Test

Can simple biological systems be built from standard, interchangeable parts and operated in living cells? Or is biology simply too complicated to be engineered in this way?

The only way to answer this is actually try to engineer biological devices.

The iGEM competition facilitates this by providing a library of standardized parts to students, and asking them to design and build genetic machines with them. We call our parts BioBricks, and we organize them in a Registry. Of course, students are welcome to make their own BioBricks, too.

The early results that the answer to the question is: biological systems can be engineered. iGEM teams have successfully created devices that range from bacterial photographic film to biosensors, and more

Our broader goals are:

• To enable the systematic engineering of biology
• To promote the open and transparent development of tools for engineering biology
• And to help construct a society that can productively apply biological technology