This blog is where we share stories, announcements, and insights from around the iGEM community.
All in iGEM Blog
As we near the end of 2022, all of us at iGEM HQ wish to express our appreciation for the many people who have dedicated their time, talent, work, and support in helping ensure that the field of synthetic biology, and all of the power this technology holds, gets developed everywhere by everyone.
This past week, iGEM sent six delegates from the Biodiversity Youth Leadership Program to Montréal, Canada to participate in the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity by the United Nations. There, they will present and discuss existing and future approaches to tackling one of the greatest challenges of our planet.
We were invited to the Grand Jamboree by the iGEM Design League, who hosted our presentations. We discussed how synthetic biology has made our achievements possible. Sean's presentation, titled "Transforming Medicine Through Synthetic Biology: A Look at the Future of Synthetic Biology," discussed Synlogic's approach to producing our drugs and how our team applies genetic engineering to probiotics that are already well-understood (or well-characterized) by scientists.
EPIC’s Startup Showcase featured the top 15 iGEM Startups, who pitched their ideas in front of an audience and panel of judges at the iGEM 2022 Grand Jamboree. Here are some highlights and insights from the winner and finalists.
The iGEM 2022 teams have done amazing work in translating their projects into commercially viable products and services that could change the lives of many people by improving health, or combatting climate change, or addressing many other important, urgent world problems.
Everyone in our community is working towards iGEM’s purpose to “make sure that the field of synthetic biology, and all of the power that this technology holds, gets developed everywhere by everyone”. At the 2022 Grand Jamboree, one of the Keynotes focused on iGEM’s purpose through a moderated discussion with panelists from four different regions of the world.
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.
Held for the first time at the Paris Porte de Versailles Expo, the Grand Jamboree featured the synthetic biology innovations of 350+ teams from 40+ countries who demonstrated their ideas, initiatives, and innovations for humanity’s most pressing problems, including the climate crisis, food security, human health, foundational advances, biomanufacturing and more.
Two years, 359 days, and 18 hours. That’s how long it’s been since people have been able to join together in person for the most important global synthetic biology gathering. Today, iGEM is welcoming the world to the Grand Jamboree in Paris!
For the first time in nearly three years, the world’s largest SynBio community will be gathering in person for the iGEM Grand Jamboree. With over 40 different countries and regions represented, Jamboree participants bring with them a wealth of knowledge in different topic areas, and a diversity of expertise – from academic research to commercial ventures to governance and policy making.
This year, the Grand Jamboree will feature the “iGEMers Showcase” of returning alumni from all over the world who, along with talking about their current work, will share what they’ve learned from the iGEM Competition and how it has helped them grow and influenced their careers. We invite you to come and hear about their accomplishments.
The countdown to the final days before the iGEM 2022 wiki freeze has begun, and this year’s teams are no doubt feeling the pressure. This coming Monday (October 10) is World Mental Health Day, a day to “raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health.” While the wiki freeze is a memorable experience, it can also bring added stress to iGEMers already handling a heavy workload.
We invite you to meet the innovators who are shaping the future of the bioeconomy at iGEM EPIC’s Startup Showcase during the 2022 Grand Jamboree.
Registration is open now for the 14th International Workshop on Bio-Design Automation (IWBDA) to be held October 24-26, 2022 in Paris at the iGEM Grand Jamboree. IWBDA will bring together researchers from the synthetic biology, systems biology, and design automation communities to discuss concepts, methodologies and software tools for the computational analysis and synthesis of biological systems.
While we have the biggest cohort of passionate synbio enthusiasts in one place, participants will not just compete, but also collaborate around the world’s most pressing problems, to share and learn from each other through Jamboree Villages.
In 2012, George Church, Yuan Gao, and Sriram Kosuri published their work “Next Generation Digital Information Storage” in the journal Science. Using DNA's four-letter nucleotide code of A, G, T, and C to encode the 0s and 1s of a digitized file, they were the first to demonstrate that DNA could be used as a storage medium. Fast forward to today, and you’ll see numerous developments in reading and writing different forms of data on DNA to make DNA storage more efficient and cost effective.
At the Women in STEM (WiSTEM) Initiative by the iGEM Community, we aim to inspire and raise awareness for women and young girls to pursue STEM careers – both in industry and academia. As a part of this year’s event at the iGEM 2022 Grand Jamboree in Paris, we will be hosting a “Women in SynBio Symposium” to celebrate and highlight women in synthetic biology who are a major source of inspiration for the coming generations.
The future of synthetic biology has been debated among diplomats and academics, in government boardrooms and conference center hallways and, over the past few years, in countless zoom webinars. This year, iGEM is offering a new place for these discussions: the Responsibility Conference on the margins of the 2022 Grand Jamboree.
I wasn’t supposed to be at the 2011 iGEM Jamboree at all. I was working for a funding agency in the US Department of Defense. My boss was invited to iGEM to see what the competition was about. I was pulled onto his trip at the last minute. After arriving in Boston, I was informed I would serve as a judge in my boss’s place. He didn’t stick around for the whole weekend. I am still a part of iGEM 11 years later.
