In the early morning of November 23, 2020, Beijing time, the joint team "GA State SW Jiaotong" established by the School of Life Science and Engineering of the University in collaboration with Georgia State University won the Silver Medal at the 17th International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM). 

A total of 256 teams with over 5,000 teachers and students from more than 40 countries around the world partook in this year’s competition, and contestants included the domestic prestigious universities such as Tsinghua, Peking, etc., and Ivy League Universities like Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Princeton, etc.

Founded by MIT in 2003 and held once a year, iGEM is a top international academic competition and the cradle of future life science scientists, always displaying the highest level research achievements of undergraduate students in the field of synthetic biology.

The joint team is composed of 15 students (mostly from SWJTU-GSU Joint Program in Biology) at Southwest Jiaotong University and 8 students from Georgia State University, and jointly supervised by Huang Xinhe, Liao Hai, Zhou Jiayu and Zhu Qiankun from SWJTU, and Dr. Matt Brewer from GSU. Some teachers and students of the team participated in the 16th iGEM in 2019 as well and won the Bronze Medal.

The team adopted the design concept of synthetic biology in its project “Synbio-dinium A synthetic biology solution to coral bleaching” at the Competition, and developed trans-genetic coralline symbiotic algae, providing new solutions to coral bleaching and extinction, a worldwide problem.

This competition provides the students with an innovation platform and broadens their horizon. Supported by the SWJTU-GSU Joint Program in Biology of SWJTU and GSU, the joint team is the result of the development of the Collaborative Program of the two universities.