iGEM competition 2021

This grant will support the 2021 International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM), by supporting UK undergraduate students from the synthetic biology community to take part in it.

The provided funding will be used to support the students’ stipends, some consumable and travel support for the teams that have successfully applied to the competition.

Wellcome has funded the iGEM programme for several years as this is an interesting model to develop interdisciplinary thinking and skills for students. Funding is provided in partnership with BBSRC who also make available a £50k contribution.

Wellcome (Luigi Martino) will be involved at the selection stage and receive a brief report about the respective activities at the end of the year. COVID-19 effect on the competition. The hope is that this year’s teams will have the ability to undertake wet-lab-work.

If this is made impossible by the potential restricted access to lab spaces, the selected teams will be asked to submit a written proposal reporting the design and strategy to build their chosen genetically engineered machine.