Ten students will represent Israel in the prestigious international competition in the field of genetic engineering iGEM held under the auspices of MIT USA and will face 250 teams of students and researchers from the world's leading universities.
Ten students will represent Israel in the prestigious international competition in the field of genetic engineering iGEM held under the auspices of MIT USA and will face 250 teams of students and researchers from the world's leading universities.
They will join a group of 11 students from the Technion who developed a system for detecting allergens in food.
The team led by Professor Samdar Cohen from the Department of Biotechnology at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, is developing in the university's laboratories an innovative treatment in the field of synthetic biology for personalized treatment of the "metabolic syndrome". The syndrome is diagnosed in 1 out of 4 people of the world's population and includes, among other things, symptoms of diabetes and obesity which are a significant catalyst for life-threatening heart diseases.
Today, most of the traditional medicines for the syndrome cause unwanted side effects and only treat the symptoms. The team is working on developing smart drugs that are able to respond to signals from the body even after they are administered and change their action in real time. These methods are expected to reduce side effects and improve treatment efficiency significantly. The development of the treatment is carried out using innovative biological methods that are at the forefront of science and the main thing is personalized treatment for each person according to their unique genetics.
The team's vision is to create a world in which synthetic biology and genetic engineering will be an integral part of the medical treatment that each and every individual will receive, and the project is the beginning of realizing this vision. In addition, the group works a lot on combining a healthy lifestyle (nutrition-sports) and science to create a comprehensive envelope of awareness-prevention-and treatment of the problem, with an emphasis on innovative technologies and research.
The team presented the project at a panel of experts from the medical field that took place at the largest entrepreneurship event in Israel (Innovations 2014) where over two thousand high-tech people, entrepreneurs, and public figures were present. Also, donation activities to the community and education on synthetic biology issues are planned for the community. The project is supported by the president of Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Professor Rivka Karmi, the deans of the faculties, the student union, the Ministry of Technology, Science and Space, the Ministry of Health and by commercial companies and private entities.
Last year a team from Ben Gurion University participated in the competition with the development of "bacteria with a self-destructive mechanism" (2013-iGEM BGU) was the first team from Israel to qualify for the finals of the competition at MIT, appeared in newspaper articles and even received the blessing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu! This year the members of the iGEM BGU 2014 group are determined to win the competition in first place, to bring honor to Israel and Ben Gurion University of the Negev, but more importantly, to help the millions of patients around the world improve their health and quality of life.
