After earning an unprecedented victory in the 2023 season of the Latin America iGEM Design League competition, the CNPEM team is preparing to compete on the international stage in France in October.
The iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition is held by the nonprofit iGEM Foundation, and challenges multidisciplinary teams from universities from all around the world to develop innovative solutions to social and environmental problems using synthetic biology.
With support from the Ministries of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and Education (MEC), the Brazilian team named CNPEM.BRAZIL is made up of interns, students from the Ilum School of Science, graduate fellows, and receives support and guidance from CNPEM researchers. During this stage, the team will present an updated version of last year’s winning project, which focused on developing an innovative method to efficiently remove microplastics from water.
Synthetic biology has been expanding worldwide as a central area for research and academic applications that combines expertise from a diverse variety of techniques (genetic engineering, programming, artificial intelligence, biochemistry) around the manipulation of microorganisms and artificial construction of biological metabolic pathways in order to attain objectives for application in broad areas such as food, pharmaceuticals, and energy.
The current project entitled BARBIE 4.0 incorporates customized identification and remediation of other water contaminants like toxins that can cause health problems and harm the environment. It involves two main steps: detection and treatment. Detection combines physical and biological methods to identify a broad range of pollutants with different characteristics and composition, while the treatment phase involves an innovative solution inspired by spiders. Biotechnology will be used to create “Spider Barbie,” a smart filter to an effective detect and remove pollutants from drinking water.
Beyond scientific and technological development, the team is involved in internal CNPEM initiatives related to sustainability like Project SIRIEMA (Strategic Solutions for Responsibility, Interaction, Education and Environment), which encourages the reduction of single-use plastics on the campus.
About the Ilum School of Science
Ilum offers a free undergraduate degree program that utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to train scientists and professionals in science and technology. With an innovative educational model, the three-year bachelor program encompasses full-time classes that connect life sciences, materials science, data science, artificial intelligence, and the humanities in order to prepare researchers to work in an ethical and collaborative manner in the search for solutions to the global challenges of the twenty-first century. The Ilum School of Science is funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) and is part of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas, São Paulo, a social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI). Ilum’s educational mission offers early contact with experimental activities, in teaching labs at the school as well as at CNPEM, in projects carried out along with researchers.
About CNPEM
The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment and works on different fronts within the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently developing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution that is unique in Brazil and able to serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation. It is responsible for operating four National Laboratories: Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), and Biorenewables (LNBR), as well as the Ilum School of Science, which offers a bachelor’s degree program in science and Technology with support from the Ministry of Education (MEC).
