Announcing the first awardee as part of our National Summer of Synbio competition! Sponsored by Flow Genomics

It is with great pleasure that we announce our first awardee, Victor Boddy from University of Ottawa! Victor’s project is part of this year’s UOttawa iGEM team. Their project, titled Arboguard, is focused on discovering new ways to repel mosquitos via the skin microbiome. We loved the creativity and enthusiasm in this project, as well as the well-organized poster and graphics. The ultimate potential of this project is to explore the possibilities of making a mosquito repellent that is longer lasting and less harmful to the environment.

Teams of undergraduates across Canada compete every year at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition for the past 21 years. Many of Canada’s professional and academic synthetic biologists got their first inspirations from participating in the iGEM competition. In addition to being outstanding opportunities for career development for undergraduates, there are many great examples of startups that have emerged from iGEM’ers, sometimes directly from the work they completed for the competition.

Flow Genomics provides fast, reliable and accurate sequencing services. They’ve sponsored this competition as enthusiastic supporters and valued members of Canada’s synthetic biology community.

This award is the first of three national prizes that will be awarded this summer. Synbio Canada is gathering applicants across the country to celebrate some of Canada’s synthetic biology achievements and enthusiasm. Victor will receive the first of three prizes of $500 in cash and $500 in sequencing credits from Flow Genomics. Applications are open for two more awards that will be announced in July and August.