STUDENTS AND GRADUATES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY RECEIVE A GOLD MEDAL IN THE iGEM 2024 COMPETITION
29/01/2025
With great joy and pride, the iGEM Athens 2024 team that participated in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition returned from the Grand Jamboree in Paris, having been awarded a Gold Medal for their project, "e-PHAESTUS: A Bioleaching Project," in the Bioremediation Village thematic category. Additionally, the team received a Nomination for Best Entrepreneurship.
The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition is organized annually by the iGEM Foundation (https://competition.igem.org, https://igem.org), which is an independent, non-profit organization that promotes advancements in Synthetic Biology through its annual competition. More than 400 interdisciplinary teams, comprising over 7,000 researchers worldwide, participate each year to bring their innovative ideas to life. This year, iGEM Athens participated in the iGEM Grand Jamboree (World Expo SynBio), held from October 23 to 26, 2024, at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris.
The "e-PHAESTUS" project by iGEM Athens 2024 introduces an innovative bioleaching method aimed at recycling heavy and precious metals found in electronic waste (e-waste), as well as producing glutathione-metal nanoparticles. To achieve this, the team genetically modified a strain of the bacterium E. coli, introducing recombinant plasmids carrying two genes essential for the synthesis of the tripeptide glutathione (GSH). This tripeptide has the ability to bind with metals in e-waste, solubilizing them and making them recoverable.
The iGEM Athens 2024 team consists of undergraduate and postgraduate students from science and engineering fields, including Chemistry, Biology, Medicine, Biotechnology, Electrical and Computer Engineering. Among the members are graduates of the Chemistry Department: Kritsian Verdhi, Charikleia Karaousta, and Athanasios Bouzoukas. The team represents prominent academic institutions, primarily in Athens and Patras, including the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Agricultural University of Athens, the National Technical University of Athens, and the University of Patras. Participating in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, organized annually by the iGEM Foundation, has become a long-standing tradition for the team. Since its first participation in 2018, iGEM Athens has won five gold medals, one silver, and one bronze.
iGEM Athens thanks the academic community of the Department of Chemistry at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens for their invaluable support. Special thanks go to Professors E. Efthimiadou, E. Stratikos, K. Methenitis, D. Tzeli, S. Karavoltsos, N. Pinotsis, and to PhD candidates A. Routsi, N. Georgiou, Ch. Tzeliou, and N. Katsikatsos for their significant contributions.
Award of the “Hildegard, widow of Leonidas Zervas” Prize by the Academy of Athens to Dr. Konstantinos Voreakos and Dr. Angelos Lelis, PhD graduates of the Department of Chemistry, and Nikolaos Skoulikas, graduate of MSc Program in Organic Chemistry from the Department of Chemistry
29/12/2024
On Thursday, December 19, 2024, during the Ceremonial Session of the Academy of Athens, Dr. Konstantinos Voreakos, Dr. Angelos Lelis, and Nikolaos Skoulikas were honored with the “Hildegard, widow of Leonidas Zervas” Prize, which is awarded for the best original research work in the field of Organic Chemistry. The prize-winning research, conducted at the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry of the Department of Chemistry at NKUA, specifically within the research group of Prof. D. Georgiadis, was published in September 2023 in the high-impact scientific journal Organic Letters under the title: “Diastereoselective Synthesis of Phosphinic Dipeptide Isosteres: Domino Chirality Transfer during a Stereocontrolled P-Michael Reaction.” The article addresses the resolution of a long-standing synthetic challenge in the field of phosphinic peptides, a class of pharmaceutically valuable compounds with applications in the development of Zn metalloprotease inhibitors. Specifically, it proposes a practical methodology enabling the diastereoselective synthesis of pseudodipeptidic units, characterized by operational simplicity, scalability and availability of starting materials. For more information on the study, visit the link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.orglett.3c02335.
All three awardees hold degrees in Chemistry from the Department of Chemistry at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and are also graduates of the postgraduate program “Organic Synthesis and its Applications in Chemical Industry.” Dr. Angelos Lelis and Dr. Konstantinos Voreakos completed their PhD theses in the same department under the supervision of Prof. D. Georgiadis, while Nikolaos Skoulikas is currently pursuing his PhD in the research group of the distinguished Professor of Organic Chemistry, Nuno Maulide, at the University of Vienna.
