Patras Medicine iGEM Team 2023

ABOUT US

Our team: Patras Medicine iGEM 2023, consists of 11 members, undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Patras, in Greece, from the Departments of Pharmacy, Biology, Chemistry and Computer & Informatics Engineering. Our purpose is to develop a new therapeutic approach against Pancreatic Cancer for iGEM Competition 2023.

What is iGEM Competition?

iGEM Competition (International Genetically Engineered Machine) is a global Synthetic Biology competition, held annually since 2003. It was established by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and it is now being organized by the iGEM Foundation. Its purpose is to highlight innovative ideas for tackling daily problems through Synthetic Biology.

In 2022, 356 interdisciplinary teams participated worldwide, including our team Patras Medicine iGEM 2022, which with project “syn-PNOIA” received the following awards:

Best Diagnostic Project Award Undergraduate 2022

Best Wiki Award Undergraduate 2022

Gold Medal

The team ranked 1st worldwide in the Diagnostics category with the project: “syn-PNOIA: Redefining Lung Cancer”, in which there was developed a fast and reliable diagnostic test for the early diagnosis of lung cancer.

Why do we need innovative treatments for pancreatic cancer?

7th leading cause of cancer death worldwide.

4-6 months the average survival after diagnosis with metastasis.

15-20% of the cases are operable at the time of diagnosis.

9 out of 10 patients do not respond to conventional therapies (surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy).

THE SOLUTION

Our project "Herophilus" aims to propose a new therapeutic approach for pancreatic cancer immunotherapy, by utilizing CAR-NK Cells and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs), derived from somatic cells of healthy donors.

Therapy with Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CAR Therapy) is characterized as a "living therapy", since living cells multiply in the patient's body and provide long-term anti-tumor memory.

Why should you fund our project?

By helping us finance our project "Herophilus", you are allowing us to get a step closer to pancreatic cancer immunotherapy development and you are contributing to the overall scientific progress of novel cancer treatment approach.

OUR EXPENSES:

13.000 € Lab expenses

10.500 € Giant Jamboree participation fee

10.000 € Traveling and accommodation expenses

The Giant Jamboree is the last phase of the competition, taking place in Paris during 2-5 of November 2023.