Directed Evolution

Directed evolution is a Nobel Prize-winning technique that mimics the process of natural selection to evolve biological molecules and organisms. It involves repeated application of mutagenesis to generate a genotypic library, followed screening to isolate variants that exhibit desired traits.

Directed Evolution has been been proven a power technique capable of creating enzymes with improved catalytic rates, optimizing metabolic pathways to increase yield, improving affinities of antibodies and much more.

Our goal is to explore the limits of Directed Evolution to find new exciting techniques and applications.

Every year we come up with an interesting and ambitious project in the area of directed evolution. We come up with an idea, design experiments and execute them. We also secure our own funding, reach out to professors and companies for scientific support, and do whatever else is necessary to successfully complete the project. At the end, we present our results at an International Directed Evolution Competition.

For example, our team in year 2023 has used Directed Evolution to engineer pathogen immunity in plants. Our results were well-received, winning us gold medals and multiple awards at iDEC. This year we’re planning to reproduce this success.

Looking for Hardware Engineer to join our team.

  • Team and Trophies

  • Stroll around Cambridge

  • Convincing the judges

  • Poster presentation

  • Our Presenters

  • The sweet taste of victory!

Topic for 2024 is… PACE

Phage-Assisted Continuous Evolution is one of most potent evolution methods to-date. However, it is notoriously hard to set up and until recently no one outside of the original lab has been able to reproduce it. The first lab to do so turns out to be here, in Zurich!

We have secured access to PACE setup and lab's support. Evolution Suisse 2024 team will brainstorm a project that uses PACE as a means for evolving a biomolecule of their choosing, design and conduct experiments and then present their results at iDEC 2024 next autumn.

Timeline

Nov - Dec
1st Recruiting Wave

We will form the Core Team. See below on what does that mean.

Dec - Mar
Brainstorming

During this phase we will explore several potential ideas and create the high-level concept of the final project.

March
2nd Recruiting Wave

We will recruit people with specific expertise, required for the successful completion of selected project.

March - May
Planning

We will come up with an experimental plan and make preparations for these experiments.

June - Sep
Surge

Main part of the project. Lots of fun in the lab.

Sep - Oct
iDEC

In the autumn we will slowly ramp down the experiments and prepare results to be showcased during iDEC conference.

FAQ

  • ore team is expected to work on the project part-time during Brainstorming and Planning phase, and nearly full-time during Surge, and then part-time during iDEC Prep.

    Realistically, several classes can be taken in parallel with iDEC but not a full 30 ECTS course load or a thesis.

  • Yes, it is possible to participate in the project in a supporting role. Especially if you have some skills in a domain required for a particular project, e.g. FACS, electrical engineering, etc. Such roles are advertised after the Brainstorming phase.

  • Departments have different requirements regarding ECTS, therefore it’s your responsibility to figure out how to fit iDEC in your formal curriculum, however, we will provide support and there will be a professor who will be able to give you a grade.

  • We’re a graduate-level team, primarily aimed at late-Bachelor and Master students. We expect team members to be independent in the lab after initial training, which requires pre-existing lab experience. If you don’t have it, consider joining the more beginner-friendly iGEM team.

  • Our main goal is to generate interesting and novel results that act as a foundation for a scientific publication and/or a business venture.