Contest brings out the biohackers

Mix one part enthusiasm, two parts engineering and three parts biology — and you’ve got a recipe for do-it-yourself genetic engineering.

Glowing bacteria are popular tools in the iGEM genetic engineering competition. The 2010 University of Cambridge team, for instance, made bacteria-powered emergency lights (right). Fernán Federici

Every November, college kids from Michigan to Munich descend on MIT, eager to show off their biohacking skills.