After months of work, troubleshooting, and asking “did someone move my samples?”,
we finally flew to Paris for the iGEM Grand Jamboree.

In a few very intense days, we:

• Set up our Team Booth and explained Caseinova about 100 times (minimum).
• Talked to students, professors, and experts from all over the world.
• Attended talks and workshops on synthetic biology, ethics, start-ups, and more.
• Got lost in the venue at least once.
• Took the mandatory Eiffel Tower team photo, obviously.

It was basically:

• Daytime – science, presentations, networking.
• Evening – Eiffel Tower, carbs, trying not to fall asleep on the metro
  (almost successfully).

One of the big moments was our judging session, where we presented Caseinova
to the iGEM judges.

We:

• Introduced the problem we’re trying to tackle with Caseinova.
• Explained how we designed and tested our idea in the lab.
• Talked about safety, ethics, and how this might work in the real world.
• Showed how feedback from people outside the lab influenced our decisions.

The judges asked sharp questions about our experiments, limitations, and
what happens “after iGEM.” We walked out tired, happy, a bit sweaty, and thinking:
“Okay… that actually went pretty well.”

An important highlight for us was our Live-Stage Talk:
“From Idea to Impact: How Human Practices Redefined Our iGEM Project”

On stage, we told the story of how talking to real people changed Caseinova:

• How interviews and surveys challenged our original assumptions.
• How feedback from stakeholders made us rethink what was realistic and useful.
• How we used Human Practices not just for our project, but for our team too,
  creating guidelines for healthier work habits and supporting each other
  through wiki-freeze stress and burnout, and all the chaos that comes
  with doing iGEM.

Human Practices wasn’t a checkbox for us – it shaped our idea, our material,
and even how we treat each other as a team.

All that work, sleepless nights, excitement, and instant noodles paid off:
Latvia-Riga 2025 received a Silver medal at the iGEM Grand Jamboree!

For us, this Silver means:

• Our project was recognized for solid science and documentation.
• Our Human Practices work mattered and was appreciated.
• There is always potential for improvement and space to learn and grow.

We’re super proud of it — it’s a shiny reminder of everything we pulled off
together as a team.

From this whole iGEM adventure, we learned that:

• Science is never just “follow the protocol and done” – it’s also about improvising
  when things break.
• Good communication is as important as good data. Knowing what you did is
  one thing; explaining why it matters is another.
• Human Practices is powerful. Talking to people early can save you from building something no one needs.
• A strong team makes all the difference - especially when something
  fails the night before a deadline.

We came home not just as better scientists, but as better communicators,
teammates, and problem-solvers.

None of this would have happened without our supporters.

A huge thank you to:

• Our PIs, advisors and mentors
• Our universities and lab for giving us space.
• Our sponsors and partners for making the project and the trip possible
• Our families, friends, and community for cheering us on and
  pretending to understand our project related rants.

You’re all part of the Caseinova journey!