iGEM 2015 results
2nd place    manufacturing track
top 5    best new genetic part/biobrick
top 5    best new genetic parts collection

A GROUP OF BIOLOGISTS, CHEMISTS, AND ENGINEERS WALK INTO A LAB...

Welcome, and thanks for checking out the 2015-2016 UCLA iGEM Team! 

We're a group of 8 students with majors across the physical, life, and engineering sciences, and what brings us together is the equally-diverse field of synthetic biology. This year, we're excited to challenge the potential of synthetic biology in standardizing the customization of novel materials, and to explore the intersection between practical and scientific design.

Learn about what we're up to in the lab, and contact us if you'd like to hear more about or support our program!

WHAT IS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY?

As synthetic biologists, we work with DNA as programmers would use binary. We string together collections of the four nucleotide bases of DNA to create genes, and we change or combine these modular genetic components to construct new tools, functions, and programs. By rearranging the genetic code, we might transform cells into biofuel-production factories, synthesize novel drugs, or one day, even instruct trees to grow into houses! 
Nature has already done the hard work, evolving most of the genetic functions that we have to work with. Inspired by nature’s design and motivated by human thought, synthetic biologists are redesigning nature.

As synthetic biologists, what do we DARE design?

What is igem?

Over 250 teams from universities around the world participate in the annual International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition, making it the world's premier undergraduate synthetic biology conference. Groups strike out on their own to establish a research program within the field, and everything -- from fundraising, project planning, to execution -- is led by students and overseen by advisors and faculty mentors.

The iGEM program encourages teams to creatively challenge major scientific problems, utilizing and contributing to the BioBrick repository -- the largest, open-source collection of genetic parts that continues to grow each year. Previous teams have genetically engineered solutions for plastic degradation, medical diagnostics, and even bacteria that can play Sudoku! There are no limits with what we can do or discover in the iGEM competition.
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