A team of undergraduates at the University of California-Santa Cruz has developed a system called Progenie that’s designed to target and eliminate a toxic gene found in Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
The team’s method provides an alternative to antibiotics commonly used in agriculture. This new method is designed in part to stop the rise of drug-resistant bacteria.
The team’s project won a gold medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Jamboree, an annual competition that brings together student teams from around the world to present synthetic biology projects that aim to address pressing global issues.
At the jamboree, teams are judged on their virtual project posters, wiki pages, and video presentations. Teams are awarded gold medals if they demonstrate excellence across multiple categories.
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