iGEM stands for international Genetically Engineered Machine and it is the world’s largest (student) competition on synthetic biology . Each summer since 2004, student teams from all over the world work towards solutions for societal problems that involve applications of synthetic biology.

Welcome to the second issue of our Quarterly English newsletter, featuring news and background information on public health and environment from RIVM. We hope you enjoy reading the latest updates!

The number of people with tuberculosis (TB) in the Netherlands increased in 2025. In 2025, In 2025, 869 people were diagnosed with tuberculosis. The number of patients is thus 13% higher than in 2024, when there were 772.  Among those patients, 339 had extrapulmonary TB and 530 had pulmonary TB. This is evident from key figures  published by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).