Introduction to the event:
Founded in 2003, the International Genetic Engineering Machine Competition (iGEM) is an international academic competition in the field of synthetic biology, sponsored by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) every year.
The International Genetic Engineering Machine Competition was originally aimed at undergraduates, and then gradually expanded to graduate students and high school students. The iGEM team, which covers many disciplines, needs to use standard bio-bricks to build gene circuits, establish effective mathematical models, and realize the prediction, manipulation and measurement of delicate and complex artificial biological systems in order to complete the competition.
The long-term goal of the international genetic engineering machine competition is to hope to pass the mode of academic competition:
1 to realize the systematization and engineering of biology.
2. Promote the open source and transparent development of biological tools.
3. Help to establish an engineering system that can safely and effectively apply biotechnology.
Synthetic biology attempts to redesign the existing natural biological system, or to design and construct artificial biological components and systems, with the aim of creating a brand-new biological system by understanding the operating mechanism of natural biological systems.
Synthetic biology is a new direction of life science in recent years. Its goal is to realize a new strain that is meaningful for life science research or production and life by recombining existing functional components based on DNA sequences, such as regulatory sequences, RNA and protein.
This direction directly builds a bridge between basic biological research and production and life practice, and some achievements are even directly transformed into products, so it has attracted the dual attention of academia and industry.