The contest was launched as Craig Venter announced that his synthetic biology group has succeeded in synthesising a designer bacterial genome in the lab, and using this to replace to the normal genome of another bacterium.
The Riken competition makes use of its Scientists’ Networking System (SciNeS) and will take place between May 25 and September 30. GenoCon is billed the first contest of its kind, with entrants using genomic and protein data contained in the SciNeS database to design DNA sequences that improve plant physiology.
RIKEN and other research institutes will then be responsible for inserting these DNA sequences into genomes and evaluating experimentally the functions of the resulting Arabidopsis thaliana plants.
A new web-based framework for collaboration in synthetic biology, referred to as ‘open-optimisation research’, will be available to GenoCon contestants. Genome designs and programs submitted will be compiled within RIKEN SciNeS and shared under a Creative Commons Public License, thus contributing to advances in biomass engineering and other aspects of green biotechnology.
In Open Optimisation Research the process for optimising an invention is carried out by numerous contestants/participants in an open manner, rather than by members of the closed group of inventors. It also provides a framework for Open Innovation, in which a company or a university seeking to develop a practical use for a patented invention is matched with potential partners that have their own original technologies. A successful match can help propel an invention toward practical applications.
GenoCon is accepting entries at: http://genocon.org/sw/wiki/en/cria196s1i/
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