Pakistani students win silver medal at iGEM 2017

Boston: The aspirants from Pakistan were awarded along with a silver medal for their project at the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) 2017, which was organized at Boston’s Hynes Convention Centre on Monday afternoon.

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The team of students comprises of Muhammad Dawood, Ushma Farooq, Hassan Raza, Hassnain Qasim, Ayesha Khan and Babar Nawaz.

The aspirants belong to various cities of Pakistan wich includes Lahore, Attock, Islamabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Khyber Agency, Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar, Swabi and Mardan.

As per the issued press release, the iGEM team belongs to the Institute of Integrative Biosciences, CECOS University, Peshawar, and this team has been supported by the Directorate of Science and Technology, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).

The iGEM Peshawar team was also selected this year for Best Bio Safety Award.

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The awarded project is known as a ‘reporter fish’ which can identify heavy metal contamination in fresh water and as a response to it, it changes the color of its body.

The team designed as well as constructed the genetic (DNA) circuits required for this function and have tested them in bacterial cells.

The aspirants were of the views that their project will have a direct influence on the livelihoods of fish farmers as well as the health of fish consumer crosswise the state.

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“I am so much proud of the team who put in much effort to win us a Silver medal this time. Many thanks to the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as CECOS University for the funding and the maximum support throughout the competition this year,” said the supervisor of the team, Dr Faisal Khan.

“We expect that our industry will join hands along with us in IGEM 2018 just like all the other teams here from various states,” he added.