A team of McMaster undergraduates has made history, taking home the university’s first gold medal from the iGEM competition for their low-cost, at-home screening test to catch early signs of kidney transplant rejection.
This year’s team, co-led this year by students Derin Sayin and Franky Liu, secured the gold medal and two top-five nominations for “Best Measurement” and “Best Diagnostics” at the international synthetic biology competition in Paris. More than 400 teams from around the world took part in the multi-day event.
“Walking into the awards ceremony, we were already incredibly proud of our project,” says Sayin, a fourth-year biochemistry student.
“We had devoted the past year to refining it, and we knew that no matter the outcome, it was an incredible and impactful experience for our entire undergraduate team. Still, we were so excited to see just how well it all paid off.”
The gold medal is a huge achievement, signifying that a team delivered a well-rounded, high-quality project.
“Having supervised McMaster’s iGEM team for the past two years, it has been an incredible privilege to witness their growth, creativity, and dedication,” says Tohid Didar, an associate professor in the Faculty of Engineering.
“To see them bring home McMaster’s first-ever gold medal in Paris fills me with pride and joy. This is a great team whose hard work and collaborative spirit truly deserve this international recognition”
McMaster has had an active iGEM team since 2015.
The proof-of-concept prototype
The team was awarded for their development of a detection tool that signals when a kidney transplant is being rejected by the body.
For this, a urine sample is mixed in a small vial and left to react for about 30 to 60 minutes. The mixture is then applied to a paper-based strip, where channels guide it into three wells, each tuned to detect different biomarkers of kidney distress. If the wells change colour, it’s an early signals of rejection, prompting the patient to seek medical help.
The test is fast, inexpensive and easy to use at home, allowing patients to monitor regularly before symptoms appear. This is a critical advantage, because rejection symptoms often emerge when it’s too late to save the new kidney.
“Early detection of acute kidney rejection is crucial in preventing cases of irreversible damage and improving the overall lifespan of kidney transplants,” says Liu, a fourth-year in the Integrated Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences program.
“The longer detection takes, the higher the risk of long-term damage.”
Fifteen per cent of all kidney transplants globally face acute rejection, Liu says. Kidney rejection can occur for several reasons, but generally happens because the body’s immune system views the new organ as an invader.
A variety of perspectives
Liu and Sayin credit the success of the project to their strong interdisciplinary team that brought together students from across the university. Another key factor was feedback the team sought from industry experts and stakeholders.
“We took the lessons we learned from the iGEM Jamboree in 2024 and we started to really think about how we can get our team to the level of success needed to win gold,” says Liu.
This year’s team this year included students from a variety of faculties, not all from STEM backgrounds. “They all brought their own unique perspectives and I think that’s what makes iGEM and our project so great.”
The team’s prototype is still needs extensive validation experiments to confirm accuracy and reliability before it can be ready to use in the real world, Sayin and Liu note.
Their hope is that future McMaster iGEM members will carry the torch, pursuing high-quality science and exploring entrepreneurship opportunities for future projects.