BOLIVIA RUMBO A IGEM 🇧🇴

Overview — The iGEM Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology, education and the development of an open community and collaboration.Each year, the foundation hosts the iGEM Competition, a world wide event that gives students the opportunity to push the boundaries of synthetic biology by tackling everyday issues facing the world.


This year, Bolivia will be entering the competition for the first time as a country, represented by a multidisciplinary team of undergraduate and high school students from different regions. The team will be presenting a project that uses synthetic biology to create a more accessible and cost effective way to detect and measure arsenic contamination in water. The contamination of waterways is a serious problem that affects communities who, in absence of potable water, depend on the water rivers and streams.


The Challenge — As a team of mostly scientist, iGEM Bolvia encountered difficulties tackling tasks related to graphic design, branding, and marketing of the project.


As part of the competition, the team is required to create a wiki, a poster, a video, and various graphics to promote different aspects of their project.

The Solution — Unofficial by Design developed a series of initiatives to introduce professionals skilled in the fields of marketing and design and based globally to the iGEM Bolivia team. With the help of a group of dedicated unofficial and iGEM Bolivia volunteers, we are developing an ongoing series of introductiory courses to train the competiting team on basic concepts of graphic design, branding, marketing, and science communication.


Additionally, Unofficial by Design is leading an sponsoring a competition to bring on board an experienced animation professional to animate Arsenito, the official project mascot. Thia initiative is intended to develop a bridge between the scientific and art communities and help the team obtain high quality animations that can be included in the videos required in the iGEM competition.