Local people solving local problems all over the world

Inspiration, persistence and excellence are all hallmarks of the Vilnius iGEM team. Students formed the team back in 2015, when synthetic biology was a little known topic in Lithuania. Despite this, the Vilnius team won the iGEM Grand Prize in 2017 for developing a biological framework designed to make working with single and multi-plasmid systems precise, easy and functional. Their accomplishment served as an inspiration for new iGEM teams and helped put synthetic biology on the map in Lithuania. The team went on to build BioMatter, a startup in health and sustainable manufacturing.

Dr. Li Teng and Dr. Zhang Haoqian met in 2010 at the Chinese Regional iGEM Jamboree. They co-founded Bluepha in 2015 with the vision of solving practical and local problems with synthetic biology. Their first product was an environmentally friendly plastic. They say that they’re dedicated to "creating 100 products that impact 5 billion people." More than 50% of Bluepha’s founding team are iGEM alumni. By nurturing the growth of young researchers who provide innovative perspectives on synthetic biology, Bluepha is creating a better business environment for scientists and entrepreneurs.

The 2014 Sumbawagen iGEM team wanted to make a meaningful impact that would help support Sumbawa's way of life by using synthetic biology to develop a safe, eco-friendly system for farmers to distinguish counterfeit honey from real forest honey. With few resources, the team devised equipment using whatever materials they had on hand for their project. To recognize their extraordinary effort, the Sumbawagen iGEM team won the first ever Chairman's Award. Today, team members continue to pursue synthetic biology.

In 2013, Manauara students set out to protect and preserve the Amazon River through synthetic biology. For decades waste disposal had been polluting the mighty river, thus harming its biodiversity and damaging its ecosystem. The team created solutions targeting the over 146 million tons of frying oil and 3,000 tons of mercury that were polluting the river each year. In addition to their technical work, they spent countless hours traveling by boat to educate people, from young students to lawmakers, about synthetic biology, environmentalism and the preservation of the Amazon rainforest.