Education and Communication
Our comprehensive educational outreach programs, workshops, and interactive activities designed to engage and educate diverse audiences about synthetic biology, fostering curiosity and understanding across different age groups and backgrounds.
Collaborative Events and Competitions
TurboHacks BioHackathon 2025
Event Overview
The iGEM IIT Madras team collaborated with the NUS, NTHU, and Stanford iGEM teams to organize TurBioHacks, an international biohackathon that brought together some of the brightest young minds passionate about biotechnology, synthetic biology, and the life sciences. The goal of TurBioHacks was to create a space where high school students, researchers, and industry professionals could come together to explore ideas and develop creative solutions to real-world biological challenges.
The event encouraged participants to think at the intersection of innovation and impact, where breakthrough science meets entrepreneurial thinking. From oncology and nutrition to biomanufacturing and therapeutics, TurBioHacks gave students the chance to transform bold concepts into tangible project ideas. Hosted on Devpost, the biohackathon saw over 250 participants from across the world. The entire event website was designed and developed by our WebOps team, showcasing the collaborative and interdisciplinary spirit that lies at the heart of iGEM.
Biohackathon Tracks
The Biohackathon featured five tracks, each centered around a key problem statement. Participants were challenged to design creative and impactful solutions to tackle these real-world challenges:
- Oncology: Addressed the urgent need for better cancer detection and treatment, exploring tumor progression modeling, biomarker identification, and novel therapeutic interventions.
- Biomanufacturing: Developed methods to improve yield, reduce cost, or expand the product space of biologically manufactured medicines, fuels, or materials.
- Drug Discovery: Designed algorithms, models, or biological systems that accelerate target identification, optimize lead compounds, or improve preclinical validation.
- Astrobiology: Explored synthetic biology and computational approaches to test life boundaries and inform future space exploration.
- NeuroScience: Investigated synthetic biology and computational tools to understand neural circuits, develop novel diagnostics, or create therapeutics for neurological disorders.
Lecture Series
The Biohackathon also featured a distinguished lecture series by various researchers:
- Dr. Phillip Kyriakakis (Stanford): Shared work on optogenetics and discussed how curiosity drives diverse intellectual pursuits, including insights on managing academic stress and "programming" oneself for success.
- Michael Jang (National Taiwan University): Presented his journey of engineering E. coli strains for dioic acid production, highlighting metabolic engineering strategies and bioreactor scale-up for the circular economy.
Biomanufacturing Village Mentorship
As part of the Biomanufacturing Village this year, our team had the exciting opportunity to engage with high school students who expressed interest in addressing challenges within this field. We shared our knowledge, answered their questions, and provided guidance on how synthetic biology and biomanufacturing can be leveraged to solve real-world problems. This interaction allowed us to mentor the next generation of innovators while gaining fresh perspectives through their curiosity and enthusiasm.
Industry Partnerships and Professional Development
AstraZeneca Lecture Series
Collaboration Overview
As part of our Human Practices initiatives, we organised a lecture series in collaboration with AstraZeneca, our title sponsor. This event was an important step in bringing together students and researchers from varied disciplines such as biotechnology, computer science, data science, and bioengineering. It created a platform where the interface between biological research and artificial intelligence could be explored in depth, and where students could engage with leaders from the biopharmaceutical industry.
Multi-Omics and AI Integration
The lectures began with presentations by Sreeharsha, Senior Consultant in Data Analytics & AI, and Priyadarsini, Senior Consultant and Bioinformatician at AstraZeneca India. They explained how multi-omics data — including genomics, proteomics, and imaging — can be integrated into unified models that reveal new patterns and connections within complex biological systems. By employing artificial intelligence, these pipelines are capable of predicting disease progression and identifying drug targets with greater accuracy than traditional approaches.
Their discussion also brought attention to challenges that accompany such innovation, including data privacy, reproducibility of results across diverse datasets, and the computational resources needed for scaling analyses. These insights were particularly relevant to the audience, as many students wished to understand how their skills in coding, statistics, and biology could contribute to such cutting-edge work.
Labs Beyond 2030 Vision
The session then moved to the perspective of Robin, Senior Director at AstraZeneca, who shared the vision of "Labs Beyond 2030." He described how future laboratories will combine robotics, automation, and real-time analytics to create a cycle of continuous experimentation. Such systems will not only accelerate the pace of discovery but also reduce costs, foster collaboration across institutions, and promote more sustainable models of research.
By situating technological progress within a broader framework of accessibility and responsibility, his lecture encouraged participants to think of innovation as both a scientific and societal commitment. This lecture series provided students a first-hand understanding of how the pharmaceutical industry applies AI and digital technologies to advance healthcare, while highlighting the skills and opportunities that are becoming increasingly relevant in this field.
Media and Public Outreach
iGEM x Best Place to Build Podcast
Collaboration Overview
As part of our goal to make synthetic biology more understandable and exciting for everyone, we collaborated with the Best Place to Build Media Channel, a popular YouTube platform with over forty thousand subscribers, to create a podcast-style video introducing viewers to iGEM, our team at IIT Madras, and the role synthetic biology can play in education, research, and innovation.
Through this public platform, we aimed to bridge the gap between complex scientific work and everyday curiosity, making synthetic biology feel creative and approachable. The conversation also explored career opportunities in the field, showing how it extends far beyond the lab.
Content and Discussion Topics
In the podcast, we shared how our iGEM team functions, from hosting interdisciplinary events to recruiting passionate students from biology, engineering, and design into a cohesive, collaborative unit. Teammates Aldis and Karthik discussed inspiring students at both university and high school levels, highlighting how early exposure can spark innovative thinking and help young minds see biology in new ways.
We traced our journey from brainstorming ideas to conducting basic experiments, emphasizing the importance of collaborative learning at every step. To make the episode engaging, we included behind-the-scenes lab footage showcasing advanced tools, touched on the ethical responsibilities of synthetic biology, and offered a simple guide on starting an iGEM team.
Impact and Accessibility
We aimed to highlight the openness and inclusivity of the community, showing that anyone with curiosity and dedication can contribute. Set for release later this year, the podcast blends open conversation, storytelling, and a relaxed atmosphere to make science relatable, helping audiences worldwide understand how iGEM teams work and how synthetic biology can drive future solutions.
Interactive Workshops and Educational Activities
Synthetic Biology Workshop for High School Students
Workshop Overview
As part of our goal of science education, we conducted an interactive online workshop designed to introduce high school students to the basics of Synthetic Biology. The main goal of the event was not just to educate but to hopefully spark some curiosity and demonstrate how synthetic biology is present all around us.
Part 1: A Crash Course in Synthetic Biology
The session started with an introductory presentation, "A Crash Course in Synthetic Biology." We began with the fundamental building blocks of life, explaining the roles of DNA, RNA, and proteins, and demystifying the central dogma of molecular biology. We made sure to adjust the levels of complexity according to the level of knowledge the students displayed.
From there, we bridged the gap between traditional biology and engineering, introducing the core concepts of synthetic biology. We explained how scientists can use standardized biological parts, or "BioBricks," to design and build novel biological systems, much like an engineer uses standard components to build a machine.
Our presentation highlighted the vast real-world applications of this technology, covering its impact on:
- Therapeutics: Diagnostic tools and medicinal products
- Biofuels: Sustainable energy sources
- Biomaterials: Engineering bio-based materials
- Environmental Solutions: Designing organisms to clean up pollution
Part 2: The Silent Crash - A Synthetic Biology Murder Mystery
To put concepts into practice, the students became detectives in an immersive online murder mystery activity called "A Silent Crash." This wasn't just a game; it was a complex puzzle where the clues were embedded in the very principles of synthetic biology they had just learned.
The Premise: Four scientists—a geneticist, a pharmacist, a bioengineer, and an endocrinologist—meet for a reunion, but one of them, Aryan, collapses and dies. The autopsy reveals a fatal dose of a powerful synthetic insulin analog, but Aryan was not diabetic. The students' mission was to figure out who the killer was, how they did it, and why.
The Investigation: Working in teams in online breakout rooms, the students sifted through a variety of evidence, including forensic reports analyzing data that showed the presence of insulin-loaded lipid nanoparticles and residues from a custom-designed transdermal patch, as well as digital clues from WhatsApp chats and news articles that revealed professional rivalries, stolen research, and secret, unethical experiments.
Outcome and Student Engagement
Students loved the gamified event, raising thoughtful questions and having engaging discussions in the breakout rooms. The reasoning they presented for their chosen suspects was impressively detailed, demonstrating scientific concepts and a keen eye for detail. Some came up with theories questioning the ethics and very thorough personality analysis based on past evidence, which amused us very much.
Overall, the event was a success. By combining simple concepts with a stimulating activity, we were able to conduct a fun event and impart some basic concepts of synthetic biology. Our mission was simple yet ambitious: to ignite curiosity and build a foundational understanding of synthetic biology in these young learners, and we were quite content with the results.
CFI Open House Presentation
Event Impact
Team iGEM made a remarkable impression at the CFI Open House held on 29th July, an event that drew thousands of curious students. The team presented their innovative project on the topic of Epigenetics, and easily captured the attention of the excited crowd, including many students from non-bio backgrounds. The team stood out with its ability to explain the complex topics of epigenetics and computational biology seamlessly to the enthusiastic crowd.
Cross-Disciplinary Engagement
Through dynamic interaction, the team sparked genuine interest among students from a variety of departments, breaking the myth of a necessity of a bio background. The freshers showed interest in both the computational dry lab and the wet lab part of the project. Through enthusiastic conversations and a clear passion for their work, the iGEM members successfully conveyed the essence of synthetic biology, highlighting its potential and recent developments.
The unusually high excitement and enthusiasm of the crowd left the team flabbergasted and served as another motivation for us to push forward. This event demonstrated the power of accessible science communication in breaking down disciplinary barriers.
Career Guidance and Professional Development
Career in BioTech by Sriya Veerapaneni
Speaker Background
The career guidance talk was presented by Sriya Veerapaneni, PhD candidate at UT Southwestern Medical Centre and IIT Madras alumna, focusing on future careers in biotechnology. She shared her academic journey, including her experience in the iGEM synthetic biology competition, where her team engineered a fungus to produce an anti-cancer compound.
Interdisciplinary Nature of Biotechnology
Sriya highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of biotechnology, showing how it connects biology with physics, chemistry, math, and computer science. Applications discussed included imaging, medical physics, drug discovery, disease modelling, and computational biology. She also touched on non-traditional paths like science policy, editing, and communication.
Guidance for Students
For students, she stressed building a strong foundation in core sciences, staying curious, and remaining open to exploring before specialising. The session ended with an interactive Q&A on subject choices, exams, and career planning. Overall, it gave students a clear overview of biotechnology careers, practical academic advice, and inspiration to pursue diverse opportunities in the field.
Genetic Circuits Game
Educational Objective
As part of our Education and Human Practices initiative, we organized an interactive event for incoming undergraduate students. The aim of this session was to make synthetic biology approachable, especially for students from non-biology backgrounds, by connecting familiar concepts from electronics and logic design to biological systems.
Synthetic biology can often appear unintuitive to those without prior exposure to these concepts. Through this event, we aimed to bridge the interdisciplinary gap by demonstrating how biological systems can be understood using engineering principles such as logic gates, circuits, and feedback loops in order to connect with our primary audience of students with little to no biology background.
Game Mechanics and Learning
The Genetic Circuits Game was designed as a problem-solving challenge where participants worked in teams to build "biological circuits" using analogies to logic gates such as AND, OR, and NOT operations. Each gate represented a regulatory element (promoter, repressor, or activator), and teams were given different "gene network" puzzles to solve.
Players had to determine the correct combination of biological logic gates that would produce a desired output (such as gene expression ON or OFF under certain input conditions), mirroring how gene regulatory networks operate in real cells and biological systems.
Learning Outcomes
- Participants learned how gene expression can be controlled through combinatorial logic, similar to how electronic circuits process signals
- They gained an intuitive understanding of genetic circuit design, feedback mechanisms, and regulatory interactions
- The activity encouraged teamwork, problem-solving, and interdisciplinary thinking, essential skills in synthetic biology research
The event was met with enthusiastic participation from students across departments, many of whom expressed newfound interest in biology after recognizing its strong conceptual parallels with computer science, electrical engineering, and physics. By connecting abstract molecular concepts with logical reasoning and game-based learning, the Genetic Circuits Game succeeded in making synthetic biology accessible, fun, and intellectually stimulating.
Through these comprehensive educational initiatives, we have successfully:
- Engaged over 250 participants in international biohackathon activities
- Conducted interactive workshops reaching diverse student populations
- Established industry partnerships for professional development
- Created accessible content through media collaborations
- Developed innovative teaching methodologies using gamification
- Fostered cross-disciplinary interest in synthetic biology