Synthetic Biology Students Compete in iGEM 2015 Giant Jamboree

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- iGEM, the largest synthetic biology community and premiere synthetic biology competition, today announced that more than 250 student-led teams will present their innovations at the iGEM Giant Jamboree,September 24-28, 2015 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA. The 12th annual iGEM 2015 Giant Jamboree gathers the industry's brightest minds for a five-day conference to collaborate on education and advancement of the synthetic biology field.

Over 4600 participants on 280 teams registered to take part in the 2015 competition. Teams represent countries across the world including North America (82), Latin America (20), Europe (72), Asia (104), and Africa (2). Students' knowledge of synthetic biology is put to the ultimate test as teams work for months to solve real-world challenges by creating novel genetically engineered systems. Their local experiences in a global community impart unique perspective in the field, especially as projects span a broad range across 15 different tracks —including energy, environment, food and nutrition, manufacturing, health and medicine, community labs, among others.

After receiving a standard kit of BioBrick biological parts from the iGEM Registry of Standard Biological Parts, an open library of biological parts that can be mixed and matched to build synthetic biology devices and systems, each team manages their own projects, advocates for their research, and secures funding. Teams are also challenged to actively consider and address the safety, security and environmental implications of their work.

"Much more than an annual student competition, the iGEM Giant Jamboree is also an international incubator for the synthetic biology industry that has spun out more than 20 competition projects into new startups," said Randy Rettberg, iGEM Foundation president. "With a spotlight on innovation, the iGEM Giant Jamboree also is about collaboration and giving back. iGEM competition teams submit biological parts from their projects to the Registry of Standard Biological Parts in a cycle that helps tomorrow's iGEM teams and research labs."

The iGEM Giant Jamboree five-day conference features today's leaders in synthetic biology. Team presentations and exhibition hall poster sessions showcase the latest research. Workshops, panel discussions and much more inspire and educate future synthetic biologists, introducing the next generation of elite researchers and scientists—the entrepreneurs, lab leaders, and workforce of biotechnology's future. The competition and conference concludes with an awards gala where winners will be presented on Monday, September 28.  Through the iGEM competition, the iGEM Foundation promotes education, safety and security, policy and regulation, multidisciplinary teamwork, technology, community, and open sharing.

Additional Resources

iGEM Press Kit and Photos: http://www.igem.org/Press_Kit

2015 iGEM Giant Jamboree Brochure: full details on the conference & competition, from event program, to registration, sponsorship and more: http://2015.igem.org/Giant_Jamboree

2014 iGEM Giant Jamboree Booklet: Read about real-world solutions from last year's competition:http://2014.igem.org/Giant_Jamboree/Booklet

iGEM Registry of Standard Biological Parts: http://parts.igem.org

About the iGEM Foundation
The iGEM Foundation is dedicated to education and competition, advancement of synthetic biology, and the development of open community and collaboration. iGEM, the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition, is a non-profit organization that inspires future synthetic biologists by hosting high school and collegiate level competitions in synthetic biology. iGEM also maintains the Registry of Standard Biological Parts with over 20,000 specified genetic parts—the world's largest collection of BioBricks, open source DNA parts.

SOURCE iGEM

RELATED LINKS
http://igem.org