Can earthworms bring relief to a global blood donor shortage? Enterprising UCalgary students are working on it

The thought may make you squirm, but hemoglobin sourced from earthworms could someday save your life. 

That wriggly possibility is closer to reality thanks to the work of the University of Calgary's 2024 iGEM team, who recently returned from the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) Grand Jamboree in Paris with a clutch of medals and the honour of being named the world’s top undergrad team in the Safety and Security category. 

“I’m so proud the team’s hard work came together in the end and was recognized and awarded at such an incredible event,” says Giovanna Acosta, captain of this year’s team, ErythrO₂.

“Getting to walk the stage of the world's largest synthetic biology competition will be an experience I won’t soon forget.” 

Earning planetary bragging rights via the common earthworm was the work of a 12-member, multi-faculty student team, who, with the support of instructors and industry advisors, researched a problem that could someday solve a global blood shortage. 

A lack of donors has researchers looking to a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier (HBOC) as a long-lasting, universal substitute for easily spoiled, type-specific human blood — for various reasons, mammalian HBOCs can turn toxic once inside a recipient. 

Worm HBOC, on the other hand, has been shown as a promising, non-toxic substitute, and Lumbricus terrestris erythrocruorin (as the worm HBOC is known) could solve the world’s blood shortage if produced in enough quantity. 

Enter Team ErythrO₂ and their plan to synthesize a worm HBOC via a lab-grown yeast system, producing the non-toxic properties of worm hemoglobin, without the need to harvest real earthworms. 

“Our ultimate objective is to lay the groundwork for large-scale production of this promising HBOC. With these considerations, our aim is to save lives at risk from blood loss with a sustainable, synthetic solution,” reads the project submitted by the Biomedical Engineering-backed team. 

That team includes Acosta, Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology, fifth year; Ferzam Mahmood, Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology, third year; Kfir Lerner, Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology, fifth year; Jodh Atwal, Biological Sciences, second year; and Nirmal Cheema, Biological Sciences, fifth year.

As well, the team included Luis Martinez Hoyos, Biochemistry, fifth year; Graciela Manalili, Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology, third year; Saqib Syed, Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology, second year; Tina Kahidi, Health and Society, second year; Morgan Mazurek, Biomedical Sciences, second year; Si Chen Pan, Neuroscience, second year; and Maren Abuzukar, Biomedical Sciences, third year.

While further research and testing lies ahead, ErythrO₂’s experiments have shown the potential of their yeast carrier solution — and that was enough to impress the judges in Paris, where 438 teams from more than 45 countries gathered in late October, including some of the most celebrated institutions in the world. 

As well as a coveted gold medal, the university’s undergraduate iGEM team won the Safety and Security Special Award, making UCalgary the world’s best in a critical area for both medicine and biotechnology. 

“Taking top place in the world in that area is a huge achievement for the team. The public’s ability to have confidence in how biosafety and biosecurity are handled will ultimately determine the success or failure of the synthetic biology and biomanufacturing industries, and has been a priority from Day 1,” says Dr. Mark Ungrin, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary PEAK Scholar, and faculty lead for the iGEM competition.

The team also received a nomination for the Best Entrepreneurship Special Award, placing them in the top five of 195 competitors, while a second iGEM team in the entrepreneurial category, led by Muskaan Puri, took home the Best Presentation award at the Startup Showcase. 

For Acosta, taking part in iGEM and coming home as part of a world-champion biomedical engineering team has shown her what motivated university students can accomplish. 

“The University of Calgary prides itself in not only supporting research, but creating an innovation ecosystem that translates discoveries into real-world solutions,” she says. 

“That’s why this became a focus in our team’s project development, and it’s awesome that our efforts were recognized at the top of these categories among hundreds of other teams from all around the world.” 

Acosta says recieving the top award for safety and security is especially gratifying. 

“When creating a synthetic biology project, it’s crucial to thoughtfully consider its implementation into the real world, both through entrepreneurial thinking and careful consideration of the potential hazards involved,” she says. 

“I hope our success in these areas will inspire future student teams to be thoughtful of the economic and societal impact of their scientific research, so we can keep responsibly addressing global challenges through the incredible field of synthetic biology.”