Students secure gold at international synthetic biology competition

The multidisciplinary team of undergraduates secured the top award at the recent international Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) event, held at MIT, in Boston.

Now in its tenth year, the competition challenges student teams to design new synthetic biological systems and operate them in living cells using an engineering approach.

For the event, the Exeter team designed a biological system that enables the safe detection and removal of two of the most common explosives – TNT and Nitroglycerin (NG), utilising the E.coli bacteria.

Called E.R.A.S.E (Explosive Remediation by Applied Synthetic E. coli), the project sought to detect TNT or NG in a sample, degrade it so it became a non-toxic product, and terminate all cellular viability when neither explosive remaining in the sample.

Team member Beth Hickton, a third-year Biosciences student said: “We are absolutely delighted to have secured the Gold award, we are so proud of what the team has been able to achieve.

“It has been a challenging process, and we have worked really hard over the summer to get to this point, but this makes it all worthwhile. The competition has given us all the opportunity to take what we have learnt at University, and take it one step further, as well as working with people, equipment and techniques we may not have had the chance to otherwise.

“I can honestly say it is an experience that we will never forget, and I hope that this award encourages others to take the challenge in years to come.”

The 2014 team comprised of a diverse group of students from the Colleges of Life and Environmental Sciences (CLES) and Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences (CEMPS).

With the support from The University of Exeter Annual Fund, CLES, CEMPS and academics from across the University, the group have been working on the competition over the summer. As part of the entry, the team created a game for Android phones which sees n E.coli character, TNTony, try and split the molecules of TNT and NG.

Dr Christine Sambles, from Biosciences at the University of Exeter, helped coordinate the iGEM project. She said:  “The Gold award is a fantastic achievement for the team, and thoroughly deserved. They have come together over the summer, and both learnt from and encouraged each other every step of the way.

“The iGem competition is a fantastic opportunity for students from different subject areas to work together. This kind of Interdisciplinary work is an important part of research, and it is fantastic that we can offer opportunities like this to our undergraduate students.”

For more information, please visit the Exeter team wiki for details of their research.