USTC Teams Continue to Glory in the 2019 iGEM

From Oct 31st to Nov 4th, the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM) was held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Two teams (USTC team and USTC- Software team) from University of science and technology of China (USTC) participated in the competition. USTC team won the silver medal and the USTC-Software team won the gold medal and was nominated for the best individual awards

USTC team

USTC-Software team

IGEM is an international academic competition in biology, mathematics, physics, computer science and other disciplines to promote the development of synthetic biology. The participating teams use the materials provided by the sponsor to independently complete the project by writing team wiki, poster explanation, presentation. This year, 375 teams from various countries around the world participated 2019 iGEM, among which nearly 7,000 students arrived in Boston to participate the finals, including teams from MIT, Harvard, Stanford and other world-renowned universities.

2019 Giant Jamboree

The project of the USTC team was dedicated to the microbial degradation of azo dyes and seeks to treat azo wastewater in a more environmentally friendly and efficient way. Through their exchanges with other teams and tournament referees at the Boston venue, they learned a lot of valuable experience and were recognized by others. Patient and meticulous poster explanation and well-prepared presentation enabled the USTC team to win the silver medal.

USTC team was working

The topic of the USTC-Software team was based on the intersection of computer science and life sciences. On the basis of the existing system biology flow analysis research framework COBRA, an online computing platform named FORESYN was developed. The development of the FORESYN online computing platform has greatly improved the work efficiency of synthetic biology researchers and has been well received by judges and teams from all over the world. In the end, USTC-Software team won the gold medal and was awarded the Best Software Award.

This is the 13th time that teams from USTC participate in iGEM. Since the beginning of the competition, USTC has won 16 gold medals, 5 silver medals, 2 bronze medals, 3 single prizes and 2 single award nominations. The result is brilliant and ranks among the top universities in Asia. It is this kind of excellent performance that inspires the latecomers to adhere to the rigorous attitude and the spirit of hard work. It is such excellent performance inspired the subsequent adhering to the rigorous attitude and the spirit of hard work, showing the USTCers’ elegant demeanor.