An NDSU multidisciplinary student team earned a gold medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine Grand Jamboree held Oct. 26-28 at the Paris Expo Port de Versailles in Paris.
“The gold medal means a lot to our team as it was our main goal for this season. We received a bronze medal last year for our previous project, so our main focus was to really improve from what we did last year,” said Wyatt Warkenthien, a biotechnology and microbiology student. “I also think that competing with so many other distinguished schools such as MIT, Harvard and Stanford really shows the great opportunities we have here at NDSU and our ability to be competitive in such an intense competition.”
The NDSU Genetic Engineering Corps team’s project is working to develop natural dyes for textiles using proteins produced in bacteria. Many bacteria already produce natural pigments in a wide variety of colors that could be used in the dying process.
The team has created a product that is a naturally occurring pigment which adheres well to cotton fabrics. The product could help provide a sustainable, environmentally safe alternative to widely used harmful synthetic dyes, which can be carcinogenic, photosynthesis reducing agents that contain heavy metals.
“When deciding on our project, we wanted to solve a problem that impacted a lot of people,” said Mia Haugan, team president and biotechnology and microbiology major. “Replacing synthetic clothing dye with a protein-based dye would decrease environmental impact, benefit workers and provide a safe alternative. After this season, our dye still needs work, but it has potential to be developed into a product that could help a lot of people.”
At the iGEM event, multidisciplinary teams from around the world compete for medals and awards by designing, building and testing projects using cutting-edge synthetic biology. Teams document their work through deliverables like wikis, videos and presentations. They are evaluated by a panel of expert judges.
About 350 teams from more than 40 countries participated in this year’s event.
“NDSU’s iGem team this year was remarkably successful thanks to the diverse skills brought by each of the team members. I was amazed by what they accomplished as a team,” said Barney Geddes, assistant professor of microbiological sciences and the team advisor. “They demonstrated excellence in research, bringing an innovative idea to life with their sustainable dye produced by bacteria, but also had broader impacts through outreach to the community.”
NDSU team members are Warkenthien, Haugan, Drew Jordahl (biochemistry, molecular biology), Deanna Milner (microbiology), Caroline Osborne (genomics), Taylor Pennington (biotechnology), Sierra Preabt (psychology, neuroscience), Jake Schumacher (microbiology graduate student) and Miranda Vanderhyde (microbiology graduate student).
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