2024
The 2024 team developed a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-based solid phase DNA synthesis platform that allows users to synthesize data-encoding DNA.
GOLD MEDAL
BEST HARDWARE
BEST SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPEMENT IMPACT
BEST BIOMANUFACTURING PROJECT NOMINEE
2023
The 2023 team developed a modular intein-based cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) platform that uses a strain of Vibrio natriegens to improve protein production/purification efficiency and energy usage.
SILVER MEDAL
2022
The 2022 team engineered a strain of heat-resistant wheat to tackle global increases in temperature. A proof of concept protoplast system demonstrated the successful integration of our genes of interest.
2021
The 2021 team engineered a non-pathogenic, tumour-colonizing Salmonella strain to report anti-tumour immune activity within the tumour microenviornment. The expression of a reporter molecule would be recovered from the patient’s urine.
BEST DIAGNOSTICS PROJECT NOMINEE
2020
The 2020 team built a machine learning pipeline to predict the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 to inform vaccine target selection for COVID-19.
Plenary speech at Harvard’s National Collegiate Research Conference and Stanford Research
2019
The 2019 team built a transcription-based biosensor to detect levels of saxitoxin, a toxin responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans. The resulting high-throughput screening would be used as an on-site device for detection of the toxin in bodies of water.
2018
The 2018 team used bacterial co-cultures to produce Naringenin and Kaempferol, biochemicals with anti-cancer properties. Distributing biosynthesis between two strains would both lighten the metabolic load and maximize energetic efficiency of the cell.
BRONZE MEDAL
2017
The 2017 team used CRISPR/Cas9 to remove the gene responsible for plant death and agricultural loss in Agrobacteria tumefaciens. Their transgenic bacteria would conjugate with A. tumefaciens, rendering it harmless and either preventing or correcting damage caused by it.
BEST ENVIRONMENT PROJECT NOMINEE
BEST MODEL NOMINEE
2016
Plant biomass has potential as a renewable energy source, but the metabolic strain of its degradation by a single strain is too large to accomplish this. The 2016 team developed a microbial community that would both degrade and valorize the biomass.
BEST MANUFACTURING PROJECT NOMINEE
2015
Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder destroys whole bee colonies, where neonicotinoid pesticides poison plat-feeders like bees. The 2015 team engineered honeybee intestinal bacteria to degrade imidacloprid, a widely-used neonicotinoid.
BEST ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT NOMINEE
2014
Mineral separation in copper mining is in increasing demand but uses chemically taxing measures. The 2014 iGEM team used octapeptides in bacteria to selectively bind chalocopyrite, a copper mineral that separates it from the rest of the minerals.
2013
Engineered a minimal CRISPR system in E. coli with broad-spectrum phage resistance by analyzing viral sequences, demonstrating a proof-of-concept for customizable bioreactor immunity and providing modular tools for future bacterial CRISPR applications.
BEST MODEL
2012
Engineered a tunable consortium with a distributed 4S desulfurization pathway for increased efficiency in the removal of organosulfurs in heavy oils and bitumen resources.
2011
Optimized the production of terpenes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast by constructing the biosynthetic pathways necessary to synthesize these compounds. Developed models of (i) monoterpene synthase structure, (ii) monoterpene production in yeast and (iii) the dynamics of the mountain pine beetle populations in British Columbia under the influence of our synthetic yeast..
2010
Expressed an endogenous bacteriophage and biofilm matrix-degrading enzyme DspB under the control of the agr quorum-sensing system to disperse Staphylococcus aureus biofilms.
2009
Created a biosensor that recognizes a specific target and alters its output fluorescence from green, to yellow, to red as a function of concentration up to critical levels (hence, a biological "traffic light").
