TJU Team Wins Gold Medal at iGEM Asia 2012

iGEM Asia 2012 wrapped up at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on October 7, 2012. Under the guidance of Professor Yuan Yingjin, the Tianjin University (TJU) team won a gold medal and the “Best Poster Award” after fierce competition with the teams from other top universities in Asia. As the 2nd Runner-Up, the TJU team will advance to the World Championship to be held at MIT. It is a historical breakthrough for TJU’s iGEM team since it last won a gold medal in 2007.

The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, initiated in 2005 and hosted by MIT, is the premier international undergraduate Synthetic Biology competition. It is dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary research and collaboration and developing broad talents in Synthetic Biology. The competition has been reported on by several prestigious global science magazines such as Nature. Fifty-one teams from China (including mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan), Japan, Korea, India, and Australia participated in iGEM Asia 2012, among which 21 won gold medals with 17 advancing to the World Championship. Among the three best teams judged to represent the highest level of Asia, TJU ranked No.3.

In 2006, TJU was one of the first groups of universities in mainland China to take part in iGEM. It offers an opportunity for TJU students to partake in advanced international research, offers a greater opportunity for talent training in the field of Synthetic Biology, and promotes the internalization of Chinese higher education.