UF BME sophomore, Julie Mallinger, and UF team members won a silver medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition.

The UF iGEM team selected the Synthetic Cellular Recorders Integrating Biological Events (SCRIBE) System because it gives amateur microbiologists the ability to couple a chosen stimulus with the desired mutation and quantify that signal. They utilized this system with the ultimate goal of being able to use the tool to quantify the concentration of heavy metals in tap water in the state of Florida (and potentially worldwide) that otherwise may go improperly assessed.

IGEM is a competition of 300+ teams from over 40 countries, designed to encourage research breakthroughs in synthetic biology.

Mentor: Dr. Christopher Reisch