Swiss SynBio MeetUp

The First Ever Swiss Meet-up

In collaboration with the iGEM Teams of the University of Zurich and the University of Lausanne, we organised the first ever Swiss iGEM Meet-up in Zurich: The Swiss SynBio Meetup!

Our aim was to build lasting links between the Swiss iGEM teams and build a lasting collaboration, all the while increasing the visibility of iGEM in Switzerland and creating a community of synthetic biology in the country. As a country that hosts some of the global giants of the pharmaceutical industry, we believe Switzerland has a lot to offer and a lot to gain with respect to the wider iGEM community. We kept the event open to the public to ensure accessibility for the general public and to raise awareness on the potential of Synthetic Biology and the cutting edge developments.

A general timeline of the events can be found in the advertised and distributed flyers :

Synthetic Biology Exchange

The event saw three types of presentations: iGEM itself, the three iGEM projects, and the research projects from two individuals working in the field.

The presentation of iGEM was dedicated to the wider public, aiming to introduce them to the basics of the iGEM competition and raise interest in synthetic biology and in the competition itself.

Afterwards, the three teams represented their projets:

  • UZH: IBD Nanobiotics, aiming to tackle the lack of targeted treatment options by harnessing the power of the gut microbiome to help IBD patients and increase their daily quality of life.

  • UNILausanne: Quagg’out, aiming to eradicate and stop the spread of quagga mussels in Switzerland and worldwide.

  • EPFL: HESTIA, aiming to manufacture a protein-coated cellulose aerogel as a sustainable and highly performant alternative to existing insulation options.

Lastly, the audience and the iGEMers had the pleasure of being introduced to the research of the two guests of honour: PhD candidate Emanuele Boni and Dr. R. Ballister from Columbia University. Emanuele Boni presented his thesis on expanding the Synthetic Biology toolbox with the generation of a repressilator using the CRISPR technology. Then, Dr. Ballister introduced his research on engineering bacteria to deliver therapeutic antibody mimics within solid tumours.

Conclusion

Overall, the first Swiss iGEM Meet-up was a success, as an audience of considerable size consisted of the university students and wider public was present, and expressed interest and satisfaction with the event. The ties between the three Swiss teams were solidified, and hopefully will evolve further with the future iterations of the Swiss SynBio Meetup.