Join us in congratulating UH’s own Lauren Applegate, Rebecca Lu, and Krista Adu-Osei on bringing home the gold alongside their UMD iGEMs teammates!
iGEM is known as the heart of Synthetic Biology, working hard to create a vibrant, innovative, and responsible research community and industry surrounding topics of synthetic biology. Each fall, the iGEM foundation hosts their Jamboree, a 3-day international expo featuring exhibits, networking events, panels, and competitions for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students alongside industry veterans and startups. This year’s Jamboree was held in Paris, France, and included keynotes by representatives from Colorifix, Neoplants, Twist Bioscience, BIOFABRICA, Gingko Bioworks, Asimov, and more.
UMD’s iGEM team presented their project CerviCare at this year’s expo. CerviCare is a urine-based, cervical precancer screening tool they created to detect cervical cancer early, easily, and safely for users across the globe, especially in lower and middle-income countries. The test avoids common barriers to cervical cancer diagnosis like cost, anxiety, patient discomfort, refrigerated storage, and reliance on lab equipment/technicians.
Utilizing a novel approach to toehold switch design, the project detects microRNAs (miRNAs) upregulated in the urine of cervical precancer patients. Urine is introduced onto a test strip containing plasmid DNA and cell-free expression components, triggering toehold switch-mediated reporter gene output. This output is measured by a low-cost portable reader to provide a risk assessment for cervical precancer.
The team earned a Gold Medal for their project, an accolade only awarded to iGEM teams who fulfill a specific judged set of criteria, indicating high competitive excellence. UMD was one of two Big 10 teams to achieve a Gold Medal, alongside prestigious programs from Cambridge, Cornell, McGill, MIT, Oxford, Princeton, and Stanford.
We caught up with Lauren, Rebecca, and Krista before their trip to Paris to learn more about iGEM and how their UH experiences influenced them as they devised and created CerviCare alongside their teammates.
UH: How did your time and courses in UH help you formulate and execute your iGEM project and research?
LA: The interdisciplinary focus of UH translates very well to the interdisciplinary work we do in iGEM. Because of UH, I know how to work with people who have different interests and areas of expertise to accomplish a common goal – something we do every day in iGEM. Also, my UH class the Ecology of Child Poverty helped me bring a sociological perspective to our project. I can take my understanding of how environmental factors and policy affect people, and apply it to our device’s design and implementation.
RL: My time in UH really made me understand the importance of having multiple perspectives and a division of roles. In iGEM, we need to consider a variety of factors besides the actual research part that is integral to our project. From the numerous discussions through my UH courses, I’ve seen how important voicing those opinions are.
KA: My time in UH really helped with iGEM by allowing me to work on my research skills when it comes to huge projects like these. It also helped with learning different interdisciplinary skills and applying those to various projects, since iGEM is interdisciplinary as well.
UH: Why do you think incoming students should consider joining UH? And why should students of all years check out iGEM?
LA: I think students should join UH because of the wide variety of classes available – it is easier to be engaged in what you are learning when it appeals to your personal interests. Joining iGEM is a great way to get involved in student-directed research: we all get a say in our project’s development and direction. In addition, no matter what your major is, there are opportunities to gain valuable experience. Whether you’re interested in biology, web development, art and design, mathematical modeling, fundraising and budgeting, public health, or engineering, there’s an aspect of iGEM for you.
RL: I think students should join iGEM because it allows for a unique hands-on experience that allows students to be involved in a variety of aspects of synthetic biology research! Similar to UH, it encourages students to learn more deeply by interacting closely with the material and further enriching their educational experience. UH is beneficial in this manner because the courses are often smaller and discussion-based, allowing students to connect with each other and the faculty.
KA: I think students should join UH because it allows them to learn from a variety of different subjects that they would not have the opportunity to learn outside of it. I also think students should join iGEM because it allows you to build up different skills you have and also encourages you to work on those skills both collaboratively and independently.