R-MA’s Rongjian “Cassie” Tang leads international team to Gold at iGEM

Rongjian “Cassie” Tang ‘20 returned to the iGEM Giant Jamboree in Boston for the second year, this time as a team leader. Photo courtesy of R-MA.

The annual iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) Giant Jamboree is the synthetic biology industry’s largest innovation event hosted by the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation. The Giant Jamboree is the culminating event of iGEM’s annual, worldwide, synthetic biology competition for students to use genetic engineering to solve local problems all around the world. Each year, the competition brings together more than 6,000 participants from across the globe to explore and create unique applications of synthetic biology with the mission to bring positive contributions to their communities and society at large. Beyond the technology, participants are evaluated on teamwork, responsibility, entrepreneurship, sharing, safety and more.

This year, Cassie and her team, “ASTWS_China 2019,” worked on a method to decrease pollution caused by livestock excrement. Cassie explained, “Livestock is deliberately overfed and overmilked for if it’s not done this way, the bacteria hiding deep inside the animals will not be eliminated completely. Those bacteria will come back sooner and stronger, which is why we call them super bacteria or superbugs. So, the purpose of overfeeding is actually good, to protect animals from super bacteria.”

However, to keep the livestock healthy, she explained, they are pumped full of antibiotics, but a great many pass through their system without being absorbed, resulting in environmental pollution. The presence of those antibiotics in the environment contributes to the development of “super bacteria” that are resistant to antibiotics. Cassie and her team worked on a solution to this issue.

“We genetically engineered E.coli to secrete a kind of protein called CMY-10 to biodegrade antibiotics,” she said. “In our project’s focus, the antibiotics we are focusing on is the family of B-lactamase, which includes penicillin, and all those medical use antibiotics.” They chose to focus on the b-lactamase family in part because it has such a high excretion rate (80%).

The project earned Cassie a second consecutive Gold Medal at iGem, amidst even more competitors at iGEM than last year. Cassie found that leading her team was fun, but challenging. “It was a lot more work and a lot more tiring,” she said. “After the first day, I collapsed on the bed exhausted.”

Cassie wasn’t allowed to rest, however, as her teammates had organized a birthday party for her. “I celebrated my birthday with people I didn’t even know,” she said with a laugh.

Cassie’s two gold medal teams at consecutive iGEM jamborees have caught the attention of others. Next year she’ll return as an advisor to a younger team, much to her excitement. In addition to getting paid for the position, she will be able to join Jamboree as it crosses the ocean and takes place in Paris next year.

For more on this year’s iGEM Giant Jamboree, visit: http://2019.igem.org/Giant_Jamboree

About iGEM: iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization that pioneered the synthetic biology industry and continues to advance the field through education, competition, and industry collaboration. iGEM’s annual student competition is the largest synthetic biology innovation program and a launchpad for the industry’s most successful leaders and companies. The competition empowers thousands of local people to solve local problems around the world by engineering biology for safe and responsible solutions. The After iGEM program supports the competition’s 40,000+ participants in their future endeavors to continue leading and setting the standards for synthetic biology on an international level. iGEM’s community is comprised of students, leaders, investors, influencers and policymakers who continue to work toward a strong, responsible and visionary synthetic biology industry. For more information, visit www.igem.org.