iGEM, the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, is an initiative from MIT and has become the premiere undergraduate synthetic biology competition. The competing teams consist of students who work on a synthetic biology project. They design and build novel biological systems and operate them in living cells. In November, the results of their project are presented at the iGEM Jamboree in Boston, Massachusetts. The first iGEM competition in 2004 featured teams from 5 Universities. Last year, 110 teams from were participating with over 1200 participants taking part in the competition. In 2010, 6 students from the University of the Witwatersrand will compete as the first team from Africa. These students are supported by scientists from the University of Witwatersrand and the CSIR.
Reference:
Sparrow, RW, Madigoe, E, Martens, D et al. 2010. International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition. IEASA Conference - iGEM Competition, July 2010, pp 13
Sparrow, R., Madigoe, E., Martens, D., Mhlanga, M., Kowalenko, R., Rubin, D., ... Weinberg, M. (2010). International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4365
Sparrow, RW, E Madigoe, D Martens, Musa Mhlanga, R Kowalenko, D Rubin, K Rumbold, D Sherwell, and M Weinberg. "International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition." (2010): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4365
Sparrow R, Madigoe E, Martens D, Mhlanga M, Kowalenko R, Rubin D, et al, International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition; 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4365 .
