{"id":243610,"date":"2026-07-28T10:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T07:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vuf.lt\/?post_type=projects&p=243610"},"modified":"2026-07-28T10:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T07:41:16","slug":"igem2026","status":"publish","type":"projects","link":"https:\/\/vuf.lt\/en\/projects\/igem2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Support for the 2026 Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM VU Young Scientists\u2019 Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

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).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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About the competition<\/strong><\/p>\n

The goal of this competition is to advance synthetic biology<\/strong>. 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<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

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Our team<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is our twelfth consecutive year representing Lithuania in the iGEM competition: 2015 \u2013 “ColiClock,” 2016 \u2013 “PheLoss,” 2017 \u2013 “SynORI,” 2018 \u2013 “SynDrop” & “CAT-Seq,” 2019 \u2013 “Colight,” 2020 \u2013 “FlavoFlow,” 2021 \u2013 “AmeBye,” 2022 \u2013 “NanoFind,” 2023 \u2013 “Exullose,” 2024 \u2013 “Synhesion,” 2025 \u2013 “IXPOSE.” Vilnius has won gold medals every year, and twice \u2013 in 2017 and 2020 \u2013 we won the competition’s Grand Prize<\/strong>, being recognized as the best team in the world, and in 2023 we took second place.<\/p>\n

The “Vilnius-Lithuania iGEM” team:<\/span><\/p>\n

Aust\u0117ja Jarmalyt\u0117, Aust\u0117ja Narkevi\u010di\u016bt\u0117, Daniel\u0117 Zikut\u0117, Darija Andru\u0161aityt\u0117, Ema E\u017eerskyt\u0117, Erika Varnait\u0117, Gabriel\u0117 Rinkevi\u010di\u016bt\u0117, Gerda Luko\u0161i\u016bt\u0117, Ignas Glu\u0161nys, Jonas Gabalis, Kristina Bal\u010di\u016bnait\u0117, Matas Mikulskis, Matas Ra\u010dickas, Oskaras Belousovas<\/strong>. Electronics instructor \u2013 Kasparas Jurevi\u010dius<\/strong>. Laboratory consultant \u2013 Edvinas Jurgelaitis<\/strong>. The team’s principal investigator is Prof. Rolandas Me\u0161kys<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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What are we building this year?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The project “BMClick”<\/strong> aims to create a bioengineering platform based on Bacterial Microcompartments (BMCs) \u2013 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:<\/p>\n