Courtesy of Yale iGEM

In October, the Yale iGEM team — a synthetic biology competition group —  took home the silver medal and, for the first time, the official iGEMer’s Prize at the iGEM Grand Jamboree held in Paris this year.

The international genetic engineering machine competition consists of teams given kits containing parts made from genetic components. Teams work at labs over the summer, using the given materials and other additional parts to create biological systems that can operate in living cells. The Yale team’s research focused on identifying ways to make an alternative menopause treatment that uses the chemical equol more accessible to patients through synthetic biology.

The team was composed primarily of Sandra Temgoua ’23, who served as the iGEM president and student leader, Luis Zuñiga ’25, David McElfresh ’25, Hassaan Qadir ’25 and Enya Mistry ’26, who took a gap semester this year. 

In the status quo, hormone replacement therapy is the most commonly used treatment for women experiencing menopause side effects.

“However, [HRT] increases the risks of breast cancer and other conditions such as strokes, blood clots, etc.,” Zuñiga said. “So as a result, it is not really an ideal treatment, hence the need to look for alternatives.”

The chemical equol, which is synthesized by a kind of bacteria found in a subset of the human population, can mimic estrogen and is suitable for treating menopause symptoms, but it is extremely expensive for patients today since equol can currently only be synthetically produced in a lab to be harnessed for treatment purposes. The Yale iGEM team set out to identify the genes that code for equol-producing enzymes, with the hopes that they could then genetically transfer these genes to other organisms and control the production of equol.

The inspiration behind this project came from McElfresh’s own mother, who was suffering from conditions related to low estrogen levels and menopause at the time.

While the team presented their findings at the iGEM Grand Jamboree, which took place Oct. 26-28, the journey leading up to the competition was long and challenging.

The start of this process began in the fall of 2021, when Temgoua, along with the rest of the iGEM board, advertised the opportunity through various channels, such as the CEID newsletter and annual extracurricular bazaar.

“We had the job of paring down the applicants to the team of students who didn’t necessarily have to have the strongest background in STEM, [but] who were really motivated [and] excited about learning more,” Temgoua told the News.

Following the team selection, the students spent months exploring topics and deliberating on a research proposal to ultimately pursue for their project. This process took them until the spring of 2022.

Soon after, team members began reaching out to sponsors, faculty and other community members.

“There are a lot of different people and stakeholders that I have to account for [as President],” Temgoua said. “Not only do I have to work with our advisors, who are Dr. Farren Isaacs, Dr. Maria Moreno and Dr. Stephen Dellaporta … but we also have to coordinate with the Yale Science QR Department for funding, the STARS program and the Yale West Campus community.”

The team members conducted research in the Isaacs Lab on West Campus that spring, over the summer and continued into the fall until their departure for the competition.

Being on the team meant devoting yourself wholly to the research, a sometimes tedious task that isn’t meant for the faint of heart.

“During the summer, we worked really, really hard,” Mistry said. We worked almost everyday from 8:30 [or] 9 in the morning till 5 or 6 pm. Quite a few days, I stayed past 11 pm and so did my other colleagues. I think there was just a lot of dedication towards the project. We were all very passionate about it.”

Another important part of the project was community outreach and ensuring that the research they did was not confined to the bounds of the Yale sphere.

In addition to the research project, the team members also created a podcast with synthetic biology experts and reached out to other experts in the field of menopause to guide the research process and “not just carry out research in a vacuum.”

“A notable part of iGEM is that they not only focus on the research and science, but they also place value on reaching out [to] community members and introducing them to the topics of synthetic biology, genetic engineering and all these concepts that might appear intimidating at first,” Zuñiga told the News.

​​Currently, the project is still ongoing as the team needs to complete additional testing. However, future research will continue with the next cycle of new members on the Yale iGEM team, who will have the freedom to decide the direction they hope to take the project in.

The Yale iGEM team first competed in 2010.