iGEM Giant Jamboree
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iGEM is an international competition for students interested in the field of modern biotechnology. At the annual iGEM Giant Jamboree over 300 international teams will showcase the project they worked on. Attracting more than 3,500 synthetic biologists annually, attendees of the Jamboree include university students, high school students, industry professionals, and faculty from over 40 countries. Lilian van Hove, researcher at the Rathenau Instituut will be present to judge this years iGEM projects.
Worldwide competition in biotechnology solutions
iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition) gives students the chance to push the boundaries of their knowledge on modern biotechnology by tackling challenges our world is facing. Made up of primarily university students, multidisciplinary teams work together to build a system of their own design using interchangeable biological parts and standard molecular biology techniques. iGEM teams work inside and outside the lab, creating sophisticated projects that strive to create a positive contribution to their communities and the world.
Every year nearly 6,000 people come together in the fall to present their work and compete in the Jamboree in Boston (USA).
Make your project matter
In order to be successful, iGEM projects address issues that require technical as well as social innovations. Students in modern biotechnology receive extensive training in dealing with technical challenges, but devote less time to understanding the societal dimensions. During our iGEM Meetup this summer, hosted by the Rathenau Instituut and RIVM, participants went through an iteration of analysis, interactions and future scenarios. Together students worked on understanding what's at stake for society, how to have meaningful conversations and capture the insights they will gain during the development of their project. With the meetup, the two institutes wanted to contribute by educating students about ethics, and societal and safety aspects of biotechnology. When a team wants to work on a project on, for example, how we can overcome antibiotics resistance, they learn how to use current knowledge on DNA and biological processes to prevent hazardous organisms coming into our environment.
At the Jamboree in Boston this fall, the jury will judge projects on all of these aspects. One of the jurors at the 2019 Jamboree is Lilian van Hove, researcher at the Rathenau Instituut.
iGEM guide to the future
In the past few years, the Rathenau Instituut developed a tool to guide participating students, which helps them to integrate human practices into their work and to do responsible research.
October 31 - November 4, 2019
Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA, USA