The UCSC iGEM team project for 2018 will be to produce steroid hormones in yeast: specifically progesterone. Progesterone is a hormone that the female body naturally produces that can suppress ovulation. The right to control one’s own fertility is a basic human right. Regretfully though, in 2014 it was estimated that 225 million women worldwide aged 15-49 years had unmet need for contraception. These numbers are abysmal and we hope that we can help change that.
