The University of Lethbridge iGEM team won a gold medal at the iGEM International competition in Boston, Mass. at the end of October.

A total of 112 teams vied for gold, silver and bronze medals. Only 10 Canadian teams received gold medals, three of which went to teams in Alberta – University of Lethbridge, University of Calgary and University of Alberta.

The iGEM competition is regarded as the premier undergraduate synthetic biology competition in North America. Student teams are given a kit of biological parts at the beginning of the summer from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts. Working at their own schools over the summer, they use these parts, along with new parts of their own design, to build biological systems. They then operate these systems in living cells.

The U of L team, led by Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, included: Jeffrey Fischer, Alix Blackshaw, Lisza Bruder, Mackenzie Coatham, Ashley Duncan, Kirsten Rosler, Roxanne Shank and Megan Torry.