The “Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM” team invites you to support the participation of young researchers from Vilnius University (VU) in the prestigious international synthetic biology competition, iGEM 2026 (International Genetically Engineered Machine).

About the competition

The goal of this competition is to advance synthetic biology. Interdisciplinary teams from universities around the world come together to solve real-world problems and create innovations by drawing on knowledge from molecular biology, engineering, and information technology. The competition also evaluates human practices activities that aim to raise awareness of synthetic biology, educate the public, and make the scientific world more understandable. Teams also collaborate with companies, scientists, and experts from various fields, so that the insights gained help them make sound decisions and improve their projects.

Our team

This is our twelfth consecutive year representing Lithuania in the iGEM competition: 2015 – “ColiClock,” 2016 – “PheLoss,” 2017 – “SynORI,” 2018 – “SynDrop” & “CAT-Seq,” 2019 – “Colight,” 2020 – “FlavoFlow,” 2021 – “AmeBye,” 2022 – “NanoFind,” 2023 – “Exullose,” 2024 – “Synhesion,” 2025 – “IXPOSE.” Vilnius has won gold medals every year, and twice – in 2017 and 2020 – we won the competition’s Grand Prize, being recognized as the best team in the world, and in 2023 we took second place.

The “Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM” team:

Austėja Jarmalytė, Austėja Narkevičiūtė, Danielė Zikutė, Darija Andrušaitytė, Ema Ežerskytė, Erika Varnaitė, Gabrielė Rinkevičiūtė, Gerda Lukošiūtė, Ignas Glušnys, Jonas Gabalis, Kristina Balčiūnaitė, Matas Mikulskis, Matas Račickas, Oskaras Belousovas. Electronics instructor – Kasparas Jurevičius. Laboratory consultant – Edvinas Jurgelaitis. The team’s principal investigator is Prof. Rolandas Meškys.

What are we building this year? 

The project “BMClick” aims to create a bioengineering platform based on Bacterial Microcompartments (BMCs) – protein “boxes” found naturally in bacteria, which exist inside the cell as separate compartments designed for specific chemical reactions to take place. Once these microscopic particles are transferred from the bacterium into a test tube and further modified, a wide range of applications becomes possible. Using bacterial microcompartments, we are creating tools to enrich science that would allow us to:

• Protect enzymes – we aim to test whether this protein “box” protects enzymes from high temperatures, unsuitable acidity levels, and other conditions that would normally destroy them quickly.
• Deliver therapeutic molecules – we are looking for ways to package short nucleic acids (RNA, DNA) inside the microcompartments, capable of silencing or regulating the activity of specific genes.
• Create new functional surfaces – from the same proteins, we form fibers to which various biological components can be attached. In the future, these could become biosensors or antimicrobial films.

Other initiatives

In addition to the scientific project in the lab, the team’s human practices activities focus on promoting synthetic biology. This year, we took part in Lithuania’s 5th–8th grade biology olympiad, as well as, for the first time in Lithuania, the International Biology Olympiad (IBO). We also aim to run educational sessions connected to the “third place theory,” bringing interest in science into many different and unique communities.

Need for support and its benefits

The funds raised will be used to ensure the implementation of our project, by purchasing lab equipment and the necessary reagents. These funds will also help us create high-quality, valuable educational content for the public. We are very grateful to be able to take part in this world-class competition representing Vilnius University, and we are proud of our progress.

THANK YOU!

If our project has caught your interest, we recommend following us on social media: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn. We are very grateful for your support!

You can also donate to the Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM via a bank transfer:

IBAN: LT25 7300 0101 6832 6034 (Swedbank)
Payment purpose: Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM
Recipient: Paramos fondas Vilniaus universiteto fondas (304222713)

In the case of support from a legal entity starting from 1,500 euros, a support agreement is signed. For contribution contracts over 100 thousand euros notarization is required. Vilnius University Foundation will take care of it. Contact us in a convenient way.