The University of Waterloo’s International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Team won a gold medal for the third consecutive year as well as Best Poster and Best Software Tool in this year’s Giant Jamboree competition held in Boston. It was also nominated for Best Foundational Advance Project.
Waterloo’s team, made up of undergraduate students from the Faculties of Engineering, Mathematics and Science, competed against 258 others from universities throughout the world.
The largest synthetic biology event of the year, the annual iGEM competition combines creative interdisciplinary research with cutting-edge science, challenging students to create their own biological systems to help tackle real world problems. The iGEM foundation provides each team with a DNA distribution kit, including five high-capacity well-plates of plasmid backbones. These starter sets of genetic parts are used by the groups to make their first set of molecular devices using standardized cloning methods and interchangeable parts called BioBricks.
A golden history
With a competition history stretching back to 2007, Waterloo’s team has consistently earned medals with exceptional projects each year. In 2013, the Waterloo iGEM team won gold and best poster. Last year, the team received a Gold Medal and Best Model at the international Giant Jamboree.
This year’s team academic advisors include Marc Aucoin of the Faculty of Engineering, Trevor Charles, Barbara Moffatt and Andrew Doxey of the Faculty of Science and Brian Ingalls of the Faculty of Mathematics.