This blog is where we share stories, announcements, and insights from around the iGEM community.
All tagged SDGs
Tomorrow (November 10) is World Science Day for Peace and Development, a day established by the United Nations to recognize the importance of science in society and the need to inform the public about the relevance of science in their lives and to engage them in discussions on emerging scientific issues. In honor of World Science Day for Peace and Development, we’d like to highlight the nominees and winners of the Best Sustainable Development Impact award in the 2022 iGEM Competition.
Breast Cancer Awareness month is honored every October in countries around the world to increase awareness, early detection, treatment, and palliative care. Last year, 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 685,000 women died from this disease.
Tomorrow (August 12) is International Youth Day, a day designated by the United Nations to celebrate youth as active partners in the global society. This year’s theme “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health” aims to highlight the meaningful participation of young people in transforming food systems – from the infrastructure needed for feeding a population, to nutrition related chronic disease and unsustainable farming practices.
World Hepatitis Day serves to raise awareness of the global burden of viral hepatitis, an infectious disease causing inflammation of the liver, leading to cirrhosis, liver cancer and death, that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. In honor of World Hepatitis Day, we’d like to highlight some of the iGEM teams that have focused on hepatitis through the years.
At iGEM, we believe synthetic biology can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, helping us to build a society that meets the needs of all people within the means of the planet. In the words of Dr. Elizabeth Bennett during her Sustainability Keynote at the 2020 Giant Jamboree, “synthetic biology gives us a set of tools that we didn’t have before to potentially inform the way we do conservation”.
The United Nations has proclaimed 2021 – 2030 as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. This week, on June 8, many countries around the world joined the UN in celebrating World Oceans Day, a day for inspiring action to protect the oceans and sustainably use marine resources. In honor of World Oceans Day and this important decade, we’d like to highlight the accomplishments of iGEM teams using synthetic biology to restore, preserve and protect the oceans.
May 22 is the International Day for Biological Diversity. First observed by the UN General Assembly in 1993, this day recognizes that biodiversity is the foundation for several sustainable development challenges. In honor of this day, we’d like to highlight the accomplishments of some of the iGEM 2020 teams engineering biological solutions to restore and preserve biodiversity.
Tomorrow is Earth Day. Observed on April 22 each year since 1970, Earth Day marks the birth of the modern environmental movement and is celebrated by over a billion people worldwide. Many important environmental events have taken place on Earth Day, including the signing of the Paris Agreement that established a framework to combat global climate change.
Access to clean, fresh water is a privilege many may take for granted. Yet, according to the United Nations, 2.2 billion people around the world lack access to safe water. World Water Day, held annually on March 22, is dedicated to raising awareness about the global water crisis and focusing attention on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: access to water and sanitation for all by 2030. In honor of this day, we’d like to highlight the accomplishments of iGEM teams tackling the global water crisis with synthetic biology.
March 4th is World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development. In honor of this day, we’d like to highlight the accomplishments of iGEM teams engineering biological solutions for global challenges as articulated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The SDGs are 17 goals that are set to be achieved by the global community by 2030, and they represent indicators of technical progress and societal goals that we and others can help strive to achieve. In particular, the SDGs are a way for institutions to align their resources and to open communications and engage with stakeholders in addressing the global challenges we face.
