Students’ water pollution solution gets a gold at iGEM

January 18, 2024

A team of XJTLU undergraduates from diverse disciplines earned a gold medal at the 2023 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition held recently in Paris. More than 400 teams from 45 countries competed, with 190 teams earning gold.

The team from XJTLU consisted of 10 undergraduates from the School of Science, XJTLU Wisdom Lake Academy of Pharmacy, and the School of Advanced Technology.

Their standout project, the Claritein System, uses biosorption – where biological materials collect contaminants from water – for removing heavy metal and noble metal silver ion pollution during industrial wastewater treatment.

From top, left to right: Zian Tang, Pengshan Li , Shouye Zhu, Lexuan Li , Shenghan Sun , Shi Qiu, Yiran Wang, Chengweiran Liu, Zhechen Zhu, Jiyi Wang

According to team members, existing commercial wastewater treatment methods use chemical reagents to remove heavy metals and are less sustainable than methods using synthetic biology.

To create their system, the XJTLU team used synthetic biology techniques to modify an Escherichia coli biofilm to adsorb and recycle various heavy metal ions.

The team’s leader, Jiyi Wang, says the method they propose minimises biological risks.

Spreading the word

According to Wang, the iGEM competition builds participants’ curiosity about and enthusiasm for uses of synthetic biology.

“Through the annual iGEM competition, we gain a profound understanding of the global applications of synthetic biology in various fields,” Wang says.

“Starting from the artistic use of bacteria in the early days to addressing more sophisticated challenges today, our goal is to ignite broader interest and passion for synthetic biology and thus drive progress and development in this field."

In addition to developing their project, the XJTLU team organised a range of educational outreach activities about synthetic biology in Suzhou and Shanghai for students of different ages.

High school students at an XJTLU affiliated school learn about synthetic biology’s uses

The worldwide iGEM competition is an annual event challenging multidisciplinary teams to design systems using synthetic biology and engineering principles that address real-world problems.

By Luyao Wang

Translated by Yimei Liao

Edited by Tamara Kaup and Xinmin Han

Photos by XJTLU team

January 18, 2024