. Collaboration&Communication .
1. SynBio China 2024 China Synthetic Biology and Biological System Annual Meeting
Objective:
To understand the technological innovation, application platform and new policy opportunities of synthetic biology, and to understand and dialogue with higher-level government departments, scientific research institutes, industry practitioners, investment and financing institutions and other synthetic biology fields, and to exchange and cooperate in multiple dimensions.
Implementation plan:
We signed up to hold the "SynBio China 2024 China Synthetic Biology and Biomanufacturing Annual Conference" in Hangzhou - the 2nd China Synthetic Biology and Biomanufacturing Annual Conference and BioMade China China Biomanufacturing Industry Expo.
Activities:
1.We participated in the main forum of Synbio China and listen to the report.
2.We visited the off-site booth for technical exchanges.
Details:
Jointly discuss the technological innovation, application platform and policy opportunities of synthetic biology. The "SynBio China 2024 China Synthetic Biology and Biomanufacturing Annual Conference" will be held in Hangzhou in April 2024.Invite individuals from the synthetic biology field, including high-level government departments, scientific research institutes, industry practitioners, and investment and financing institutions, for dialogues, multi-dimensional exchanges and cooperation . Learn from "SynBio to BioMade".
Agenda:
During the two-day conference, the academicians' speeches, the professors' outstanding reports, and the wonderful sharing of entrepreneurs recieved bursts of applause from the guests. Exhibitors' high-end products and professional services have attracted widespread attention and praise. Over 3,000 industry professionals gathered in Qiantang, Hangzhou, to draw a new blueprint for biomanufacturing. The report focused on synthetic biology and biomanufacturing, the application of synthetic biology in the field of medicine, natural products, bio-based materials, investment and financing, and more.
The off-site booth can provide display opportunities for synthetic biology and modern biotechnology application and product-oriented enterprises, underlying technologies, R&D & testing institutions, synthetic biology supporting instruments, equipment, facilities, industrial parks, investment and financing institutions, and others. At the off-site booth, we learned about the latest product technology of each company. Enterprise merchants introduced their products to us, including the outstanding points, innovation points, application fields of their company's products. We also communicated with the company about the team projectth . Trough this exchange we also conducted innovative thinking on the technical aspects involved in the project: how to improve the efficiency of laboratory scientific research and the accuracy of experimental results by using these advanced technical means.
2. 2024iGEM South China Exchange Conference
Objective:
To promote the internal communication of colleges and universities in South China, expand the external publicity, and communicate with each other.
Implementation plan:
Chuming Chen, the captain of HUBU-CHINA, another team in Hubei University, brought our project to the scene to share.
Activities:
We listened to the report online, communicated and got feedback from the others.
Details:
South China Exchange is a special event organized by the iGEM team of Shenzhen University. Since 2017, the team has successfully held seven exchange events, bringing iGEMers in South China together. South China Conference provides a happy and free platform for all teams to put forward and share their own opinions, let their thoughts collide with each other, and provide better solutions for all participating teams.
The theme of the 2024 South China Exchange Conference is "Get Ideas Ripple", which means to let the ideas of various teams ripple and collide with each other. Let each iGEMer who participated in this communication meeting have a chain reaction, get to know each other, and then communicate deeply and learn from each other.
3. Synthetic Biology Open Conference
Objective:
The conference can promote internal exchanges among college teams in central China, expand external publicity efforts, and establish a synthetic biology student union among universities.
Implementation plan:
Our team was invited to participate in this open conference on synthetic biology in colleges and universitie to create a booth for communication and publicity.
Activities:
1. We held a conference and created a platform for in-depth communication.
2. Business experts and instructors gave constructive opinions.
Details
The Synthetic Biology Open Conference of Universities is a special activity organized by the Hubei Synthetic Biology Society. Based on the Hubei Synthetic Biology Society, at the conference, it is intended to establish the Synthetic Biology Federation of Universities and Colleges to promote the further development of academic research and exchange in the field of synthetic biology in Central China and boost the development, openness, and cooperation of synthetic biology in Central China. Hubei Synthetic Biology Open Day provides a platform for all those interested in synthetic biology to communicate. On this platform, participants can get to know each other, have in-depth communication and cooperate, and stimulate the spark of ideas and build consensus through exchanges and cooperation.
Agenda of the Conference:
At this event, we were honored to receive an invitation from our fellow school teams. In the early stage, we actively prepared, elaborately painted posters, and customized our team's special accessories as gifts. In the first stage of the conference, team representatives presented our project to the teachers and team members on stage, including the original intention of the project, the division of wet and dry teams, the project process, practical activities, and so on. We also put forward a question to everyone: how to plan innovative and high-quality human practice activities. After intense discussion, we received a variety of suggestions and answer the questions about experiment details and human practice planning. We got effective advice that “Creative human practice activities not only need to learn from historical experience but also need to think hard and know how to cooperate with and benefit from each other.” At the same time, we also provided effective help to other teams and built a good bridge of mutual assistance and communication between teams and members. In the third stage, that is, the DIY team's self booth. Each team has its own booth, where we fully showcase our team projects using roll-up banners, posters, and merchandise, displaying our unique charm. Students from various teams and schools visit each other, communicate, and establish deeper friendships.
4. The 11th conference of China iGEMers community
Objective:
1. Use CCiC's platform to find iGEM teams that can cooperate.
2. Report the progress of the team's work and simulate the defense
Implementation plan:
The team members arrived at the site to participate in the meeting, the defense sharing, project exchange.
Activities:
1. Poster presentation
2. Team presentation
3. Team communication
Details:
The Conference of ChinaiGEMer Community (CCiC) is a national exchange meeting initiated by China's iGEM participating teams, aiming to provide a platform for the participating IGEM teams and Chinese synthetic biology young enthusiasts to share resources and promote mutual learning and exchanges. At the meeting, iGEM teams from all over China gathered together to exchange project design and progress, and exchanged ideas, and the guests and jury put forward questions and suggestions for each team, and at the same time, there were wonderful lectures from experts and scholars in the field of synthetic biology. This year, CCiC came to Suzhou with the theme of "SynBio Nexus", hosted by Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and the National Biopharmaceutical Technology Innovation Center.
At CCiC, our team presented the project "Building a Safe and Efficient Gene Editing Complex Targeted Delivery Platform Based on Probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle1917 Outer Membrane Vesicles". After the presentation, our team received a lot of questions: "How can I maximize the targeting of my delivery vector?" "How much is the extrusion rate of artificially extruded adventitia vesicles improved compared to naturally secreted adventitial vesicles?" "How can the safety of E. coli Nissle1917 as a drug be guaranteed?" "How can the ethics of gene editing be ensured?" On the issue of gene editing ethics, our team had in-depth exchanges with the CJUH-JLU-China team of Jilin University, and learned that their team intends to work with other iGEM teams to compile the "Synthetic Biology Ethics Handbook", and our team also actively participated in the compilation of the "Synthetic Biology Ethics Handbook" and reached cooperation with Jilin University on the ethical safety of synthetic biology. Together with other iGEM teams that also participated in the development of the manual, they contributed to the safety of synthetic biology.
In addition, in the poster display session, our team members were divided into two ways: some team members were explaining our team posters to the iGEMers who came to the conference and carrying out team publicity work, many teams were very interested in our cute mascot image, and the members of the art team also patiently answered: "Archie is the image of an archer, and the gRNA in the hat above his head symbolizes the navigation system of the Cas9 RNP complex. The bow and arrow in the hand symbolize the power and penetration of the targeted gene editing tool for our team's project. The overall image of the Q version is cute and eye-catching. Other team members browsed the posters of other teams in the poster hall of the conference, and communicated with some teams, absorbing emerging ideas, colliding ideas, and seeking better solutions for the development of the project.
CCiC not only provided an opportunity for our team to showcase their projects, but also allowed our team members to have in-depth exchanges and cooperation with other iGEM teams.
5. Communicate with SYPHU-China on their team products
Objective:
To promote the communication between SYPHU-China University Health Promotion Team (HP) and our own team, to give opinions to each other, optimize and improve the project content.
Implementation plan:
We communicated with and gave guidance to the HP team members of the university.
Activities:
We organized online communication and gave guidance on team projects.
Details:
Students from the SYPHU-China HP Group posed a question to our HP group members and asked us for guidance and suggestions.
Students from SYPHU-China HP group proposed:
The plan is to make products similar to skin creams containing probiotics, and then apply them to the skin, using live probiotics to treat seborrheic dermatitis, a common skin disease, by genetically modifying probiotics to secrete adhesion proteins to human skin, while secreting bacteriostatic proteins to kill bacteria and remove oil.
Our team HP suggests some issues for its team to consider:
First: security issues
1. Whether genetically modified probiotics are safe?
2. Whether the secreted adhesion protein and bacteriostatic protein are safe as well as having no side effects?
3. How to control the amount of strains added to ensure that it does not cause side effects to the human body as much as possible, that is, does not cause the human immune response to the maximum extent ?
4.How to control the propagation of the added strain and inhibit its infinite propagation?
Second: Others
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages compared with the mainstream seborrheic dermatitis treatment drugs (chemical drugs, etc.)?
2. Whether probiotics can survive in the environment of hand cream and how long is the shelf life?
Thrid: Questions and Suggestions
1. Selection and stability of probiotics: First of all, it is necessary to select probiotic strains suitable for the skin environment, which should not only be beneficial to the skin, but also be able to survive and play a role on the skin surface. In addition, the stability of probiotics in skin care products is also a challenge, including maintaining activity during storage, transportation and application to the skin.
2. Safety and ethics of genetic engineering: By genetically engineering probiotics to secrete specific proteins, it is necessary to ensure that such genetic modification does not bring unknown safety risks, including but not limited to potential side effects on the skin, effects on other microorganisms or the human body.
3. Specificity of adhesive proteins and antibacterial proteins: The adhesive proteins secreted by probiotics need to be able to effectively attach to the skin without causing allergy or irritation. At the same time, the bacteriostatic protein should have the specific effect of inhibiting the harmful flora without affecting the normal flora on the skin, and maintain the balance of the skin microecology.
4. When active probiotics are incorporated into the formula of skin care products, the compatibility of probiotics and other ingredients needs to be considered to ensure the overall effectiveness and safety of the product. Factors such as texture, pH, preservatives, etc. of skin care products may have an impact on the activity of probiotics and the effectiveness of products.
This exchange not only promoted the communication and exchange between the two schools, but also allowed both sides to have a deeper understanding of their respective projects, so that we are more able to look at problems from multiple perspectives and try to solve problems.
6. Third Synthetic Biology Innovation Competition
Objective:
Using the domestic synthetic biology competition to further polish the project, exercise the defense and display ability.
Competition Details:
The Synthetic Biology Competition is guided and sponsored by the Synthetic Biology Branch of the Chinese Society of Bioengineering, and co-sponsored by the School of Synthetic Biology of Shenzhen University of Science and Technology, the Institute of Synthetic Biology of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology Innovation, and the Shenzhen Association of Synthetic Biology.
Focusing on the field of synthetic biology, the competition brings together leading experts and scholars in the field of synthetic biology. For college students and postgraduate students who are passionate about synthetic biology, it provides a platform for young students to communicate and learn face to face with top scholars and show their own innovation.
Competition result:
Won the silver award of regular season race track (picture attached)
Competition process and reflection:
In this competition, we actively prepared ppt, popular science articles and publicity videos required for the competition in the preliminary stage. Before the final, we carefully modify and polish the ppt, carefully prepare the questions raised in advance of the final, and practice the presentation process. The lecture on the application of synthetic biology in art and other fields on August 7 was very beneficial, and we felt the wide range of applications of synthetic biology and the prospect of utilizing synthetic biology combined with high-tech entrepreneurship in today's era. The competition officially began on August 8, and we carefully watched the reports of other teams to learn new ideas and improve the experience of the project. In the report, we explained our project background, content and answers to the final questions in a smooth and understandable way. When faced with the judges' questions about project details and security, we gave poor answers, which revealed that we should pay more attention to the details of the project content, and also triggered our thinking about the need to further improve the security of some project contents.
At the same time, we also communicate with other teams such as the team from South China Agricultural University and the team from Hubei University of Technology to learn from each other. In discussing the future improvement direction of the project, we communicated with the organizer Yi Xiao, so as to make our project improvement ideas clearer. In the end, the regular season silver award was awarded in the award ceremony on August 9, and we gained a lot and discussed the future direction of the project and the urgent problems to be solved, which was worth the trip.
7. "Building the Future together"-2024 iGEM Exchange Meeting in Central China
Objective:
To realize the communication and mutual learning of iGEM teams through the 2024 Central China iGEM Exchange Meeting, so as to improve the completion degree and competitiveness of the project
Activities:
1. Project presentation and free communication by each team.
2. Visit industrial parks and national key laboratories.
Event Details:
"Building the Future Together" -Central China iGEM Exchange will be a large-scale, high-level and influential college student synthetic biology exchange conference in Central China. During the conference, the team can show their project results, obtain professional guidance and evaluation, find partners and resources, improve their competitiveness and innovation ability; At the same time, the conference is also an important window in the field of synthetic biology in Central China, where young students can learn about the latest scientific research trends and technological development, expand their vision and thinking, contact more opportunities and challenges, and promote the popularization and development of synthetic biology.
Meeting agenda: In this exchange meeting, we learned a lot about the projects of other teams, many of which were refreshing and broadened our horizons. Our team members also actively prepare and constantly improve the project ideas to achieve the best presentation results. In the process of presentation, the judges affirmed the work already done by our project and put forward several reasonable improvement directions, from which we have thought and benefited, and further improved our future work plan. During the visit to the industrial park, our team members learned that Abtec, a company with cell sorting and antibody verification as its core technologies, is engaged in antibody detection using a variety of technologies, which is consistent with some data we need to detect, revealing that it is necessary for us to cooperate with the company in the future development of the project.
8. The first iGEM team dry experiment exchange meeting
Objective:
To promote the project communication among university teams, discuss the project progress and implementation plan, and obtain some ideas to improve the work content of each team and make better progress.
Implementation plan:
We were invited to participate in the online conference sponsored by Northeast Normal University for communication, publicity and reference.
Activities:
The organizers carry out online meetings and provide universities with a platform for in-depth exchanges.
Details:
The first iGEM Team Dry Experiment Exchange was an online meeting hosted by Northeast Normal University and teams from Southern University of Science and Technology. Dalian University of Technology and Hubei University had been invited to attend this meeting.
Northeast Normal University: focused on university high school education, market research, cooperation with universities.
Southern University of Science and Technology: focused on sharing their modeling experiments .
Dalian University of Technology: focused on sharing background investigation of practical problems and technical feasibility investigation, market research optimization results, project results promotion, etc
