iGEM Announces 2015 Giant Jamboree Winners as World's Largest Synthetic Biology Event Concludes in Boston

Team William and Mary from the United States earned top recognition as more than 250 student-led teams unveiled scientific solutions to solve real-world challenges

News provided by

iGEM

Sep 30, 2015, 08:00 ET

BOSTON, Sept. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- (Hynes Convention Center) — The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, iGEM, hosted the largest annual gathering of synthetic biologists this past weekend as thousands of university and high school students from around the world traveled to Boston to compete in the iGEM 2015 Giant Jamboree. iGEM is the world's premier synthetic biology competition, and this year's excitement and enthusiasm was evident as the industry's brightest students, educators and professionals showcased innovative new biologically-engineered systems that solve real-world challenges at the 12th annual Jamboree event.

"More than 2700 participants from schools in every corner of the world came to Boston this week, testing their knowledge of synthetic biology in the ultimate test as teams worked to solve real-world challenges by creating novel genetically-engineered systems," said Randy Rettberg, President of the iGEM Foundation. "In our 12th year, the annual iGEM competition has not only become the central means for universities to teach synthetic biology, but iGEM has become an incubator—with the Giant Jamboree seeding the market with new innovations. Many winning projects and teams form new companies that quickly make an impact, resonating across the global marketplace."

In just one summer, students worked on projects ranging from non-toxic insect repellent to multi-purpose space moss, then presented their work and competed for awards at the five-day iGEM competition in Boston from September 24-28, 2015. The winning projects introduced to the world at the iGEM 2015 Giant Jamboree were remarkable, and iGEM is proud to recognize the following teams as 2015 iGEM Grand Prize winners:

Undergraduate Division:

  Grand Prize:  

William and Mary – for "Measurement of Promoter-Based Transcriptional Noise for Application in Gene Network Design"

1st Runner-up:

Czech Republic – for "The IOD BAND" 

2nd Runner-up:

Heidelberg – for "Catch it if you can"

Overgraduate Division:

High School Track:          

               
Winners were also recognized for each of 15 Tracks within the competition, such as Energy, Environment or Health & Medicine. A complete list of winners and projects is available on the iGEM 2015 Results page, including dozens of other special awards and medals.

Events at the five-day iGEM 2015 Giant Jamboree included oral presentations and poster presentations from more than 250 teams spanning 39 countries. The Jamboree included 34 workshops spread across five categories: community workshops, sponsor workshops, "After iGEM" workshops, technical workshops, and new track workshops. In addition, there were a variety of social events for attendees.

About the iGEM Foundation 
The iGEM Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to education and competition, advancement of synthetic biology, and the development of open community and collaboration. The iGEM Foundation inspires future synthetic biologists by hosting student-led teams in the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition. iGEM also runs the Registry of Standard Biological Parts with over 20,000 specified genetic parts—the world's largest collection of standard DNA parts contributed by an open community.

Additional Resources

SOURCE iGEM

Related Links

igem.org

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