Sponsoring iGEM
We're excited to share Full Circle Labs sponsored the UK iGEM teams this year, providing free sequencing credit to all teams and funding for the UK iGEM meet-up hosted by the University of Sheffield's iGEM team.
What is iGEM?
iGEM (international Genetically Engineered Machines) is a worldwide synthetic biology competition. This year over 400 teams are competing to solve real-world problems using genetic engineering, from developing low-cost diagnostic biosensors, to creating new sustainable materials, to developing transgenic plants capable of reducing aquatic ecosystem contamination.
Over the years iGEM has expanded to form a network and community that is much larger than just the competition. Over 60,000 scientists have participated since iGEM began in 2003, and over 150 startups and 12 non-profit ventures have roots in the competition. The wider iGEM community now runs regular projects around a variety of topics including Education, Governance and Policy, and Open Science and Accessibility.
Why We're Supporting iGEM Teams
As a company made of scientists trained primarily within the area of Synthetic Biology we understand the challenges students face when designing and building new genetic circuits. The ability to rapidly sequence verify constructs can have a significant impact on project success, so we wanted to support our local teams by providing them with the resources to do this.
As part of our sponsorship we were given the opportunity to sponsor a specific prize at the iGEM meetup in Sheffield. We outlined a 'Sustainability Slide' competition, in which participating teams were challenged with including one slide in their presentation on how to implement sustainable practices into their project, with the goal of increasing dialogue and awareness around easy ways scientists can make their work in the lab more environmentally friendly. We hope that this has sparked discussion within the teams and participants, and hopefully planted ideas that they can take along with them wherever their career goes next.
Our Sponsored Teams
Here are links to all the teams we provided sequencing for this year & what they've been up to over the summer:
- UCL, Sepscan: Designing a lateral flow test for sepsis: https://2024.igem.wiki/ucl/
- Imperial College London, Biotraction: Sustainable rubber production through compartmentalised production https://2024.igem.wiki/imperial-college/
- University of Sheffield, Phosphix: Engineering a phosphatase enzyme to release trapped inorganic phosphate from organic wastewater https://2024.igem.wiki/sheffield/index.html
- University of Manchester, E.Lectrode: Designing bacterial nanowires to improve electrical connections between electrode and contact point of myoelectric prosthetics https://2024.igem.wiki/manchester/
- University of Cambridge, Magenta: Magnetic control of gene expression https://2024.igem.wiki/cambridge/team
- University of Oxford, OneRing: Repurposing conjugation and CRISPR-Cas systems for targeted bacterial killing https://2024.igem.wiki/oxford/
- University of Warwick, Beacon: Bacteria engineered to scavenge for lanthanides, rare earth elements valuable for electronics. https://2024.igem.wiki/warwick/
We're wishing the teams the best of luck at the Jamboree!
If you're a student or post-doc working on a non-profit Synthetic Biology related project and are looking for a sponsor to help make your goal a reality reach out to us at: contact@fullcirclelabs.bio.
