• Analysis of genetically modified public opinion

In the early stages of project formation, we considered using genetically modified technology, but we also took into account that our project is a plant synthetic biology project based on plants, with food as the final product form, which is fundamentally different from other teams' projects. The public attaches great importance to food more than other products, so it is necessary for us to consider whether genetically modified technology can be accepted by the public. Therefore, our team has decided to conduct this research. We selected social media (such as Weibo, China's Bilibili website), online forums (Xiaohongshu APP) and e-commerce platform user reviews (Tiktok APP) as data sources.

The key findings include: the public's awareness of genetically modified foods varies greatly and there are many misunderstandings. Both sides have distinct views on support and opposition, but both have a tendency towards extremism. And the majority of the public is not willing to accept popular science and have a detailed understanding of genetically modified foods.Changing the public's perception of genetically modified foods is not something that can be achieved in a short period of time, but rather a long-term and complex process that requires the joint efforts of the government, research institutions, enterprises, and all sectors of society to gradually eliminate misunderstandings and build trust.
The results of this survey directly affect the development of our team's future research directions and methods: For HP work, it is possible to further focus on safety issues of public concern, conduct more empirical research and popular science activities, and strive to eliminate public misunderstandings about technological means to improve food.(see details in HP-Education)
However, for the research itself, on the one hand, continuing the work of genetically modified rice is not a wise choice until there is an effective change in public attitudes. On the other hand, Chinese regulations currently do not allow the production of genetically modified rice, and the safety of genetically modified technology itself is also highly controversial in principle.(see details in Project-Safety-Laws & Regulations) Therefore, the team chose to abandon the genetically modified strategy and instead opted for a safer polyploidization+gene editing strategy to optimize endogenous metabolites in rice without artificially introducing any exogenous genes.

• Survey on Amino Acid Necessity in Rice

We conducted a social media study to explore the role and nutritional value of rice in different cultures, receiving 265 valid results, focusing on its connection to health. Our research covered rice consumption across Asia and other regions, examining nutritional content, eating habits, and consumer awareness. The findings highlight rice’s key role in Asian diets, and growing market interest in enriched rice products like organic and fortified rice. These insights validate our project's relevance and underscore the importance of effective product promotion.

• Market Research(E-COMMERCE)

We also analyzed the nutritional content of rice and rice flour products sold on JD.com and Sam's Club(online).

The data revealed that rice flour products are, on average, 5.6 times more expensive than rice, with protein content up to 6.5 times higher. However, there was no significant difference in the average protein content between the two. This indicates that rice flour products vary greatly in quality and are often overpriced, though enriched products can still play a crucial role in improving public nutrition.
Our research reassured us of our project's potential and addressed previous doubts about focusing on improving the inherent nutritional content of staple rice rather than producing rare natural compounds. As a staple food, our product could be widely applied in the future. By increasing yield and reducing costs, we aim to offer a product that is affordable for the general public. Although our rice product cannot compete with animal proteins or supplements in terms of protein and lysine content, it is designed to enhance the nutrition of staple foods in China and similar regions.
This market research validated the value and application of our product. However, public understanding of lysine remains limited, so we plan to conduct further surveys on the necessity of increasing lysine content in rice, with additional educational material to enhance the effectiveness of data collection.

• The 2023 23rd Jingchu Grain and Oil Boutique Exhibition and Trade Fair

Many people in the non grain industry questioned the value of our project. At that time, we had no good reason to refute it. Therefore, our student leaders Ziying Qiu participated in the exhibition for research with her friend. This exhibition can help us understand the industry market, so that we can understand the significance of our work.
Doubt: the effect of adding lysine produced by fermentation directly into rice is better than that of improving the endogenous protein lysine of rice.
The two rice products we found in this exhibition can help us refute this doubt,. One is selenium rich rice and the other is low GI (sugar) rice. They all optimized a nutrient of rice. But in our opinion, the biggest difference between them is whether their traits can be inherited. Low GI (sugar) rice is obtained by modifying its starch structure by means of synthetic biology. It is not easily converted into blood glucose and fat by the human body. It is an optimized new germplasm resource. However, the acquisition of selenium rich rice completely depends on the soil rich in selenium in the origin, and its germplasm is still traditional rice. It is true that the lysine production of microbial fermentation is higher than the endogenous accumulation of rice, but it is well known that germplasm resources are an important foundation for the development of the food crop industry. The problem that the imbalance of essential amino acids in rice restricts the nutritional quality has not been solved yet. The improvement of rice nutritional quality depends on the addition is not conducive to the sustainable development of the rice industry.

• Market Research(Offline & Face to face)

When we communicated with Ms. Zhanlan Luo, a stakeholder who is a food seller, as a part-time nutritionist, she affirmed our contribution to improving the protein nutrition of staple foods, but also raised concerns about some populations, especially children, who may have high protein food intolerance or even allergies. She said that if this risk can be avoided, our project will be more valuable for national nutrition. This inspired us to use CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology to knock out allergen globulin.
To gather data on the domestic rice market, our team conducted interviews and surveys across various regions in China.
On the sales side, we visited various scales supermarkets and spoke with consumers and staff. We found that consumers generally prioritize taste over nutrition, often overlooking nutritious rice varieties. However, larger chains like Walmart were more receptive to these emerging rice types. This points to a lack of effective and scientific marketing for nutritious rice, resulting in limited consumer awareness and trust, which hinders commercialization.

Fig.a Student leader Ziying Qiu communicate with saleswoman about rice sales in Trust Mart supermarket chain

Fig.b Wet-lab member Xinyu Wu communicate with saleswoman about rice sales at Wal-mart supermarket

Fig.c Student leader Ziying Qiu communicate with saleswoman about rice sales at Sam's Club supermarket

In response, our team initiated educational campaigns through comics, discussions, and surveys to promote the benefits of nutritious rice and explain the core principles of our project. (see details in HP-Education)Our efforts have already helped some consumers overcome their biases.

• Hubei Rural Planning Research Association

As a team for food and nutrition in rural areas, we greatly need to communicate with experts in the domestic food industry to understand the development of modern agricultural industry in the context of China's big food concept and recognize the problems that our team faces.
So, we actively participated in the annual meeting of the Hubei Rural Planning Research Association and the academic seminar on rural revitalization and planning, in order to seek advice and guidance from experts. In our communication, we learned that there may be differences in understanding between the ownership of our project product rice - grain and food - both domestically and internationally. Therefore, we can prepare information in advance in future communication to avoid any misunderstandings.
At the meeting, experts suggested that as a major graResearch-cing country, our team must pay attention to the requirements of food security. In addition, foreign countries focus more on food security, and projects should be implemented based on ensuring food security and food safety. So our iGEM team conducted a retrospective analysis of the project. We have learned that the public is allergic to globulin in rice (see details in Market Research (Offline & Face to face)), so in terms of food safety, we are committed to improving food safety by reducing allergenic globulin.

• Hubei Synthetic Biology Open Conference.

At the beginning of the project, we have always had a question: whether the multiplification involved in our project belongs to synthetic biology. On the other hand, we learned that Xiao Yi, a researcher from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was carrying out a biological art resident cooperation project on behalf of the Advanced Academy and the Central Academy of Fine Arts at that time. We were also organizing our own bio-art event at that time(see details in Biological Art Competition), hoping to have a more in-depth face-to-face exchange with him on biological art activities.
In order to solve our questions and learn the advantages of other teams, we participated in the 2024 Hubei Synthetic Biology Open Conference.
At the conference, iGEM teams from many central China made reports. Through this conference, we promoted the exchange and cooperation between us and the iGEM team in Central China, and also promoted synthetic biology to the public.
In addition, we also held a roundtable meeting. Several senior professors exchanged about the relationship between their research fields and synthetic biology, and shared their experiences of connecting with the field of synthetic biology. We are also encouraged to participate in the 2024 SynBio Challenges 3.0.(see details in 2024 SynBio Challenges 3.0)
In the Q&A session, we asked Mr. Xiao Yi about how to integrate science and art. Mr. Yi suggested that artists should effectively participate in scientific research and let them enter the work of scientists. His proposal coincides perfectly with one of our educational activities. (See details in HP-Education-Science popularization month of synthetic biology) Through this personal experience, it stimulates their deeper understanding of science. Mr. Xiao Yi also suggested that our team of students majoring in art should start from simplicity and understand each other, so as to complete more creative work.
We also asked Mr. Xiao Yi whether our project was in line with the concept of synthetic biology. He said that our multiplification technology is similar to the work of simplifying the genome in microorganisms. On the other hand, our project improves the content of various expression products as a whole by doubling the dose effect of genes in the genome. To achieve the purpose of optimizing chassis organisms, and then screening protein components through CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology to adjust the gene expression and endogenous metabolic pathways of rice, which is a rational design of chassis organisms. He solved our questions.
Mr. Yi said that it is very valuable for us to carry out synthetic biological engineering design on the plant chassis, and he also fully affirmed that our project can contribute to agriculture and grain. He said that he is looking forward to the real implementation and application of our project.

• Biological Art Competition

We organized the Bio-Art Contest with two main goals.
First, in order to manage the safety risks of engineered rice, we plan to introduce molecular markers and suicide switches in the next generation of engineered rice. The use of fluorescent proteins as markers was initially considered, but there was concern that their luminescence at night could cause panic. (see details in Project-Safety-Product Safety-Molecular markers) The art group suggested that the same as the green fluorescent rabbit, famous biological art works in history, while challenging ideas are common in the arts, public acceptance is important. We are aware of the need to communicate with art students and the general public through events to increase understanding and acceptance of bio-art.
Second, we want to inspire art students to explore global issues from a synthetic biology perspective and demonstrate the inclusiveness of our program. We held a "Campus Art Crossover iGEM" competition to encourage participants to show their solutions or reflections in their works. We also plan to hold an exhibition and garden party on Children's Day to introduce synthetic biology and bioart to the public.
In this competition, we found the work of Yufei Wang, who used multi-colored lines to express the dangers of infectious diseases, and proposed the idea of using yellowish fluorescent protein to label rice husks, which is not only beautiful, but also easy to regulate and identify consumers. Although we ultimately did not choose to use fluorescent proteins for labeling due to other considerations, his proposal has great enlightening value for us to choose glume color as the labeling target.(see details in Project-Safety-Product Safety-Molecular markers)We invited him to join the team to optimize the project, which further enhanced the inclusion and public acceptance of our project.

• the Wuhan Seed Industry Expo

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the needs and safety issues of the rice industry, we collected preliminary data through questionnaires, but realized that more in-depth communication was needed.(Please refer to the questionnaire survey for details in Analysis of genetically modified public opinion and Market Research and Survey on Amino Acid Necessity in Rice )Therefore, we participated in the Wuhan Seed Industry Expo on June 3, 2024, and had face-to-face exchanges with government officials, business representatives, policy advisors and consumers.
At the expo, our team gave a detailed introduction to our polyploid nutrient-fortified rice project, including the research background, technical principles and progress. On June 4, we presented the project to government officials such as the Vice Governor of Hubei Province and the Mayor of Wuhan, and received their attention and recognition. Through our conversation with Policy Advisor Mr. Lai, we learned about the potential of the project to enhance the nutritional value of staple foods.
We also observed that although tourists were interested in improved produce, they were more inclined to try it than to buy it. When it comes to rice seeds and rice, businesses and consumers emphasise yield more than nutritional value. This event made us realize that despite policy support for our project, it needs to be further promoted in practical agricultural applications.
Through this experience, we identified the potential of the project to meet the needs of the industry and realized that increasing production while improving nutritional value is the key to improving the competitiveness of our products. We also learned that excellent products need to be promoted through cultural creativity and marketing to enhance market appeal.

• Communication with MuFengYuan (Wuhan) Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd

After finding the contradiction that consumers are happy about improving agricultural products but have low consumption ideas at the 2024 Wuhan Seed Industry Expo, we hope to seek the exchange of agricultural product sales enterprises at the sales end of the industrial chain. We hope their experience can answer our doubts. Therefore, we found Mr. hongziran, the major shareholder and President of the start-up agricultural product sales company. He told us that at present, the main limiting factor for the promotion of improved crops and agricultural products in China is that the technical supervision and public acceptance are too low. Technical supervision has led to many disruptive products using emerging technologies that cannot pass the approval, and the public acceptance is very consistent with the results of our early public opinion analysis of transgene. He encouraged us to cooperate with sellers with rich sales experience if we want to market our products in the future. We only need to ensure the product supply. Under the current economic conditions, cooperation with mature sales end can solve our puzzles faster than taking this project as an entrepreneurial project.

• 2024 CCiC

We think we have shortcomings in ensuring biosafety. In order to obtain guidance and advice on biosafety, we participated in 2024 CCiC. In this exchange meeting, we first learned how to carry out effective Human Practice activities and understood the two-way dialogue between the project and community advocated by HP. At the same time, the judges questioned the food safety issues involved in our project and the public's acceptance of our project. And by listening to the team report of the agricultural and food and nutrition tracks related to our project, we have made it clear that it is meaningful for us to choose the iterative design to increase the safety of molecular markers + suicide switches. This activity has given us a new direction of efforts. We have carefully reassessed the future risks of the project by consulting professional departments and plant synthetic biology experts, understanding legal provisions, and consulting the iGEM Organizing Committee (see Project-Safety for details). In addition, we have contacted SCU-iGEM, SZU-iGEM the iGEM team of Sichuan University and Shenzhen University, which also takes plants as the chassis, and established with Tianjin University, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), iGEM team TJUSLS-China, CUG-China, setting up communication and cooperation in the later stage of the project (see HP-communication and cooperation for details). In a word, this CCiC has benefited us a lot. It provides valuable experience for the success of our project.
After the exchange, we also started the design of biosafety system to improve the safety of the project. In the process of designing suicide switch, we found that the selected lethal gene did not have a good "switch". The team members brainstormed the regulatory factors of the inducible promoter we want to select. We found that there are too many interference factors, whether environmental factors or physiological factors, such as temperature, air pressure, light are easily disturbed by extreme weather, and pollen maturity is difficult to correlate with pollen fate. At a loss, Zhenghui Lu, the lecturer of the biotransformation course that the team leader attended, was teaching the lactose operon in microorganisms, which involves the inducible promoter. She shared our goals and difficulties with Mr. Lu. Mr. Lu told us that we could find the antagonistic mechanism of toxin protein antitoxin in rice, which is similar to the toxin protein in microorganisms. His inspiration inspired us to find the design direction of reliable safety system.(see details in Project-Safety-Product Safety)

• Wuhan Polyploid Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

Our project is still in the laboratory research stage. We do not know how to put multiplification technology into the market, and we cannot obtain sufficient effective information from legal documents on safety issues and how to regulate them in actual production.Mr. Hong, whom we have visited, has provided us with an effective plan for the sale of rice products, but we still need to find our peers to more directly obtain the market situation of polyploid crops. For this reason, we went to Wuhan Polyploid Biotechnology Co., Ltd. for in-depth exchange. We were lucky enough to go to the indoor intelligent breeding factory to watch and visit the group culture room at the same time. In the communication with the person in charge, we learned that polyploid rice certainly has many well-known advantages. Even if it has passed the variety verification, it is still a new variety of rice, but its real application to market production still faces many Difficult point. Another point is the problem of market acceptance. Some consumers and the market may resist polyploid rice, which is a problem that has always existed. Finally, we also introduced our project to the person in charge. She approved our starting point for further improving the nutritional value based on multiplified rice, but when it comes to transforming it into products, more efforts are needed. In fact, the most difficult thing to change is the prejudice of consumers and the market against this product, and more is needed to transform it into products. The research of. To this end, we have carried out a series of popular science activities to eliminate or slow down the public's resistance to such products.(see details in HP-Education)

• Communication to large rice planting individual unit and visit smart farm

The intelligent breeding factory we visited in Wuhan polyploid Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has inspired us to promote breeding with automation technology, but it prefers laboratory rather than large-scale production. Therefore, we contacted two large rice planting individual units in Wuhan, Hubei Province and Huaihua, Hunan Province, hoping to understand how automation technology can promote rice production.
In Wuhan and Hunan, we interviewed large-scale rice farmers who prioritize yield and nutritional value when selecting rice varieties. They are keen on adopting advanced technologies(such as smart farms and automated planting) and new varieties, which aligns well with our project, suggesting potential future collaborations.

• 2024 SynBio Challenges 3.0

After completing the first engineering iteration of our project, we participated in a synthetic biology competition, similar to iGEM in China. During the competition, we presented our project and discussed future improvements, such as incorporating molecular markers and suicide switches. We won the gold medal and received positive feedback, gaining valuable experience for iGEM. The competition allowed us to reflect on our work and communicate with experts.
Our project has left a deep impression on Professor Zhenbiao Yang, an expert in plant synthetic biology. He mentioned our project's contributions twice at the roundtable meeting. He said, 'Many essential amino acids in plant proteins are not very balanced for the human body, such as the lack of lysine.' He acknowledged that we can increase the lysine content in rice through gene editing. He also said, "In terms of agriculture, there are major bottlenecks in production, including crop varieties. For almost a hundred years, China has been using traditional breeding methods. It is very difficult to further increase yield, and we must have disruptive means." He specifically mentioned that our team's work on doubling rice chromosomes can increase rice yield, and he evaluated our work as disruptive and can solve problems that traditional breeding methods cannot solve.

Additionally, our art team leader, Liu Siwei, engaged in a meaningful exchange with an artist during a bio-art exhibition, discussing the integration of biological and artistic design. This interdisciplinary approach offers potential for future collaboration between art and biology students.

• 2024 National Science Day in Wuhan

On September 12, 2024, we participated in National Science Day in Wuhan, where our educational activities attracted attention from local trade service representatives. They expressed interest in collaborating on agricultural and biological science education programs.
A visitor also inquired about purchasing our product for personal use. We explained that our product has yet to receive regulatory approval, but he still showed confidence in our research team’s expertise and sincerity, eagerly awaiting its market release.

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