Seven students from the NC State, including two chemical engineering undergraduates, competed and won a gold medal in the iGEM Grand Jamboree, held in Paris, France.  The students included Akshaya Ambati (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering), Patrick Carsona-Cosner (Biochemistry), Audrey Johnson (Biomedical Engineering), Shirin Mohamed (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering), Nicole Nienaber (Biochemistry), Aidan O’Brien (Genetics) and Sai Vignathri Vaddi (Biochemistry).  One of their mentors, postdoctoral researcher Alexandra Imre from Prof. Nathan Crook’s lab, also accompanied them. 

The NC State team was awarded a gold medal for their project, “Detection and Bioremediation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls.” Their goal is to develop a synthetic biology-based system for the detection and bioremediation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are persistent organic pollutants that pose environmental and health risks. They engineer Pseudomona putida to express genes from the biphenyl degradation pathway, enabling them to enzymatically break down PCB compounds into less toxic intermediates. To complement this, they are designing a biosensor circuit that uses synthetic aptamers–short nucleic acid sequences that specifically bind PCBs–to initiate a response via a CRISPR-Cas12a-based system. The dual-function system will allow their engineered organisms to both sense and respond to PCB contamination in a controlled, efficient, and field-deployable manner. Want to learn more about the team and their research? Click here.

The project’s principal investigators are CBE Professors Nathan Crook and Qingshan Wei. The entire team is composed of 14 NC State students from the chemical and biomolecular engineering, biochemistry, biology, genetics, biomedical engineering, crop science, plant biology, computer science, and business administration departments. In addition to Alexandre Imre, the team is mentored by Aditi Dey Poonam (PhD student, Wei lab), Zidan Li (postdoctoral researcher, Crook lab), and Michael Taylor (iGEM). 

iGEM is an international organization dedicated to advancing the field of synthetic biology and building the global synbio workforce through education and competition, while cultivating an open, collaborative and cooperative community that strives to find solutions for a healthier, more resilient and sustainable world. The iGEM Grand Jamboree took place October 27 – October 31, 2025, in Paris. The competition is an annual event that gives students the opportunity to push the boundaries of synthetic biology by tackling everyday issues facing the world. Multidisciplinary teams work together to design, build, test, and measure a system of their own design using interchangeable biological parts and standard molecular biology techniques.

Congratulations to the entire group on their groundbreaking research and gold medal win!