Special Issue on the 2019 and 2020 iGEM Proceedings

The international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation is an independent, non-profit organisation that advances synthetic biology through the development of a collaborative open community.  The annual global iGEM competition inspires teams to creatively tackle major scientific and social problems by harnessing and contributing to the open-source collection of standardised genetic parts. In addition, participants are incentivised to frame their contributions within the wider social and industrial landscape for real-world applicability. Indeed, since the inception of the competition, several projects have led to remarkable academic achievements, ranging from conceptual to readily-applicable advancements in synthetic biology. Given that academic communications mostly occur in the form of publications, iGEM has always actively encouraged and supported teams to refine and publish their project results, and often collaborates with open-access journals. Thus, this special issue of Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology will feature outstanding and exceptional iGEM projects from the 2019 and 2020 competitions, highlighting the wisdom and vitality of the next generation of synthetic biologists.

Topics Covered:

These will include, but not be limited to:

• The systematic characterisation of valuable biological parts
• Novel design-and-test approaches and results concerning engineered biological devices or systems
• Innovative methods for the construction or characterisation of biological systems
• Optimisation and applicability of biological devices and systems via modelling
• Interfacing computer science with synthetic biology
• State-of-the-art prototyping to advance the development and application of synthetic biology and biotechnology

Important Deadlines:

• Submission deadline (for full papers): 30 June 2021
• Publication date: upon acceptance

Submission Instructions:

Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online; please select the special issue “The 2019 and 2020 iGEM Proceedings”.

Manuscripts will be reviewed and published on a first-come, first-served basis.

Bluepha Co., Ltd. will sponsor and cover the Article Processing Charges (APCs) for accepted manuscripts. Once all accepted manuscripts are published, they will be compiled into this special issue.

If you have any questions, please contact the editorial group: journal2021@igem.org.

Guest Editors:

• Haoqian Zhang, PhD in Biophysics, co-founder of Bluepha Co., Ltd., China. Email: zhanghaoqian@bluepha.com
• Dorothy Zhang, Director of Community Engagement at iGEM Foundation, France. Email: dorothyzhang@igem.org
• Roger Rubio Sánchez, Chair of the Academia & Research Committee at After iGEM, UK. Email: rmr44@cam.ac.uk
• Prof. I-Son Ng, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, China. Email: yswu@mail.ncku.edu.tw
• Prof. Baishan Fang, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Xiamen University, China. Email: fbs@xmu.edu.cn