From Understanding to Engineering

iGEM Grand Jamboree 2025, France

Before iGEM, I had already worked on research involving the biodegradation of crude oil in desert soil. The research focused on understanding how microorganisms could contribute to breaking down pollutants in the environment. But when I joined iGEM, the question changed. Instead of studying what biological systems could already do, we had to consider what we could design them to do.

Our project focused on improving soil microbial resilience under extreme heat, with the broader goal of supporting urban greenery in arid environments. We explored biological systems that could improve heat tolerance and water retention. But designing a solution required more than understanding the biology behind it. We had to consider how different components would work together, how the system could be tested, and whether the solution could realistically function in the environment it was designed for.

What interested me was the difference between understanding a problem and engineering a solution to it. Research can explain why something happens or reveal a process that already exists. Engineering begins with that understanding, but asks another question: what can we do with it?

This became clearer when I attended the iGEM Grand Jamboree. Teams approached problems in agriculture, medicine, industry, and the environment using the same underlying field of synthetic biology, but produced completely different solutions. The science provided the tools, while engineering determined how those tools could be applied to a specific problem.

It also changed how I thought about what I wanted to study. I was already interested in environmental research, particularly in understanding how biological processes could address environmental problems. But through iGEM, I became more interested in what happens after that understanding is established. How can a process be applied, designed around limitations, and eventually developed into a solution that works outside of research?

That distinction is what drew me toward engineering. I still value understanding how environmental systems work, but I am more interested in using that understanding as a starting point. iGEM showed me that I did not only want to study environmental problems. I wanted to work on the process of solving them.