Taiwan Teams Win 6 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze at 2017 iGEM Competition

Taiwan Teams Win 6 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze at 2017 iGEM Competition

Students from Taiwan demonstrated their high level innovation skills in the quest for what has been dubbed the “World Cup of Science”. They earned a total of six gold, two silver, and one bronze for their projects at the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM) held in Boston’s Hynes Convention Center from November 9 to 13, 2017.
Ten teams from Taiwan participated in this year’s iGEM: seven university teams, from Chung Shan Medical University and National Chung Hsing University (a combined team), Chang Gung University, National Cheng Kung University, National Chiao Tung University, National Chung Cheng University, National Tsing Hua University, and National Yang-Ming University; and three senior secondary school teams, from Mingdao High School, National Taichung First Senior High School, and Taipei American School.
“Through participating in world competitions like this, we’ve made friends with talented people from all over the world, broadened our vision, and gained an international perspective regarding the field,” said Chen Wen Liang, instructor with the National Chiao Tung University team. Chiao Tung took home a gold medal with its Parabase – A Simple and Applicable Peptide Prediction System with Validation of Artificial Intelligence project.
The iGEM began in January 2003 as an independent study course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where students developed biological devices to make cells blink. This course became a summer competition with five teams in 2004 and continued to grow to 13 teams the following year. It has now expanded to having more than 300 teams, from more than 30 countries participate.
Teams competing for prizes are required to document their projects on their Wiki pages hosted on the iGEM servers, design a poster, and present their projects during the scheduled Poster Sessions at the Giant Jamboree.
The Taipei American School team won the grand prize for high schools, and a gold medal, for its project for removing nanoparticles from waste water systems, and also won the Best Wiki award. The team from Mingdao High School in Taichung City won a gold medal in the Best Applied Design category, and another gold medal in the Best New Basic Part category, for engineering bacteria that absorb glucose more efficiently. National Cheng Kung University earned a gold medal in the Best Environment Project category for creating a sensing and intermediate regulating system to treat excess nitrate in water.
National Chung Cheng University, and National Tsing Hua University each won a silver medal, while the Chang Gung University team a bronze medal.
Photo:Team members of the National Cheng Kung University receiving a gold medal for “Best Environment Project” in the 2017 iGEM Competition. (Photo courtesy of National Cheng Kung University)