International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Research Project (BENG0062)

The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to education and competition, the advancement of synthetic biology, and the development of an open community and collaboration. iGEM runs two major activities relevant to this course: the iGEM Competition - an international competition for students interested in the field of synthetic biology, and the Registry of Standard Biological Parts - a growing collection of genetic parts used for building biological devices and systems. This course provides students with supervision, direction, detailed feedback, mentoring and assessment for a given year of participation in the competition. Students participate in the following elements of the UCL iGEM project:

▪ Training in synthetic biology and development of a research project that undergraduate students will execute;

▪ Design and development of a wiki-based website;

▪ Exploration of ethical, legal and societal implications of synthetic biology;

▪ Fostering and establishing collaboration with other iGEM teams from the UK and worldwide and project stakeholders beyond academia;

▪ Mathematical modelling of biological, bioprocessing and business elements;

▪ Identification and development of opportunities for commercial exploitation of the technologies explored.

Upon completion of the course, a student should be able to:

Assemble recombinant DNA BioBricks
	Effectively develop mentoring qualities while practising mentoring teams of undergraduate students participating in the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Competition
	Explore the role of ethics, entrepreneurship and mathematical modelling in synthetic biology
	Understand team dynamics and resolve conflicts
	Communicate complex biological and engineering concepts orally and in writing to a broad audience.
	Understand current approaches to exploitation of biology as an engineering tool