Bronze medal for the Institut Pasteur's iGEM team

The iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition was set up to promote research in the area of synthetic biology.

This annual competition was launched in 2004 by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the United States.

In 2015, the Institut Pasteur decided to take up the challenge by setting up its own team.

The team members, representing a variety of different disciplines, all contributed their skills and expertise to the advancement of synthetic biology.

The team was composed of around 20 students with backgrounds in fields as diverse as biology, chemistry, mathematics, journalism and political science.

It was supervised by a dozen scientists, post-doctoral fellows and doctoral students from the Institut Pasteur, also with a wide range of research specializations.

This multidisciplinarity proved to be a real strength in putting together such a complex project.

 

 

The 2015 project was entitled "PlastiCure" and had the following aim...

The Plasticure project addressed the transformation of Plastic waste (poly ethylene terephthalate PET) by a modified E. coli bacteria to express genes able to degrade plastics, and eventually to couple this reaction to the synthesis of an antibiotic , Erythromycin A.

The week long contest included an oral presentation in front of judges and a Poster session, as well as workshops at the Hynes center in Boston, USA.

For its first participation in the iGEM competition the team of students (Bachelors, and Master level from University of Paris Pierre and Marie Curie (UPMC), Paris Orsay), coached by Institut Pasteur faculty and graduate students, and external coaches from Paris -Sud Orsay, obtained the Bronze level medal.

This well earned reward will help to participate in future challenges of iGEM, and generate enthusiasm on campus for iGEM.

 

Access the Institut Pasteur iGEM competition web pages