The grant "Life Sciences: inventing – creating – having fun" has been offered by the Office for Science and Technology of the Consulate general of France in Los Angeles since 2012 to French teams who participate in American competitions in life sciences. Following the call for projects launched in February 2015, 8 teams were selected to receive a grant.

These 8 teams will all participate in the iGEM (international Genetically Engineered Machine) competition started in 2004 at MIT in Boston. Around 270 student teams from around the world registered for this synthetic biology competition which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. Teams have around six months to modify bacteria, or any other type of cell, by inserting DNA fragments in order to give rise to new functionalities that might lead to major advances to respond to the environmental, medical and societal challenges of tomorrow.

With an increasing number of teams and great results, France is righteously represented at this prestigious competition. For instance, the Paris Bettencourt team, pioneer of the iGEM movement in France, was awarded Grand Prize Winner by the jury for the "Overgraduate" category in 2013 (see article). That same year, the team from INSA de Lyon was chosen to host around 700 attendees from all over Europe at the Europe Regional Jamboree.

This year, grantees of the Life Sciences program are:

Aix-Marseille 2nd participation in the iGEM competition 2014: Gold medal
Bordeaux 4th participation in the iGEM competition 2012: Bronze medal 2013 2014: Bronze medal
Evry 4th participation in the iGEM competition 2012: Gold medal, Best Human Practices Advance (Europe), Best Model (Europe), Advance to Championship 2013: Gold medal, Best Human Practices Advance (Europe/Overgrad), Advance to Championship 2014: Gold medal
INSA Toulouse 3rd participation in the iGEM competition 2013: Gold medal 2014: Gold medal, Best Innovation in Measurement (Undergrad)
IONIS Paris 1st participation in the iGEM competition
Paris Bettencourt 9th participation in the iGEM competition 2007 2008: Bronze medal 2009: Gold medal, Best Human Practices Advance 2010: Gold medal, Best Foundational Advance 2011: Gold medal, Regional Finalist (Europe), Best Presentation (Europe), Advance to Championship 2012: Gold medal, Safety Commendation (Europe), Advance to Championship, Finalist, Best Environment Project, Second Runner Up 2013: Gold medal, Best Wiki (Europe/Overgrad), Regional Finalist (Europe/Overgrad), Second Runner Up (Europe/Overgrad), Advance to Championship, Best Health & Medicine Project (Overgrad), Finalist (Overgrad), Grand Prize Winner (Overgrad) 2014: Gold medal, Best Supporting Art & Design (Overgrad), Best New Application Project (Overgrad)
Paris Saclay 4th participation in the iGEM competition 2012 2013: Gold medal 2014: Gold medal
Pasteur Paris 1st participation in the iGEM competition

The Office for Science and Technology wishes good luck to these 8 teams who will be presenting their projects in Boston from September 24 to 28, 2015.

— Viviane Chansavang

For more information:
 iGEM 2015
 Call for projects "LIFE SCIENCES: inventing - creating - having fun" 2015
The call for projects 2016 will be announced in early 2016 on the official websites of the Office for Science and Technology (Embassy of France in the USA) and the Consulate general of France in Los Angeles. Grants may be used to cover registration fees and other expenses. Only one grant will be awarded per team (or individual) per project.