Milestones and Achievements

Introduction:

SynBio Africa was established in early 2018 as an after iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition initiative, initially under the name SynBio Uganda. To better represent the diverse community from across the continent, the organization was later renamed SynBio Africa.

The iGEM Competition is a global synthetic biology event for university, high school, and graduate students. It allows students to explore synthetic biology by addressing real-world problems. Teams collaborate to design, build, test, and measure systems using biological parts and molecular biology techniques.                                                                                                                             

iGEM teams work both in and out of the lab, creating projects that aim to benefit their communities and the world. Participants use synthetic biology to solve problems and build a better future.

SynBio Africa is the very first and biggest synthetic biology platform in Africa that brings together scientists, researchers, policy makers, academicians, students, and the wider community to discuss and embrace the benefits of synthetic biology to the development of Africa’s bioeconomy, solve health problems and improve on agricultural products for a better food security. The platform is aimed at enabling synthetic biology propagation throughout Africa, along with all its potential benefits.

“Synthetic Biology is like programming a computer, but instead of writing code to create software, we use DNA to reprogram living cells. Imagine you could turn yeast into a factory that makes clean aviation fuel or transform waste gases into useful chemicals – that’s what synthetic biology allows us to do with this project. By ‘programming’ yeast to act as a biofactory, we can create valuable products from waste and develop sustainable fuel alternatives.”

SynBio Africa is officially affiliated with the Uganda National Health Research Organization (UNHRO), reflecting our commitment to collaborating with national institutions to achieve shared goals in scientific research and technological advancement. Our offices are located within the UNHRO headquarters, facilitating effective coordination and synergy in our efforts to drive impactful research and development initiatives across Uganda and beyond.

SynBio Africa is legally Registered with the Uganda Registration services Bureau, URSB Reg. No. 80020001237039.                                                            

Key milestones and achievements

• As of 31^st July 2024: Over 400 multidisciplinary members of SynBio Africa community from over 30 African countries.
• July 2024: Organized the third (SBA3.0) International synthetic biology, AI, and biosecurity conference in Africa, hosted in Nairobi, Kenya, at Nairobi Safari Club by Swiss-Belhotel.   Hon. Rose Obigah, Woman Member of Parliament representing Terego District, Uganda, was the Chief Guest.   Launched five initiatives:                                                                                        

1. African Society for Synthetic Biology (ASSB)
2. Women in Synthetic Biology Africa (WiSBA)
3. SynBio Africa Open Access Community BioLab
4. Synthetic cell Africa Initiative (SynCell Africa), focused on Sickle cell disease in Africa.
5. Start-up Accelerator Program (SAP Africa).

• June 2024: Office premises allocated to SynBio Africa at Uganda National Health Research Organization (UNHRO) Headquarters in Entebbe.
• May 2024: Formal affiliation of SynBio Africa to Uganda National Health Research Organization (UNHRO).
• March 2024: SynBio Africa was competitively selected to receive research laboratory equipment and supplies from Seeding Labs, Boston, to establish SynBio Africa open access community Biolab in Uganda that will advance scientific research and education in Uganda and Africa at large.
• January 2024: Recruited 42 SynBio Africa Ambassadors representing 18 African countries.
• December 2023: Launched Synthetic Biology Research Experience for Africans (SynBREA). A pilot transformative ten-week summer undergraduate and graduate (Master) research program in synthetic biology at Northwestern University, U.S.A.
• November 2023: Mobilized resources and funding worth over US$15,000 to support the participation of Makerere University team at the iGEM (synthetic biology) competition in Paris, France, and the team won a Silver Medal 🥉 
• July 2023: Organized the second (SBA2.0) International synthetic biology and biosecurity conference in Africa, hosted in Kampala, Uganda, at Imperial Royale Hotel. Prof. Dr. Samuel Okware, Director General of Uganda National Health Research Organization was the Chief Guest.

• May 2023: The Founder and CEO of SynBio Africa (Geoffrey Otim) received SynBioBeta Impact Award for his groundbreaking work in building synthetic biology community in Africa, during the annual Global synthetic biology conference organized by SynBioBeta in Oakland, US.
• March 2023: SynBio Africa announced as the winner of BioTech Company of the year 2023/2024 by Africa Prestige Award. 
• February 2023: Organized a Pandemic Preparedness and Response Technical Training workshop for Southern Africa participants, in Johannesburg, South Africa, hosted by National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
• November 2022: Organized a Pandemic Preparedness and Response Technical Training workshop for Western Africa participants, in Accra, Ghana, hosted by Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.
• November 2022: Mobilized resources and funding worth over US$10,000 to support the participation of Makerere University team in the iGEM (synthetic biology) competition in Paris, France.
• September 2022: Organized a Pandemic Preparedness and Response Technical Training workshop for Northern Africa participants, in Entebbe, Uganda.
• June 2022: Organized a Pandemic Preparedness and Response Technical Training workshop for East and Central Africa participants, in Entebbe, Uganda.
• April 2022: Launched a one-year pandemic preparedness, awareness and response initiative in Africa (SBA Global Catastrophic biological risks initiative), sponsored by Open Philanthropy. Organized four (4) regional technical training workshops across Africa.
• April 2022: Organized iGEM Africa Teams showcase hybrid event in Entebbe, Uganda, where teams from Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, and Ghana participated both in person and virtually.
• Feb-April 2022: Trained 42 competitively selected trainees (PhD students) from 22 African countries in Bioinformatics and Data science. Received over 400 applications for this training opportunity.
• October 2021: Organized the first (SBA1.0) International synthetic biology and biosecurity conference in Africa at Imperial Royale Hotel, Kampala, Uganda, and SynBio Africa was officially launched. Hon. Dr. Monica Musenero, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Uganda, was the Chief Guest.
• October 2021: Organized Emerging Leaders in synthetic biology and biosecurity fellowship program, sponsored by Ginkgo Bioworks. 16 Fellows from 14 African countries were competitively selected from a pool of over 100 applicants and sponsored to attend the first (SBA1.0) SynBio Africa Conference in Kampala, Uganda.
• May 2021: Recruited Six (6) SynBio Africa Ambassadors, representing Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Africa.
• October 2019: Founder awarded the Global community Bio Fellowship to participate and present at the Global community Biosummit at MIT Media Lab, Boston, US.
• August 2019: Founder awarded the Global South Biosecurity Diplomacy Fellowship to attend and present at the Global South Biosecurity Diplomacy workshop in Geneva, Switzerland.
• October 2018: Founder awarded Biosecurity Fellowship by Johns Hopkins center for Health security to attend the SynBioBeta conference in San Francisco, California, US.
• October 2018: SynBio Africa participated in Biomaker challenge, a University of Cambridge initiative led by Jim Haselof.
• October 2018: Mobilized resources and funding worth over US$10,000 to support the participation of Makerere University team in the iGEM (synthetic biology) competition in Boston, US. The team won a laboratory pipetting robot (OT-2) currently valued at over US$10,000, and stationed at COVAB, Makerere University.
• September 2018: SynBio Uganda renamed SynBio Africa and Registered with the Uganda Registration services Bureau, URSB Reg. No: 80020001237039.
• July 2018: SynBio Uganda participated in an open science day at Uganda Virus Research Institute.
• March 2018: SynBio Uganda was founded and hosted at Makerere University, College of Veterinary, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (COVAB).
• November 2017: iGEM Makerere University team formed, first iGEM Team from East Africa.
• September 2017: First meeting with Head of Department of Biomolecular Resources & Biolab science, Makerere University and selected lecturers to discuss on starting iGEM Team and establishing a Synthetic Biology center (Prof. Okuni Julius Boniface, Dr. Anne Kazibwe, and Dr. Odongo Steven). 
• June 2017: The Founder (Geoffrey Otim) attended his first synthetic biology conference in Singapore (SB7.0), competitively selected and sponsored by BioBricks Foundation and Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. (Credits: Prof. Drew Endy)

SynBio Africa’s accomplishments highlight its dedication to advancing synthetic biology in Africa, fostering innovation, and building a robust African bioeconomy.