At BYU, an interdisciplinary group of students have been preparing for the biggest synthetic biology competition in the world.
These students have been working hard to create solutions to global challenges through synthetic biology. This week they are headed to Paris to present their project at the 2024 iGEM Competition.
The International Genetically Engineered Machine Foundation, or iGEM, holds an annual competition that gives students the opportunity to get involved in synthetic biology. 2024 is BYU’s first year participating in the competition.
Miles Anderson, president of the BYU iGEM program, got the program started when he saw that BYU did not have a synthetic biology program. Anderson said that synthetic biology combines biology with engineering.
"Synthetic biology is the application of engineering principles inside of biological systems to build new tools to solve our problems in new and interesting ways,” Anderson said.
For their project, the students have modified a plant to make it indicate soil fertilization levels through leaf color. The goal of the project is to improve the lives of farmers around the world.
Involving farmers in the design process has been a key part of the project and is something that judges will be looking for at the competition. Chad Hyer, co-president of BYU iGEM, emphasized the importance of that involvement.
"We're working with farmers in the developing world and along the way we made sure from very early on to talk to them. Because if you make an idea that you think is going to work for somebody and you do it without any of their feedback, it probably won't work,” Hyer said.
Hyer said this experience has been transformative for him.
"This has been a really awesome experience to use what I've learned as a BYU student to build a product using the same methods that God does to help his children,” he said.
The BYU iGEM program will continue next year as well, giving even more students the opportunity to participate in the competition.