While all iGEM teams push the boundaries of synthetic biology, teams who undertake plant projects must overcome a challenge that is particular to plants – namely, that plants take a long time to grow. One reason iGEM teams are successful in pioneering plant synthetic biology is because the teams that have come before have expended effort to get plants to grow within the timeframe of an iGEM Competition season. In honor of the 20th year of iGEM, we thought we’d take a look back on the achievements of some of the teams that have pioneered plant synthetic biology.