Three students from the China-ASEAN College of Marine Sciences (CAMS), Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM) - Xiong Yuchen, Zheng Jingyuan, and Mao Lingzhe (led by Dr. Steven Aw Yoong Kit) - won the Silver Award at the SynBio Challenges 2025.

The team was guided by Prof. Dr. Yeap Swee Keong, Dr. Yong Chean Yeah, and Dr. Steven Aw Yoong Kit, with sponsorship from Suntar International Group through the Suntar-CAMS Sustainability Research Laboratory.

Held from 6 to 9 August 2025 in Shenzhen, the competition aims to bring together emerging talent in synthetic biology from all over the world. It was organised with support from the Chinese Society of Biotechnology and co-hosted by the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Shenzhen Institutes of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Synthetic Biology Association, and the National Industrial Innovation Center for Bio-manufacturing. The competition, launched in 2022 and now in its fourth year, was open to international participants for the first time, drawing over 1,800 competitors from more than 265 universities worldwide.

The XMUM team competed in the Synthetic Cell track, designing a DNA sequence -including a promoter and 5' untranslated region (UTR) - to enhance protein expression. Following evaluation, they advanced to the final round and presented their work to the audience.

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Group photo of the team members

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Presentation by Xiong Yuchen during the competition