In our project, the core goal of Human Practices is to ensure that our designed genetic information transmission and encryption system is not only technically feasible but also adheres to ethical and safety standards. Through expert interviews, social research, and exchanges with other academic institutions, we have consistently focused on societal concerns such as information security, privacy protection, and biosafety throughout the project design process. Our research aims to develop a biological encryption and information transmission system controlled by caffeine using synthetic biology methods, and Human Practices has helped us ensure that this technology is safe, reliable, and aligned with the expectations and needs of the public and relevant stakeholders in real-world applications. Through collaboration with educational institutions, research centers, and industry, we have further validated the practical effectiveness of this system in encryption, selective growth, and self-destruction mechanisms, paving the way for future applications.

Background: Our team constructed a social survey to visit a broader group of individuals in a mall located at Shen Zhen Guang Ming and at the same time publish this survey online for more people to access.
Purpose: We are collecting all the different results from various groups of people to organize data showing the degree to which information is readable after DNA mutations.
Results:



A model to simulate the mutation sites in our constructed plasmid was developed. It predicted what random genetic changes would do to the readability of the coding region. Conception Our model will calculate the number of mutations, insertions, and deletions that could take place overtime. It also provides a mechanism for redundancy in the model in order for information integrity to be maintained even when such mutations take place. The analysis of different scenarios-up to 10 mutations within a DNA sequence-keeps the information readable, which implies that information can safely be stored in E. coli for tens of years with no significant loss of readability. Using the simulation of all different mutation scenarios, we saw that through using redundancy, a system's resistance to mutations significantly enhances so that over more extended periods, readability is ensured in stability.

Background: Farah Qureshi, ScD- Assistant Professor， Department of Population, Family & Reproductive Health， Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health）
Purpose: In this interview, we aimed to clarify our background and link our project to the range of society and the world.
Main Point: During this conversation with my professor, she explained the role of genomics in public health and how this field can benefit society. Before this discussion, I was unsure how our experiment could have societal applications or be relevant to various professions but her answer gave me a great inspiration of our goal. The class focused on the fundamentals of public health and all the factors that could influence individuals as a whole. My professor's insights encouraged me to explore how research in genomics and the transmission of genetic information can influence health and disease. This understanding leads to advancements in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies, as more information can be effectively utilized for medical purposes.
Purpose: We want to have a better understanding of the current prices of DNA sequencers and understand the future trends in DNA sequencer prices. DNA sequencer is a big part of our project since it’s the basic need to read the message being transfered in bacteria’s DNA sequence.
Key Highlights:
Summarize ：In this interview, we know about the kinds of sequencers and the mainstream sequencers in the market. We also know about the price of the sequencers and the prospect of these DNA sequencing machines. Because of this prediction of the sequencer future’s price, it would be more convenience to test DNA sequences and provide a easier platform for our technique to be use in future.

Background: The person we interviewed is a PhD student in Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was also the iGEM leader of Beijing University’s 2018 team and had accumulated rich experiences in leading high school iGEM team.
Purpose: This project aims to develop a cost-effective, time-efficient method for DNA data storage and encryption, independent of sequencing methods. The information will be read continuously using green or red fluorescence as a key.
Highlights:
Summary:
The system ensures encoded DNA sequences are secure and indistinguishable from natural ones. With a focus on biosafety, it uses safe enzyme bacteria for direct data transfer. The goal is to provide a highly secure, efficient solution for data storage and secure communications across various industries. Quantum communications is new as of this year it was finally accomplished our hope is to further this discovery and to integrate it with our own to create a quantum biological wonder of communication.

Purpose: We aimed to introduce synthetic biology to our students and popularize how synthetic biology is already all around our lives. We choose to use an example of an environmental problem that could influence human life and introduce the solution of synthetic biology, to explain how synthetic biology could change human life.
Key Highlights:
Summary: In this activity, we utilize synthetic biology methods to address the issue of soil erosion, introducing students to the fundamental concepts and functions of synthetic biology while highlighting its contributions to life sciences. At the same time, I incorporated information on gene transfer and its interpretation to help students fully understand the significance of genes in synthetic biology and the application of genetic diversity. Through the preparation of this project, I also expanded my knowledge of synthetic biology, which enabled me to improve our experiments. As we progressed step by step, we refined our original experimental design, making adjustments to better align with our objectives. This project enhanced my understanding of the experimental subject, enriched my independent thinking skills, and facilitated my progress in future experiments.

Purpose: Our aim is to popularize knowledge related to both biology and information transmission. We have already written the article that explores ancient and modern methods of information transmission, including introduction and comparison between these transmission methods, description of the information transmission method of our group. Additionally, we plan to further expand our content to cover various aspects of biological knowledge and how it intersects with the field of information transmission and enhance public understanding.
Key highlights:
Summary：
Through official accounts, we presented our program and disseminated knowledge about biology. We also aimed to further extend the content to explore the intersections between biology and information transmission. We hope our articles will enhance people’s understand of synthetic biology as well as our project--transmitting information through DNA.
Purpose: Our group created multiple educational videos and published them on Youtube to publicity the basic knowledge about synthetic biology and some intro videos to introduce items in laboratory and concepts about basic experiments. At the same time, we concluded our experimental design into different blocs and filmed them in to these educational videos.
Main Points:
Summary：
We wish these videos could help all the students that are interested in synthetic biology and wanting to join iGEM. Furthermore, we want to share our experimental design to all the iGEMers and share ideas with each other.

Purpose: This is our first collaboration with multiple iGEMers around the world in different fields and different levels, we wish we could achieve a better design and performance of our project through the conversations and advice we received from various professors and iGEM teams in both high school fields and University fields.
Main Points:
Professor Zhang emphasized the importance of the security protection of biological information. While advocating for new developments, innovators are invited to re-examine the negative impacts and potential limitations of technology. For example, the misuse of AI, the control of illegal drugs (e.g. poppies), etc. It’s related to our project since we use E. coli, which has a very low potential of acting as a pathogen, but it’s worthwhile to note that yeast might be a potent candidate in the future instead of sticking with E. coli.
After the lecture prof, Zhang and Dr.Bao stressed the idea of critically reassessing our project designs. He pointed out that:” it’s fine for a student to include downsides of their project, and I personally encourage it.” We could include this in our human practice section.
Pieces of Advice we got to improve our design: Summary：
Anywhere the facilities are new and delicate. The big screens in the lecture hall look great. Nexus X XJTLU logo is plastered all over the room, you can tell that the organizer have put a lot of effort into it. There were a lot of new technology companies and they had their own booths where scholars could interact with others in front of their posters. These multiple booths provided us a lot of study chances and opportunities to conduct more in depth communications that can help on our design of project.

Meet up with iGEM Team of Imperial College London
Imperial College team: a short conversation with Edward Wu. He generally supports our project and raised a concern about the limitation of bacterial survival on hands. Edward suggested that we should use Bacillus instead of Escherichia coli to achieve better bacterial survival on hands. However, it is worth noting that the strong odor of Bacillus is easily detectable by people, which contradicts our "stealth" theme. Through further research, we found that bacteria can exist in a dormant state on hands and do not completely die. His question has been constructive in helping us understand the topic better. At the same time, I learned that they are working on a bacterial regeneration rubber project, and I also made him aware of the efficiency and cost issues.
Shanghai Technology university Their delegate proposed the RSA encryption method, which is a public-key encryption algorithm based on the factorization of large prime numbers, used to ensure the security of data transmission. However, after our discussion, we found that such an encryption algorithm is too complex for high school students and requires specialized equipment. It does not align with our theme of "agents" and rapid decoding. Therefore, we created a method of converting Chinese Wubi input into binary as an additional feature.

Purpose: This laboratory visit aims to deepen our understanding of synthetic biology by observing cutting-edge techniques in gene transfer, automated production, and advanced technologies. We will explore how synthetic biology principles combine with automation and interdisciplinary collaboration, showcasing how such innovations can revolutionize the production of artemisinin and other bioactive compounds.
Key Highlights: Summary:
This laboratory visit was an inspiring opportunity to witness the forefront of synthetic biology and its applications in artemisinin and bioactive compound production. We gained valuable insights into DNA design, automation in construction and testing, and the integration of hardware and software. Automated platforms like iBioFAB, EGF, and Amyris BOT are leading the way in synthetic biology, optimizing gene cluster characterization and metabolic pathway refinement with incredible efficiency. The advancements in automated DNA synthesis, assembly, and transformation, combined with cutting-edge laboratory workflows and equipment, highlight the potential to transform life science research. This visit has truly showcased the future of synthetic biology, where innovation and expertise are set to redefine bioactive compound production and propel scientific research to new heights.

Purpose: Our team’s trip to the Institute of Brain Science, Shenzhen University of Technology aided us in a deeper understanding of our experiments with the connectivity and linkage of DNA. We also found this trip very useful as it explained to us how scientists use the functions of our brains to further science and medicine.
Key highlights: Summary：
This tour showed us how important science is and how it delves into a bit of everything. We also learned a wide array of information on solving many problems and theories. This tour not only aided us in our understanding of our research but many others as well including mental health. It was inspiring to see the bright scientists of Brain Science at work and the high-tech machines we saw left us in awe. It was a truly mesmerizing and educational experience that we would recommend to anyone not just people interested in biology.
Purpose: By organizing this visit, we aimed to explore and advance synthetic biology, new methods of information transfer through innovative technologies and applications that will realize the cross boundary integration of biology and information technology and create a new field of biological information transfer.
Key highlights: Summary：
The human practice aims to use synthetic biology to create and control new life forms and information transfer method By advancing the genome assembly technology development cell oscillator and programming yeast genome, we paved the way for the innovation and application of various industries Specific to our topic, to realize the Chinese information transfer using biological coding, demonstrates the great potential of biological information technology The active method embodies the instead of looking forward to the future, is to create ideas.

Purpose: During this meetup, we look forward to more advice from a university iGEM group with their experience and a more integrated experimental group. The reason for this meeting is to get an out of box perspective of our work. Our team strongly believes that questions lead to solutions and their comments and need for clarification can help us find holes in our project. Furthermore, we looked forward to exchanging opinions and findings with the college branch of the iGEM group to gain more knowledge and insight into the program. In conclusion, we will be absorbing the wisdom of our seniors and discovering new innovative angles to approach our project.
Main Points: Summary： Based on all these suggestion and problems we understand during the discussion, we find a better solution to overcome these points that we never thought of. From this collaboration, we achieved a great improvement in both our integrity of our project and our clarification on our presentation for audience to better understand our goals and process.

Two representatives from our team visited SIYOMICRO. The company primarily focuses on synthetic biology cosmetic ingredients, such as SOD honey, vanillin, and other chemical products. Their equipment is very advanced, and we observed that each lab personnel adheres strictly to safety measures. However, it is worth mentioning that the company's control over odors and ventilation is inadequate. This might be due to the fermentation equipment producing a large amount of organic gases. Although these gases are not very harmful to humans, they are quite unpleasant to smell. Another area lacking is the wastewater treatment system. Improving waste management might be something they need to focus on next. Additionally, while the working environment is sterile, the lighting could be more vibrant to enhance the brand image.

Purpose: Soon, Team JIASHU-China will be participating in the Grand Jamboree. To meetup with like-minded peers in school would be a great way for us to procure direct insights from other High school team; reconfirm things that’s being missed throughout the working interim as well as practicing our final presentation. Moreover, we strive for a accreditation of our delicate introductory part, in order to corroborate our intriguing coding-decoding design.
Key highlights: Summarize: This is an student-oriented, mini-sized meetup happened inside Beijing Huijia private school campus. Three teams learned from each experiences and successfully communicated the goal, method of their project. For us, we believe this is a great way to foster our presentation skills in front of audiences inside a big conference room.

Through a series of Human Practices activities, we have made significant progress in various aspects of our project. In the research aspect, we collected public concerns about information security through surveys and model studies, validating the feasibility and necessity of our project in real-world applications. From expert interviews, we gained valuable feedback, particularly in gene encoding, information transmission, and biosafety, which helped us optimize the project design. In education, through science videos, exhibitions, and official accounts, we successfully promoted the basic concepts of synthetic biology to the public and demonstrated how our innovative technology addresses modern information security challenges. In collaboration, we engaged with several universities and research institutions both domestically and internationally, enhancing our experimental design and deepening our understanding of the industrial applications of synthetic biology technologies.
Through these efforts, we ensured that our project is socially responsible, feasible, and safe. Ultimately, our Human Practices work not only supported the achievement of the project's technical goals but also laid a solid social and ethical foundation for its future applications.