGEM are turning the ideas and proofs-of-concept tested at iGEM into real world applications that serve the needs of their local communities and help address global challenges. As examples, some of the companies rooted in iGEM are engineering solutions to:
Companies rooted in iGEM providing solutions to global problems
Help Scientists Work More Efficiently
Allevi - formerly BioBots, 3D bioprinting
Benchling - life sciences R&D cloud
BioBright - building tools that augment the scientist
LabSpace - laboratory management software
Opentrons - democratized lab automation
Improve Water Quality
Puraffinity - formerly Customem, water purification
FredSense - detects chemicals in water
Make Science Accessible
Bento Lab - mobile genetics lab
Experiment - connects scientists with crowd sourced funding
Feles - lab-in-box toolkit for the general public
La Paillasse - community lab in Paris
Labster - science education
Overcome Disease
Amplino - portable diagnostics
Asimov - CAD & AI for therapeutics
Eligo Bioscience - microbiome
FGen - CRO for pharma
GeneAdviser - online marketplace for genetic testing
Hyasynth Biologicals - cannabinoids
LabGenious - drug discovery
PVP Biologics - therapeutics for celiac disease
Scope Biosciences - CRISPR for diagnostics
Xeno Cell Innovations - biocomputing for screening and diagnostics
Eliminate Pollution
Ambercycle - create new yarn from old clothing
BluePha - PHA bioplastic
Colorifix - biologically produced dyes
Pili - biologically produced dyes
Enhance Food Production
Sea6Energy - ocean farming
Unibiome - microbes engineered to produce vitamins and other healthy compounds
There is no doubt that iGEM is powering the synthetic biology industry. In fact, even the companies that track and promote biotechnology and the synthetic biology industry have roots in iGEM. The founder of SynBioBeta, John Cumbers, started as a student participating in the 2006 Brown University iGEM team. And the co-founder and Managing Director of Labiotech.eu, Joachim Eeckhout, was a member of the 2012 Evry iGEM team.
Beyond proofs-of-concept tested in team projects, iGEM is fueling the synthetic biology industry by bringing together some of the brightest young minds to explore, learn and celebrate engineering biology. Many of the students participating in iGEM go on to pursue scientific research or related careers in academia, industry, policy, and government. iGEM is a pipeline for talent, and companies that have roots in iGEM are often looking to recruit students that have participated in iGEM. As expressed by keynote speakers at the 2018 iGEM Giant Jamboree:
“The people in this room are the people that are going to be building the synthetic biology industry”
“There are individuals in this room that will help shape the future of [the synthetic biology] field.”
Ingrid Swanson Pultz, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, PVP Biologics at the 2018 Giant Jamboree
Recognizing iGEM’s central role in fueling the burgeoning synthetic biology industry, companies are partnering with iGEM to support its’ future growth. Longstanding iGEM partners, including Agilent, Battelle, Integrated DNA Technologies, GenScript, Open Philanthropy, MathWorks, New England Biolabs, Promega, Twist Bioscience, and more, are sponsoring iGEM teams and providing resources to enable iGEM teams to experience and build the future of synthetic biology. True to iGEM’s get and give ethos, companies that have roots in iGEM, including Benchling, Gingko Bioworks, and Opentrons, are giving back as partners of iGEM to support the growing synthetic biology community.
As the birthplace for innovation in synthetic biology, iGEM continues to inspire and grow the community of students, practitioners, entrepreneurs, artists, poets and dreamers that are shaping the future of synthetic biology. Importantly, the shared experience of iGEM creates the bonds needed for these pioneers in synthetic biology to maintain and protect an engaged, inter-connected, and vibrant international community.
iGEM is committed to encouraging and supporting the many companies, non-profits, and other ventures all over the world that have roots in iGEM. Towards that end, Will Wright has recently joined the iGEM Foundation as Director of Entrepreneurship to develop the iGEM entrepreneurial program that will help iGEM founders develop their businesses and products to have meaningful impact on local problems globally. The vision of the program is to support the development of 100’s of iGEM founders by creating opportunities to connect them with mentors, investors and corporates though a combination of venture creation labs, mentor programs and seed accelerators in the Americas, Asia and, Europe Middle East and Africa. The program will highlight and celebrate these founders with a Start-up Showcase at the Jamboree each year where they can connect with and inspire the next generation of iGEMers to start their founder journeys.
If you would like to find out more about the entrepreneurial program and how you can become involved, please contact Will Wright on Will@iGEM.org. And, of course, keep following the iGEM blog!
