Science ministry backs four student teams for global synthetic biology contest

South Korea's science ministry said Tuesday it will fund four student teams to compete at the world's largest synthetic biology competition next year, after they placed highest at a national contest held for the first time this year.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said the top four teams at the 2026 Synthetic Biology Competition, known as IDEA-B, will receive up to 40 million won ($29,828) each to cover participation costs at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, or iGEM. The final round ran from Monday to Tuesday in Busan.

A total of 104 teams from 37 institutions across the country applied. A first round of written screening selected 35 teams for the finals, including 20 undergraduate and 15 graduate teams, and judging of their presentations produced 13 winning teams.

The grand prizes went to KAIST's K-Innovation team in the graduate category and Inha University's Backyard guardian team among undergraduates. K-Innovation developed a system that assembles synthetic transcription factors through fusion proteins specific to cancer cells, inducing the expression of therapeutic substances, and verified that the proteins act selectively. Backyard guardian proposed an eco-friendly microbial pest-control technique that detects a plant's danger signals and suppresses insect pests and pathogenic fungi at the same time, offering a way to cut pesticide use while limiting crop damage.

Two undergraduate teams were picked early in May, given the contest's first year, so they could receive support for follow-up research ahead of the international event.

Drew Andy, a Stanford University professor who co-founded iGEM, and Matthew Chang of the National University of Singapore, who co-founded the Global Biofoundry Alliance, gave special lectures at the event, which also included networking sessions for participants.

"This competition is meaningful in that it is the country's first attempt to give students who will lead the future of our science and technology the experience of using synthetic biology to take on social and economic problems and develop research ideas into real results," said Oh Dae-hyun, director general for future strategic technology policy at the ministry.

"Through support for participation in the international competition, we expect it to serve as an opportunity to broaden domestic students' global research experience and strengthen the foundation for nurturing synthetic biology talent in Korea," he said.