I am sitting in the Stata Center at MIT taking a breather from serving as a judge at International Genetically Engineered Machines 2009 Jamboree. There are 110 teams here, with over 1200 students from around the world showing off their projects with great enthusiasm. As we have a full day left to go before the deliberations begin I won’t divulge yet how specific teams are doing. But I have to say I am pleased.
iGEM is, at its core, an experiment. As the wiki says, the teams will “all specify, design, build, and test simple biological systems made from standard, interchangeable biological parts.” Of course, as there aren’t yet any standard, interchangeable biological parts, the students are inventing as they go. And inventing is slow, arduous work.
iGEM 2009: In the thick of it. - synthesis
Welcome to the future.
