Edinburgh students win prize for Best Human Practices at iGEM Jamboree at MIT.

After winning trophy for best iGEM model in Amsterdam, Edinburgh students go on to win prize for 'Best Human Practices' in Boston. 

On a crisp, sunny New England afternoon the University of Edinburgh's iGEM team presented their summer's efforts in designing, building and testing a genetically engineered machine to an audience of the world's elite Universities. From July to September the undergrad team of two engineers, two computer scientists three biologists and a designer, worked on wood-digesting enzymes which can turn cellulose into the sugar needed to manufacture biofuels.  

This weekend MIT in Boston welcomed 66 teams from across the globe to compete for the coveted trophy! Edinburgh's team faced extremely tough competition but performed fabulously to win the prize for Best Human Practises project for their consideration of how genetically engineered organisms can be integrated into a modern chemical manufacturing production facility. Despite the long hours and steep learning curve, the team have thoroughly enjoyed their experience in real research in the world's most revolutionary technology; Synthetic Biology. Learn more at bit.ly/u1OJb9  

Edinburgh Boston Finals team members (L-R) Dr Chris French (Advisor), Lukasz Kopec (Informatics), Sylvia Ispasanie (Biological Sciences) Yassen Abbas (Engineering), Fionn Tynan O'Mahoney (Design)

The team had already travelled to Amsterdam in September to compete in the European Championship, scooping the Best Model prize for their computational simulations of how enzyme combinations can achieve better efficiency. The team was one of 20 chosen from a field of 50 at the European Championships to proceed to the World Finals.  

Edinburgh Uni iGEM team 2011

Undergraduate Students

• Yassen Abbas — chemical engineering
• Allan Crossman — evolutionary biology
• Clare Gibson — sociology
• Sylvia Ispasanie — biotechnology
• Lukasz Kopec — cognitive science
• Mun Ching Lee — biotechnology
• Di Li — electrical engineering
• Fionn Tynan-O'Mahony — design

Advisors

• Tosif Ahamed — cognitive science
• Eugene Fletcher — biotechnology
• John Roger Wilson-Kanamori — systems biology

Instructors

• Dr Jane Calvert — sociology of life sciences
• Professor Vincent Danos — systems biology
• Dr Alistair Elfick — biomedical engineering
• Dr Chris French — biotechnology
• Dr Emma Frow — science and technology studies

Observer

• Yuhua Hu — e-learning