University of La Verne Earns Silver Medal at iGEM Biology Competition

A team of seven University of La Verne students and 10 high school students earned a silver medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Giant Jamboree for their creation of clean-burning biodiesel.

Team members were among 5,600 participants from 42 countries at the late-October event in Boston. It is the second year the University of La Verne has participated. The team earned a bronze medal in the 2015 competition. The university collaborated with students from La Canada and Crescenta Valley high schools for this year’s event.

“They focused on solving our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Dr. Jennifer Tsui, assistant professor of biology. “They performed an industry analysis by interviewing experts in alternative energy and integrated their analysis in their project design.”

Students then performed mathematical modeling and engineered bacteria to produce biodiesel. The project is connected with the one the team submitted in 2015, which focused on cyanobacteria. In that project, team members created stronger cyanobacterial cells for more efficient biofuel production.

Each iGEM project, initiated during the summer, addresses an urgent global issue, Tsui said.

University of La Verne students who participated were Harry Bennett, Alina Khzanyan, Jade Ku, Micah Madrid, Adriana Moran, Andrew Okimura, and Megan Sare, along with 10 high school students supervised by Patricia Compeau of La Canada High School.  Tsui and Dr. Yousef Daneshbod, associate professor of mathematics, served as advisers.  Grace Casian, director of annual leadership giving, Alexandria Orozco, coordinator of annual giving, and Amy Jiang, coordinator of library technology, provided support for the team.