The iGEM Competition
While we host lab-related activities and workshops that are open to everyone as a Club, our main objective each year is to form an iGEM Competition Team at UBC Okanagan and participate in the annual International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition!
iGEM stands for the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition. Started in 2003 by MIT, the competition has now expanded to hold over 350 teams from 46 different countries, and is the largest international synthetic biology competition in the world! iGEM is an educative experience that allows students to lead their own research projects, get trained personally by professors and alumni at UBCO, and gain connections from all over the world!
Okanagan iGEM Project Showcase
2022: Life Bulb
Life Bulb is a sustainable light source, designed to reduce global GHG emissions, act as an educational tool, and demonstrate the integrative art and cultural applications of synthetic biology.
Life Bulb incorporates genes from bioluminescent fungi species to create an auto-bioluminescent lighting system in cyanobacteria.
Other Teams
Get inspired with these projects from past iGEM teams from all over the world.
AROMA
ETH iGEM
2018
Have you ever thought about robots that can smell?!
This iGEM team at Zurich worked on a robot that can detect molecules with bacteria and use them to send signals to a robot to move in accordance to sent in the air. An innovative look at biosensors.
PROlung
iGEM Stockholm
2017
Have you ever thought about lung probiotics?
Working with the human body in mind, a team in Sweden engineered bacteria to sense changes in osmotic pressure and degrading mucus. This can be a huge help for conditions where over produced mucus can make it difficult to breathe.
MORPHÆ
iGEM Athens
2020
Have you ever thought about the environmental impact of color dyes?
By producing structurally colored materials this team harnessed one of nature's most beautiful tools. Using biomimicry as a way to have a healthier and colorful world.