iGEM 2023 : Journey to the heart of adventure

It was in November 2022 that the adventure began! After being well motivated by the feedback from the previous team, many 4th year biosciences students from ENS and Lyon 1 University wanted, in turn, to embark on the iGEM experience! Ideas flowed quickly: the goal was to find a subject that was close to our hearts, multidisciplinary, and having a positive impact on the world.

Antibiotic resistance was therefore a perfect subject to both launch us into the design of a complex biotechnological tool, leaving open the development of software and mathematical models, while having a strong ethical and educational aspect to take into account. Despite a difficult start to setting up the project, we did not let ourselves get discouraged and managed to overcome all the challenges involved in embarking on such an adventure! And this would not have been possible without the invaluable support of our PI, Sylvie Reverchon.

Everything then happened quickly: the long bibliographic research, the laboratory manipulations, the development of our software, the interviews with specialists, the awareness campaign, the communication, without forgetting the fundraising, the search for sponsors and all the different logistical aspects that the competition involves. iGEM therefore allowed us all to develop our knowledge in each of these areas, each member of the team being able to find their preferred area.

Working on a project as multidisciplinary as this will have been a very educational experience for everyone, allowing us to carry out a project with a real impact! The meetings held and the teamwork will have made us grow both professionally and personally.

Little by little, SUPERBUGBUSTER was built, both from a scientific point of view in the laboratory with the achievements of our different plasmids, and really, with our little mascots CASS and OXA as well as all the work carried out around our innovation. Informing about the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance, a real problem in our society that we talk about too little, was for us a key point of the project: we cannot create a sustainable tool if mentalities do not adapt to the technology that we propose.

Everything accelerated from August: the promotional video, the writing of the wiki, the 15-minute presentation video of our project, the preparation of the jamboree, ... For a large number of us , this final straight line will have been synonymous with many sleepless nights and an immense investment, but it was worth it: finally seeing your project finished, after almost a year of work, will have been a source of pride for the entire team .

Finally, the consecration, the big jamboree, the finale! From November 2 to 5, 9 team members traveled to Paris to present SUPERBUGBUSTER to the rest of the world. We held a stand through which participants could learn more about our project and our achievements, passed the judging session brilliantly and presented our project on stage in a theatrical way. Many teams were present, so it was an opportunity to meet scientists and students from all over the world and discover wonderful projects, each as innovative as the last. We received a lot of positive feedback, and CASS and OXA made a splash! So it was with stars in our eyes that we returned to Lyon, and not empty-handed: after being nominated for the best integrated human practices and best therapeutics awards, we received the best software tool award and the medal Golden !