Every year, over 1200 undergraduates from 21 different countries gather at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to compete in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. Using a collection of standardized, interchangeable DNAparts called “Biobricks,” the challenge is to design and test a simple biological system and to operate it in living cells. Design possibilities are endless, and iGEM teams from all over the world are striving to use such system to address some of our most urgent problems. Research objectives range from generating cheap, renewable sources of energy to synthesizing novel pharmaceutical agents that target infectious diseases. Stanford iGEM is a unique student-run, Stanford faculty-directed research group that participated in the iGEM competition for the first time in 2009, winning the "Best Health and Medicine Prize". Sponsored by one of the top research institutions in the world that houses pioneers in the field of synthetic biology, the team is more than ready to take on the 2010 competition. With your support, we can bring home the gold.

Thanks for visiting the official website of the Stanford iGEM team!  We have just completed our second competition season and are very excited to display our work at the MIT in the fall! At this year’s Jamboree (November 5th to November 8th), we will present our project on ratiometric biosensors. It will be a momentous occasion for all of us, and I would like to thank all graduate students, faculty members, and especially our dedicated team members for all of their hard work and dedication! 

Although we are looking forward to celebrating our successes at the end of a very important year, it’s important for us to look back at all of the formidable challenges we initially faced.  With that being said, the faculty, graduate student advisors and I are extremely proud of our current undergraduate team members, who not only designed and physically produced their entire project from scratch, but also became responsible for securing labspace and supplies, as well as planting the seeds for future collaboration with industry and the Stanford community.  I hope that in the coming years, as in the past year,Stanford iGEM continues this tradition of teaching its participants to become even more creative, competent, and collaborative scholars, as these are some of the most important skills one must possess as a successful scientist or engineer. 

I encourage all interested undergraduates to apply to the team.  Applications for the 2010-2011 academic year are due Saturday, December 1st at midnight, and can be found on our “Getting Involved” page. iGEM is a truly unique research experience--there are no other opportunities to conduct cutting-edge research with your own peers on campus. Whether you have published several papers or have never held a pipette before, you are guaranteed a wonderful learning experience and lifelong friends.  The team and I look forward to meeting you, and can’t wait to see what we’ll be able to achieve together next year!  

Anusuya Ramasubramanian

Executive Director 2009-2010

06.22.10 Laura O'Brien, a teacher from Castro Valley High School, joins the Stanford iGEM team. Laura will working on both expeirmental design and modeling .

02.27.10 Congrats to Gregory Owen, Christopher Brunson, Alejandro Virrueta, Karina Padilla, and Francisco Cai for being selected as members of the Stanford iGEM 2009-2010 team! We're excited to have you on the team!.

08.13.09 The Stanford iGEM team was featured on the front of the Stanford University website. Click here to view the article. The team was also featured in a Stanford Daily article, the link to which can be found here. Also, the primary Stanford iGEM faculty advisors, Drew Endy and Christina Smolke were featured on the cover article of the Stanford Alumni magazine. The article can be found here. Finally a video of the Stanford iGEM team, by Stanford News and can be watched here. More »

07.20.09 The team has successfully received almost all the lab equipment it will need for the summer and has finished setting up the lab. The team will now begin wet lab work. More »

06.29.09 He "Mary" Yang, an exchange student from Tsinghua University in Beijing joins the Stanford iGEM team. Mary will primarily be working on mathematical modeling. More »