This blog is where we share stories, announcements, and insights from around the iGEM community.
The iGEM 2023 Grand Jamboree brought together over 3500 people to celebrate 20 years of iGEM, the heart of synthetic biology. This was the largest event to date, attended by synthetic biology researchers, industry reps, startup founders, investors, journalists, experts in governance and policy, and the general public, to glimpse the future of synthetic biology.
Tomorrow (November 2), the doors to the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles will open to celebrate the 20th year of iGEM at the 2023 Grand Jamboree! This year, the Grand Jamboree has expanded to include a multitude of presentations, panel discussions, workshops, and satellite events designed to bring together all facets of the growing field of synthetic biology.
We believe that to change the world for the better, BioFounders need to be empowered globally. That’s why we are excited to announce the BioInnovation Fair at the iGEM 2023 Grand Jamboree! Please join us at this thrilling event where you’ll come together with synbio industries, media, startups, incubators, investors, and other stakeholders to connect, network, and forge game-changing deals.
We’re excited to announce the first edition of the iGEM Hackathon at the 2023 Grand Jamboree! Please join us at this a unique event, and be part of an exciting community of programmers, designers, and tech enthusiasts working together to make a lasting impact on iGEM’s future.
At iGEM, people can freely think about the future, and most importantly, how they want to get there. We invite you to join us at the second edition of the Responsibility Conference at the 2023 iGEM Grand Jamboree. The conference offers a platform for multi-stakeholder engagement to deliberate ongoing initiatives and emerging concerns in the realms of biorisk, biosecurity, and biosafety.
Tomorrow is the iGEM 2023 wiki freeze – a moment each and every iGEM team experiences and remembers long after the freeze has passed. During these final moments before the freeze, and in the days ahead, we thought you might enjoy looking forward to some of the fun and cool things that await you in Paris. While you won’t want to miss a moment of the Grand Jamboree, there’s much to enjoy in Paris if you arrive early or stay a bit longer.
GenScript's founders recognized that limited access to high-quality and reliable reagents significantly restricted advances in life science research. Therefore, for over 20 years, GenScript has developed, adopted, and improved upon many innovative synthetic biology technologies, expanded its footprint, and established partnerships with scientists globally. Among these partnerships, GenScript's connection with the iGEM community is of particular significance. iGEM enables aspiring young scientists to imagine and collaborate in creating solutions for a brighter future with synthetic biology.
Teams that participate in the iGEM Competition are pioneers of synthetic biology, and these grants empower teams to secure funding for impactful projects in responding to climate change and biodiversity loss, enhancing human health, improving agriculture production and food security, scaling up the sustainable industrial production, and many other critical challenges.
Software plays a transformative role in driving advances in synthetic biology. From designing biological systems and automating lab equipment, to managing collaborations and analyzing vast amounts of data, software underpins many of the essential tasks in making biology easier to engineer.
Synthetic biology, a realm where science fiction and reality intertwine, has paved the way for countless innovations that hold the potential to revolutionize the world as we know it. In this blog, we delve into the synthetic biology journey of Sandra Waterwood Acquah, a name synonymous with innovation, inspiration, and impact.
With rapid advancements in science and technology, synthetic biology stands as a field that is continually redefining innovation in biology. From July 12-14, 2023, SynBio Africa hosted the SBA 2.0 Synthetic Biology and Biosecurity Conference in Africa at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, Uganda. Sandra shares her report of the event
We dive into the captivating journey of Prince Edem Samoh, a remarkable individual who is at the forefront of using synthetic biology to solve local problems in Africa. With a passion for innovation, collaboration, and education, Prince's story illuminates the boundless possibilities that lie ahead for synthetic biology on the African continent.
The iGEM team wiki is the primary means by which teams communicate their entire project to the world. The wiki is essentially a website that provides background information, describes project goals, and shows experimental results. Like other forms of scientific publication, the wiki also includes references to acknowledge the work of previous iGEM teams and other research groups that have helped inform the current project. Importantly, the team wiki has been a key deliverable since iGEM first became an international competition in 2005, and is archived so it can be accessed by future teams and iGEM community members.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of iGEM, a non-profit organization dedicated to education of the next generation of researchers and entrepreneurs in the field of synthetic biology. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of IDT being a platinum sponsor of one of the most prestigious and sought-after synthetic biology (synbio) competitions in the world. To commemorate these two anniversaries, let’s take a look back on how iGEM began and how IDT is supporting the future leaders of synthetic biology.
In the 2nd session of the BridgeBio project’s ‘Leading Ladies of SynBio’ series, we hosted Dr. Claire Aldridge. Dr. Aldridge is an experienced innovator, scientist and chief strategy officer at Form Bio, a leading biotechnology company.
In this blog, meet Marija Kesic, Research Assistant at bit.bio who transitioned from a former competitor to a mentor. She discusses the role she plays in supporting teams' work and explains the objectives of the mentorship programme and how it helps teams gain insights from someone with firsthand iGEM experience and receive guidance on various aspects of their projects.
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.
Hardware, Software, Wetware – all are encompassed within the Design-Build-Test-Learn cycle of synthetic biology. In honor of 20 years of iGEM, we’d like to feature the Hardware developed by iGEM teams.
Neurodegenerative diseases comprise a broad spectrum of disorders resulting from the gradual deterioration of cells and connections within the nervous system, crucial for functions such as movement, coordination, strength, sensation, and cognition. Explore how iGEM team’s have tackled the disease through their innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions.
Synthetic biology holds tremendous promise for addressing global challenges, but like all powerful technologies, there also are risks of accidental or deliberate misuse that could cause harm. In honor of the 20th year of iGEM, I’d like to take a look back on some of the highlights of iGEM’s history in building a strong culture of responsibility for biosafety and biosecurity.
