Team Sogang_Korea Wins iGEM Gold Medal at International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition
- Achieving nominations for Best Software, Best Hardware, and Best Presentation while taking home the gold medal -
▲ Team Sogang_Korea participating at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition
Team Sogang_Korea, who participated in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition with support from the LINC Project Group of Sogang University, won the gold medal. In addition, the team was nominated for special awards in three categories: Best Software, Best Hardware, and Best Presentation. Considering the fact that many universities spend years preparing for this competition, these results are more than impressive for a team making their debut.
This year’s 19th iGEM competition, hosted by MIT in the United States, served as the venue for representatives from leading universities around the world to showcase bioengineering projects related to gene manipulation. More than 360 teams from around the globe participated in this year’s edition, in which Team Sogang_Korea introduced SynBioBot, an automated robotic system that allows a robot arm to remotely cultivate animal cells and perform all the necessary processes to manipulate genes. The finals and awards ceremony were held at the Versailles Expo in Paris, France, from October 26 to 28, 2022.
▲ “SynBioBot” presented by Team Sogang_Korea
Their prize comes as a result of the efforts of students from various majors: Hamm Jung-min, Park Ji-ae, and Lee Seo-young (Department of Chemistry); Kang Ji-won (Department of Life Sciences); and Lee In-jun, Lim Seong-hyeon, Lee Jae-jin, Lee Yun-geun, Kang Ji-seok, and Jo Young-jun (Department of Mechanical Engineering). Together, over the course of six months (from March to October), they built a remote robot system with the ability to conduct synthetic biology experiments and studied the experiment conditions appropriate for cell culture. To implement the entire experimental process using only the simple picking-up motion of the pressure-sensor gripper, the students have designed countless auxiliary components, such as a pipetting machine, which were registered under design patents.
“I am grateful for Professor Shin Kwan-woo of the Department of Chemistry, Professor Jeong Seok-hwan of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the LINC Project Group for giving us an opportunity for such a valuable experience,” said Hamm Jung-min as a representative for the students. “It is an honor to be nominated for several awards among so many teams gathered from around the world.”
Additionally, Team Sogang_Korea plans to further develop its system as a platform to enable remote chemical and biological education. The team also said that they would like to create a company that can contribute to humanity by providing fair education opportunities to students who find it hard to conduct advanced experiments due to the lack of experimental facilities.
The research process and results of Team Sogang_Korea can be found in detail on the team’s Wiki within iGEM’s homepage (https://2022.igem.wiki/sogang-korea/).
