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==Introduction==
The development and documentation of well-specified, standard, and interchangable biological parts is a critical step towards the design and construction of integrated biological systems.

The iGEM Registry of Standard Biological Parts is a growing collection of genetic parts that can be mixed and matched to build synthetic biology devices and systems. Parts submitted to the Registry through the iGEM competition follow the BioBricks assembly standard as described by RFC 10 and as such the vast majority of the parts in the Registry are RFC10-compatible. 

As part of the synthetic biology community's efforts to make biology easier to engineer, the Registry provides a source of genetic parts to iGEM teams during the annual competition and to academic labs through the Labs Program. Teams and other researchers are encouraged to submit their own biological parts to the Registry to help this resource stay current and grow year to year.