iGEM: Revolutionizing Agriculture with Nanobodies and Drones

The 2023 UAlberta iGEM Team is thrilled to have the opportunity to present their groundbreaking project, FEDDS, at the iGEM competition in Paris this year. Their project represents a significant leap in the field of synthetic biology and agriculture, aiming to combat Fusarium infections. This infection is devastating as it affects cereal crops like wheat and barley. FEDDS consists of two key components. Firstly, Fungalescence, a nanobody-fluorescent protein chimera construct designed to target Fusarium antigens and emit red fluorescence upon binding, and secondly Agri-scan, an automated drone-based detection system that scans fields for fluorescence and generates infection heat maps. They are excited to showcase FEDDS as a cost-effective, reliable, and user-friendly tool that can empower farmers to monitor and manage FHB effectively. Their participation in iGEM Paris represents a significant step forward in the global effort to address agricultural challenges through synthetic biology, and they look forward to sharing their work and insights with the international iGEM community in Paris this coming November.

A big shoutout goes to Dallyce and SIC as this was their go-to place for all meetings. SIC played an integral role as it provided them with a great environment that helped make this project possible.