Bill Gates once said, "Success is not due to individual abilities, but to teamwork."
Teamwork is essential in technological innovation projects. It not only ignites innovation and deepens project understanding but also allows us to tackle challenges collaboratively and optimize project designs through cross-disciplinary skill and knowledge exchange. On one hand, it broadens our horizons, exposing us to diverse design concepts, experimental techniques, and application outcomes, thereby offering more innovative possibilities for the project. On the other hand, sharing experiences enables us to promptly identify and resolve difficulties, helping us avoid detours. Throughout the progression of the iGEM project, we actively engaged in multifaceted teamwork and exchanges.
Firstly, we participated in the China Competition Conference of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition (CCiC), where we shared and showcased our project achievements with teams from all over the country, had profound discussions with experts, and gained abundant knowledge and invaluable advice. Secondly, we conducted online exchanges with teams from Shandong University and Huazhong Agricultural University, drawing on their unique insights and innovative thinking in scientific research projects, which ignited our enthusiasm for research. Simultaneously, we participated in offline exchanges with teams from Hubei University, Nanjing Tech University, and others, deepening mutual understanding and cooperation through visits to laboratories, in-depth project dialogues, and other forms. Most importantly, we forged profound friendships with numerous teams, striving together towards our scientific research dreams. These collaborative experiences and achievements from our cooperation and exchanges will provide invaluable support and motivation for our future scientific research endeavors.
1、Shandong University (SDU-CHINA)
Our team conducted an online exchange with Shandong University SDU-CHINA on July 22nd.
The professionalism, innovative mindset, and unique insights into research projects demonstrated by the Shandong University SDU-CHINA team filled us with profound admiration. The research projects they shared, be it in terms of design concepts, experimental techniques, or application outcomes, were brimming with forward-thinking and practicality, revealing to us the boundless potential of the field of synthetic biology and inspiring us to delve deeper into and optimize our own projects. Furthermore, they expressed great interest in our project's CRISPR-related transposon system and droplet-based microfluidic high-throughput screening technology. Taking their suggestions into account, we created animated demonstrations showcasing these technologies.
2、Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU-China)
Our team conducted an online exchange with HZAU-China, Huazhong Agricultural University, on July 30th.
The online exchange with HZAU-China, Huazhong Agricultural University, was an unforgettable experience. It was not merely an exchange of knowledge and skills but also a profound touch and inspiration to our hearts. In our dialogue with the HZAU-China team, we felt their genuine curiosity and eagerness to explore the unknown world behind scientific research. This pure enthusiasm deeply inspired our team. We realized that scientific research is not merely about pursuing academic achievements but also about unraveling the mysteries of life and providing new ideas and solutions to the problems facing humanity.
3、Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU-CHINA)
On the ICII platform (website: www.icii.asia) established by NAU-CHINA, Nanjing Agricultural University, our team showcased a creative poster titled "Fengze Zhisheng - Advanced 5-ALA Biosynthesis." This poster promoted our project content in a more vivid manner, disseminating the concepts of ensuring food security, environmental protection, and sustainable development. It holds significant importance and far-reaching influence in fostering technological innovation, enhancing academic exchanges and cooperation, and more. By displaying creative works and posters on the ICII platform, the NNU-CHINA team not only showcased their research achievements but also facilitated academic interactions with other teams and professionals.This cross-disciplinary collaboration contributes to the in-depth development of scientific research and offers new possibilities for addressing global challenges.
1、Conference of China iGEMer Community (CCiC) :
From July 12th to 14th, the 11th Conference of China iGEMer Community (CCiC) for the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition was held at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. Teams from universities and high schools across China gathered to share and showcase their iGEM participating projects.They engaged in profound exchanges with experts from academia and industry igniting sparks of innovation and injecting new energy into future technological exploration.
After attending this conference, team members gained a deeper understanding of iGEM teams and their projects, and forged strong bonds of friendship with teams from various universities!
2、Hubei University (CHINA-HUBU-WUHAN)
On May 13th, —— iGEMers from Hubei University came to visit our college for exchange. The leader of NNU-CHINA team led the students of HUBU-CHINA to visit the laboratory of our hospital and communicate with professional teachers about the difficulties encountered in their project and their solutions.
The two teams engaged in an in-depth dialogue on the project, showing their wonderful achievements and unique ideas in the iGEM project. Through presentations by the HUBU-CHINA team, we learned that they for chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, the use of biosecurity and beneficial to the —— movement fermentation monas (Zymomonas mobilis) targeted design, modification, testing and application, form a response to the treatment of a variety of diseases in a microbial therapy. The teachers of our hospital made suggestions for the difficulties encountered by HUBU-CHINA in the experiment. Teachers gave professional guidance in modeling, especially in protein structure prediction and protein docking.
At the end of the meeting, NNU-CHINA and HUBU-CHINA took a group photo with Academician Huang He. Under the lens, everyone's face is filled with harvest and joy smile. This is not only a group photo, but also a witness of our common scientific research dream and friendship.
3、Nanjing Tech University (NJTECH-CHINA-A)
On July 29, four members of the NNU-CHINA team went to the Jiangpu Campus of Nanjing University of Technology and participated in an iGEM exchange meeting together with the NJTECH-CHINA-A team. With the love and dedication of synthetic biology, we discussed the road of scientific research, shared experience and insights together, and laid a solid foundation for the future road of scientific research.
The NJTECH-CHINA-A project mainly introduces tg sugar (Tagatose) as a new healthy, natural sweetener, aiming to solve the health risks faced by modern people in the pursuit of sweet taste. After that, our team leader presented a detailed explanation of our project’s background and core principles of the team project, and also deeply analyzed the innovative points of using the CRISPR-related transposon system to improve the enzyme stability, as well as the frontier research of predicting new targets through the enzyme constraint model.
After project introduction, two teams also communicate human practice work, from elaborate public content creation, to the creative surrounding design, for different age students, and jointly with five universities launched podcasts, in the process of communication with the spread of more propaganda inspiration. Through the communication, we gained a clearer understanding of their own shortcomings, but also find the other side's shining points. Both of our projects are closely tied to achieving the Global Health and Sustainable Development Goals. We suggest that while paying attention to the production process, they should also consider how to effectively promote Tager sugar in the market, so that more public and enterprises can understand and accept this product. In addition, they also advised on our products, proposing that we should achieve high 5-ALA yield while also focusing on improving the way pesticides are used to maximize the effectiveness of applied pesticides on crops. Their suggestions attracted our attention, and we found through literature research that packaging 5-ALA in nanoencapsules seems to show greater effectiveness on crops, and we expect to study this field in the future.
