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 NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE PREVIEW

iGEM2009 and Do-It-Yourself Genetic Engineering

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 By JON MOOALLEM (New York Times: Published: February 10, 2010)

IT ALL STARTED with a brawny, tattooed building contractor with a passion for exotic animals. He was taking biology classes at City College of San Francisco, a two-year community college, and when students started meeting informally early last year to think up a project for a coming science competition, he told them that he thought it would be cool if they re-engineered cells from electric eels into a source of alternative energy. Eventually the students scaled down that idea into something more feasible, though you would be forgiven if it still sounded like science fiction to you: they would build an electrical battery powered by bacteria. This also entailed building the bacteria itself — redesigning a living organism, using the tools of a radical new realm of genetic engineering called synthetic biology. (read entire article)

iGEM news

  • iGEM2010 sponsors We would like to thank everyone who is helping us out with iGEM 2010.   Sponsors at the University of Cambridge:   The School of Biological Sciences,  Department of Genetics,  Department of Plant Sciences,  Department...
  • SynBio2010 course   SynBio course Timetable for 2010 Work Groups for SynBio2010 tasks & student photos:  Synthetic Biology website in Cambridge (www.synbio.org.uk) Course photographs Course Assessment BioBrick...
  • iGEM: the student synthetic biology experience iGEM: the student synthetic biology experience by Mun-Keat Looi, Wellcome Trust blog, http://wellcometrust.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/igem-the-student-synthetic-biology-experience/   European teams, including Imperial and...
  • 'Building block' biology The new field of synthetic biology aims to make biology controllable, predictable and designable. Mun-Keat Looi asks if you can really engineer a biological organism and hears how a unique competition for undergraduates is helping the field gather...
  • Wellcome Trust awards for iGEM teams in the UK   The Wellcome Trust today announces the recipients of its inaugural stipends aimed at supporting UK entries to iGEM - the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition. iGEM is an annual competition that encourages teams of undergraduate...
  • iGEM2009 sponsors The students and organisers would like to express our thanks to the following companies for help through sponsorship, provision of equipment loans and consumables for the University of Cambridge iGEM2009 team: We would especially like to acknowledge...
  • iGEM2009 wrap-up Grand Prize, Winner of the BioBrick Trophy: Cambridge 1st Runner Up: Heidelberg 2nd Runner Up: Valencia Finalists: Cambridge Freiburg bioware Groningen Heidelberg Imperial College London...
  • IGEM2009 grows   iGEM 2009: Synthetic Biology Competition Bigger than Ever this Halloween   September 24th, 2009 by Aaron Saenz  , SIngularity Hub         Like some Frankenstein monster composed...
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