What is iGEM?

iGEM is a worldwide competition taking place every year. It is dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology and education, and the development of an open community. In 2023, iGEM gathered more than 7000 iGEMers and 400 teams, giving students the opportunity to push the boundaries of synthetic biology by tackling everyday issues facing the world.

Team ULaval's Contribution

The project aimed at making universal blood to help supply blood transfusions for people with uncommon blood types. O- blood type is considered a universal blood type since it can be given to anyone, no matter their blood type. Using synthetic biology, our project innovated on past enzymatic antigen removal treatments by using extensive protein modeling, protein structure prediction, and molecular dynamics, resulting in O-type blood from blood donations. Our process aimed to be usable in the clinical field.