University of Ottawa’s iGEM team.
Once again, the University of Ottawa can brag about having been well represented at the national and international levels of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition.
The 16‑member team, with participants from many different faculties, brought home a gold medal from 2011 editions annual event. Simon Laplante, a biochemistry student, and Zuhair Syed, a biomedical science student, were members of the team.
We should clarify that the term “regional” refers to the different “regions” of the world, such as Asia or Europe. The University’s iGEM team qualified in the gold medal category out of 64 teams from North and South America.
“This year, the uOttawa iGEM team designed a way to directly measure the level of expression of a transcription factor and its impact on its related promoter using a colour identification system,” comments Zuhair. “It also developed a new assembly protocol that allows for the rapid synthesis of complex gene networks. Lastly, the team submitted gene regulation parts tagged by a blue fluorescent protein to the MIT Registry of Standard Biological Parts.”
Following this victory, the students and their instructors travelled to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where, each year, the top 66 teams from around the world gather for a two‑day competition.
“Our presentation went well, but unfortunately we did not win any special prize,” explains Zuhair. “However, competing at MIT, where we could showcase our work internationally, was an accomplishment in itself.”
Although iGEM is a synthetic-biology competition mainly of interest to science students, Simon and Zuhair stress that the skills of partners in all faculties are essential to their success.
“Someone in visual arts, for example, can help us with art direction for the design of our website. Or a communications student can help us write an article on biology,” explains Simon. “It is really multidisciplinary!”
The “free” nature of iGEM is also very motivating for the participants. “It is really exciting to know that our project was recorded and others can use it to advance science,” adds Simon.
The two young men agree that their participation in iGEM has had a positive impact on their university experience. “We learn lots,” Zuhair stresses. “I would certainly recommend this experience to all students.”
If you would like to join the University of Ottawa’s iGEM team or learn more about it, visit its website or its new Facebook page.
