Exemplary Projects in Safety

Teams that accomplish something special on safety and security during iGEM have been rewarded with a special commendation. This award is not always given and is presented by the Safety Committee to reward excellence. Past recipients have included:

2017 Wageningen UR

For integrating safety and security into how they designed their project, decisions they made whilst working on it, and including these important topics in how they presented their work at the Jamboree

2016 Arizona State

For a White Paper on context specific risk assessment where they considered how risks associated with parts in their project might change if they were to come into contact with different organisms.

2015 Bielefeld-CeBiTec

For a report on the dual-use nature of advanced biotechnology – where its impact on society is determined by the intent of the user. This report was felt to be an excellent review of this issue - and an important resource for future iGEM teams.

2014 Aachen

For integrating safety considerations into the design and production of their project. This team undertook a series of experiments to determine whether safety-based decisions taken in project design actually resulted in the desired improvements.

2013 Lethbridge

For working with the gene synthesis industry to test whether their screening techniques could detect illicit orders that had undergone a frame shift. Their security work was directly connected to their main project. This was an excellent example of responsible whitehat biohacking.

2012 Paris Bettencourt

For a project focused entirely on safety issues. This team developed a three-level containment system designed to prevent horizontal gene transfer or a modified organism becoming an invasive specifies.