Crowdfunding for BIOMOD Australia

Australia’s first team to enter BIOMOD, an undergraduate synthetic biology competition held by Harvard University, is calling for funds to help cover the team’s participation in the event. The team comprises five undergraduate students from the University of Sydney, UNSW and UTS, supervised by Dr Lawrence Lee from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

For the competition, BIOMOD Australia aims to design, build and characterise a DNA nanomachine that exhibits cooperativity in its function. The project has the potential to inform realistic models of the molecular mechanics of bionanomachines, and also to provide a cheap, robust alternative to existing DNA biosensors. All teams competing in BIOMOD will gather at Harvard University to present their work in November.

The team is currently crowdfunding with FundScience to cover the lab and travel costs not already funded by its sponsor, the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. Rewards are available for backers who pledge as little as $10, including postcards, posters, tours and presentations.

The deadline for pledges is 24 September. To support the campaign, visit http://fundscience.org.au/campaigns/biomod/.