Team:Oxford/P&P intellectual property

In the emerging science of synthetic biology, iGEM is growing as a source of ambitious and imaginative ideas which have the potential to offer great benefits to human society and our environment. The number of successful iGEM start-ups clearly demonstrates that the competition gives team the chance not just to complete a summer project but to come up with a solution which has a positive impact in the real world—in fact, many projects are conceived in the hope of doing just this, often with a specific unresolved social problem in mind. iGEM draws inspiration from the world and the challenges it faces, and contributes back potential solutions.

For the policy and practices element of the competition, our team has researched how iGEM projects grow from ideas into real world solutions. What are the challenges face teams who want to develop their projects beyond the jamboree? What can be done to help them realise the potential benefits of their ideas for society? And what should we be aiming to achieve by all this? Our team identified five key considerations for teams to take into account. Follow the icons below to learn more!