VU Students – International Runners-Up at the iGEM Synthetic Biology Competition

The name of Lithuania was firmly placed on the map at iGEM, an international, prestigious synthetic biology competition. This year was the ninth year that VU students have taken part in the competition, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. On 2–5 November, the Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team participated in this year’s final held in Paris; the team was recognised among the best, taking second place.

With their ‘Exullose’ project, the Vilnius University students outperformed over 400 teams from over 60 countries. Teams from the world’s most prestigious universities, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford, were among the competing teams.

‘This is already the third time that Vilnius University students have been among the top three best teams in the competition. In 2017 and 2020, the Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team was recognised as the best in the world. These achievements are enormous to Lithuania; few teams in the competition can boast such huge achievements. This is an excellent example of high-level students being trained at Vilnius University and that Lithuania has great potential in developing the field of life sciences,’ says Matas Rarivanas, the head of the team.

In addition to winning second place in the competition, the Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team has brought the gold medal for ‘Excellence in Synthetic Biology’ back to Lithuania. The team has also been ranked in the top five of the best biomanufacturing projects and won special prizes in the following categories: best collection of biological parts, best educational activities, inclusivity, best presentation, and best ‘Wiki’ page.

This year, the Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team selected bacterial cellulose as their research object. This polymer is manufactured by bacteria naturally cohabiting with the fermented Kombucha tea fungus and is only slightly different from the common plant-derived cellulose. The project ‘Exullose’ by the Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM team was aimed at creating a biological system, which would manufacture materials based on bacterial cellulose which would feature improved properties.

During the project, three successful bacterial cellulose modification systems were created. The first one is intended for manufacturing a bacterial cellulose common polymer with chitin or chitosan, thereby expanding the applicability of bacterial cellulose in the field of biomedicine. The system developed by the team is not only sustainable but also reduces the manufacturing price of bacterial cellulose and the chitin polymer by 20 times. The second system stains bacterial cellulose at the same time as it is being produced by the bacteria. This synthesis of coloured cellulose is an excellent example of green chemistry, which will help avoid the pollution caused by dye in the textile industry in the future. Moreover, during the project, a biodegradable material featuring the properties of plastic was obtained. This is a polymer of cellulose and one other material – polyhydroxybutyrate – produced by bacteria, which could potentially be applicable as a sustainable alternative to food packaging.

Along with the scientific part, this year, the team also focused on scientific communication through interdisciplinary and public engagement activities. ‘Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM’ has managed to reach almost 25,000 people thanks to its initiatives: Menas x Mokslas (Art x Science), the publication Įvadas į sintetinę biologiją (Introduction to Synthetic Biology) in Braille, and journeys across Lithuanian cities and towns.

9 Nov 2023