VU Student Team Aims to "Programme" Intestinal Bacteria

VU students develop the method to programme intestinal bacteria, which will facilitate the dietary solution for children with congenital disease phenylketonuria (PKU).

Young scientists from VU will represent Lithuania for the second time at the prestigious synthetic biology competition "iGEM" (International Genetically Engineered Machine).

The state allocates yearly about EUR 12 thousand per one child diagnosed with PKU to purchase a proper diet food. However, the efforts are not sufficient. VU students seek facilitate people with a diet so that they would have a lot more choice.

“iGEM” contest is an annual international event in synthetic biology. The teams from all over the world, consisting of a variety of disciplines, all summer are developing genetically designed systems. Over 300 teams of the world’s largest universities competed in Boston (USA) last year at the iGEM competition.

The debut of the Lithuanian (VU) team at the “IGEM” competition last year was an absolute success – the team received the golden award for the bacterial system ColiClock.

The iGEM Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to education and competition, advancement of synthetic biology, and the development of open community and collaboration. The iGEM Foundation inspires future synthetic biologists by hosting student-led teams in the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition.