iGEM Goals
By participating in the competition, iGEMers are building
a better world by solving problems with the help of
synthetic biology. Specifically, teams try to use the
principles of synthetic biology to solve local or global
problems of modern times. After completing their project,
teams from all over the world gather and present their
research ideas at the Giant Jamboree, which this year,
will be held in Paris. In order for a
team to reach the Giant Jamboree, to compete for medals,
nominations and grand prizes and to get the opportunity, if
they wish, to test their work in entrepreneurship, they must
first successfully complete their project. Using tools
primarily from the fields of Synthetic Biology, Biochemistry
and Engineering, the contestants will design a
multidisciplinary project that attempts to solve in a
unique, original and sustainable way a contemporary problem
that the local or global community suffers from. Using prior knowledge
that they creatively combine, the teams build the tools to
'read' the complexity of biological systems, decode
disease mechanisms and treat by innovative means, while at
the same time, while the whole project should communicate
with, inspire and be guided by the world. iGEM
reminds its members and the rest of the world that science is
here by and for people, to serve them and improve their
quality of life.