A collection of parts to build synthetic biology devices and systems
The iGEM Registry of Standard Biological Parts, founded in 2003 at MIT, is an open community that harbours a collection of over 20.000 documented genetic parts that is continuously growing. These parts are submitted either by researchers or by teams participating in the iGEM competition, always following the BioBricks assembly standard as described by RFC 10. The RFC submission standard requires that the restriction site sequences for XbaI, EcoRI, PstI and SpeI are absent from the DNA sequence when a part is submitted.
These parts and be mixed and matched to build a wide range of synthetic biology devices and systems. In fact, the Registry provides a source of genetic parts to the teams participating the annual iGEM competition and to academic labs through the Labs Program. Users can get parts, samples, data or tools from the Registry and give back to the Registry the new parts derived from their project, as well as their experience.
Browse the iGEM Registry catalogue, in which the parts are organised by part type, function, chassis, etc.
Users can discover new parts and collections and build upon what previous iGEM teams and labs have achieved.
“Looking forward, the biological engineering community would benefit from the development of technologies and the promulgation of standards that support the definition, description and characterisation of the basic biological parts, as well as standard conditions that support the use of parts in combination and overall system operation. One very preliminary example of such work is emerging as the Registry of Standard Biological Parts”.
Drew Endy (2005). Foundations for engineering biology. Nature 438: 449-453.