On November 4, iGEM Toronto was awarded the distinction of Gold Medal Standard for their project Accelerating Industrial Plastic Degradation With PETase at the 2019 international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Giant Jamboree. This was the first Gold Medal result for the team since 2013. iGEM Toronto’s project also received nomination for Best Project – Manufacturing Track, placing it in the top five out of dozens of entrants. Prof. Krishna Mahadevan (ChemE) was the Faculty Advisor for this year’s team.
The Giant Jamboree is the culminating event of iGEM, an annual competition for students leveraging synthetic biology to solve real-world problems. This year’s event took place over four days from November 1-4 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA. Three hundred and fifty three teams were in attendance from 47 different countries. Bronze, silver, and gold medals are awarded to projects that meet specific criteria, as determined by a team of judges.