Established since 2004, iGEM has been known as a premier undergraduate synthetic biology competition, organized by the International Genetically Engineered Machine Foundation. By encouraging students to design their own biological systems and do creative experiments on living cells, iGEM has been contributing greatly to the advancement of the synthetic biology field. Started as a design course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) during the students’ independent activities period, iGEM has now grown into a prestigious international competition, with over 200 teams participating this year. A team consisting of undergraduate students mainly from the Department of Biological Sciences at KAIST also participated, producing impressive results as they won the regionals and advanced to the world championships as one of the representatives of Asia. The KAIST Herald met with the team leader and one of the members to hear more about their experiences at the international competition.

Can you both introduce yourselves briefly?
[Jeong] Hello, my name is Hye Won Jeong, a senior majoring in the Department of Biological Sciences. I was the iGEM team leader for a year.
[Lee] Hello, I am Soo In Lee, also a senior majoring in the Department of Biological Sciences, and a member of this year’s iGEM team.

What is the iGEM competition?
[Jeong] iGEM is hosted by an independent non-profit organization, which aims to foster scientific research and education through such international synthetic biology competitions.
[Lee] Although the history of the iGEM competition is only about a decade, it has rapidly grown into an international scale, as there are now around 200 teams participating each year. It was initially only intended for undergraduate students on a smaller scale, but since last year, iGEM expanded to include not only the collegiate division but also a high school and an entrepreneurship division.

What prompted you both to participate in iGEM?
[Jeong] I learned about iGEM through one of seniors from school. I thought participating in the iGEM competition would be a good opportunity for me to check whether I am suitable for conducting research projects. Also, I thought it would be an enjoyable experience with my friends. I started preparing for the competition since last fall. I visited Professor Byung Kwan Cho and organized a team, with the team members being finalized in February. So, since the beginning of spring semester this year, we had regular meetings every Saturday.
[Lee] Since I was thinking about continuing my studies at KAIST, I had an interest in various activities in the biological sciences. I have heard about the iGEM competition from previous posters and notices, but decided to participate after Hye Won asked me to join.

Can you tell us more about the preparation process?
[Lee] The topic of our project became more explicit in March. Since the field of synthetic biology was so new, we spent quite some time on deciding our topic. The topic of our team was related to artificial photosynthesis, but later on, we expanded further and came up with an additional topic regarding auto regulation module of E.coli.
In October, the regionals were held in Hong Kong. Our team presented the second topic regarding auto regulation of E. coli. We thoroughly prepared both the visualization of our concept and the collection of various data, which included modeling, numerical values, wavelengths, and etc. Eventually, our poster fair was successful, and we were able to advance to the world championships as one of 17 teams out of 60 to 70, representing Asia region. Our team was not only the first KAIST team but also the first Korean team to compete in the world championships.

Can you share your experiences of competing in the world championships?
[Jeong] On the contrary to what we have worried, language was not a major problem. It was rather the longer and more systematic preparation done by other teams, notably from the European countries. This year’s champion was one of the European teams. Not only was their presentation impressive, but also their research was far more developed, as they even got approval from the Food and Drug Administration with their result. Also, the scale of funding and support they received were much bigger, probably due to the fact that synthetic biology is such an emerging field of science in Europe these days.
[Lee] I was impressed by the great motivation and passion of the other teams competing in the world championships. Although we did our best as well, since the others spent more time and effort in their project based on larger and more systematic support, they had more content and results to present.

Do you have any advice for students who are interested in iGEM or other international competitions in general?
[Jeong] I highly recommend students to start preparing as early as possible in a systematic way. Avoid doing things near the deadline. Also, I encourage many students to try for the iGEM competition. It is such a meaningful experience that students could enjoy.
[Lee] To those of you who are interested in the iGEM competition, I recommend that they closely study the concepts of systematic biology in advance, since it can save great time in deciding the topic. Also, iGEM is a rare and unique opportunity for undergraduates, as we can initiate our own independent research with substantial support. By designing and discussing the project, I was able to learn a lot about the basics of research experiments. Moreover, you can build teamwork and develop friendship through this special experience. So I hope many of you would challenge yourselves by joining these diverse competitions.