Human Practices

At the heart of synthetic biology, our practice process is akin to a complete genetic circuit. Climate crisis, greenhouse gas control, and renewable carbon energy serve as the "promoter" of this circuit, guiding our team's entire practice. Public interviews and field visits are the "ribosome binding sites," and we act as the "ribosomes," initiating the "translation" process of project design by understanding the social status quo and public thoughts. Expert interviews, close communication and collaboration with businesses and universities, and extensive publicity and education for primary and secondary school students are like "repressor proteins," providing positive feedback to the "terminator"—the issues raised by this project.

Against the backdrop of global warming, a series of changes such as temperature, precipitation, atmospheric and oceanic circulation, and extreme weather and climate events have profound impacts on the global natural ecosystem and socio-economic development. The IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report states that human activities causing global warming is an undeniable fact. Rapid changes are occurring in the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, and biosphere. Over the past century or so, the burning of fossil fuels and unequal and unsustainable use of energy and land have led to a continuous rise in global temperatures, now 1.1 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels. This leads to more frequent and severe extreme weather events, putting nature and populations around the world in increasing danger. As climate warming intensifies, food and water insecurity will become increasingly severe; if these risks coincide with other adverse events such as pandemics or conflicts, they will become even more challenging.

Data Source: IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/)

Faced with this historic moment, humanity continues to advance the development of renewable resources and decarbonization actions. In the "Renewable Energy Statistics 2024" released by IRENA in July, it is proposed that the global renewable energy sector achieved unprecedented growth in 2023. However, to achieve the goal promised by countries at COP28 to triple the global renewable energy capacity by 2030, the development of global renewable energy still needs to keep pressing the "accelerator."

Lignin, due to its advantages in the production of biofuels and chemicals, has become a hot topic in current development. The global annual production of lignocellulose is about 1800 billion tons, making it an abundant renewable carbon resource on Earth. The biorefining process of lignocellulose helps reduce dependence on fossil energy and promotes sustainable social development, becoming a hot topic of current research.

Data Source: Xu Chao. Effects of Wood Cellulose on Straw Matrix Properties and Pre treatment Regulation Mechanism [D]. Huazhong Agricultural University, 2023.

he high-value utilization of lignocellulosic biomass is the problem that the NPU-CHINA team aims to solve. The team has modified P. putida, which has the ability to metabolize lignocellulose, by enhancing its manganese oxidation capacity. This produces a large amount of highly reactive and high-valent manganese minerals, which in turn strengthens the degradation of lignocellulose and achieves its high-value utilization.

The Qinling region is an important ecological security barrier in China, with a forest coverage rate of over 60%. The forest area is about 350 million mu, accounting for 10% of the country's total forest area. The Qinling area is mainly composed of deciduous broad-leaved forests, among which birch, as one of the main tree species, has important ecological and economic value.

Birch, as a hardwood from deciduous broad-leaved trees, has a high lignin content and is rich in aromatic units. The structure of birch lignin is complex, with the main units including S (syringyl), G (guaiacyl), and H (p-hydroxyphenyl) units, which are connected by different types of chemical bonds to form a three-dimensional network structure. The chemical structural characteristic of birch lignin is that it contains a high proportion of β-O-4 bonds, which are the most common bond types in lignin molecules and account for most of all lignin bonds. In addition, birch lignin also includes fewer β-5, β-1, and 5-5 bonds, etc. The complex structure and stable chemical bonds of birch lignin make its biodegradation rate in the natural environment very slow, which limits its role in soil fertility and the carbon cycle ^[1].

In forest development, the surplus of wood resources and the disposal of waste wood is an important issue. Improper disposal can lead to resource waste and environmental problems. Existing waste wood treatment technologies may be inefficient and unable to meet the needs of large-scale treatment, while also potentially causing secondary pollution. If waste wood is not properly treated and disposed of by burning, it may release harmful gases and pollute the atmospheric environment. Due to the relatively high cost of recycling and processing, and the underutilization of the value of waste wood, the economic benefits are not obvious, affecting the enthusiasm for recycling and processing.

The Northeast region is the largest corn-producing area in China, with about 170 million tons of corn straw that can be collected each year, accounting for 48% of the country's corn straw resources. Corn straw is an important source of soil organic matter and a crucial material basis for the sustainable development of agriculture and animal husbandry.

Taking Jixian County Jixian Town in Shuangyashan City as an example, the corn planting area is 165,296 acres, and the straw output is 55,209 tons. However, the current utilization methods of straw mainly include direct return to the field, feed, fuel, and substrate, etc. The comprehensive utilization rate of straw is only 66.6%, 13.5 percentage points lower than the national level.

At the same time, the long and low-temperature environment in winter in the Northeast region limits the microbial degradation of straw, and the decomposition rate in spring and winter is only about 30%. The low-temperature degradation bottleneck of straw seriously restricts the recovery of soil organic matter. Therefore, the problem of how to achieve low-temperature degradation of straw is urgently waiting to be solved. Currently feasible methods include developing new technologies for low-temperature degradation of straw based on cold-adapted nano-enzymes to improve the degradation efficiency of straw. Or by policy support, improve the comprehensive utilization capacity of straw, such as green channels for straw transportation, and preferential agricultural electricity prices for straw deep processing.

In order to better understand the specific significance of lignin degradation methods in social practice operations, we visited Ningshan County in Shaanxi Province, China, and went deep into the local rural areas to communicate with farmers about the treatment of agricultural waste (dead branches, straw) and rotten wood.

In the communication with them, the practice team learned that at present, most of the agricultural waste is handled by farmers by burning and then burying in the land. Some suitable agricultural waste is also used for composting and feeding livestock, but the proportion is very low. The treatment method of burning waste and then burying it on the spot not only produces a large amount of carbon dioxide and toxic and harmful gases during the treatment process but also wastes a large amount of organic matter in the material and land resources. This backward method of agricultural waste treatment urgently needs to be changed.

We went to Ningdong Forestry Bureau and learned through detailed conversations with the staff of the Forestry Bureau that the Forestry Bureau has formulated reasonable logging plans, encouraged the rational use of forest resources, developed wood processing, ensured the continuous supply of forest resources; promoted advanced logging and processing technologies, reduced waste; and Ningdong Forestry Bureau hopes to cooperate with Northwestern Polytechnical University to carry out scientific research, develop new varieties, new technologies, and new materials, and strengthen the dynamic monitoring and protection of forest resources.

Professor Zhang Lianbing, the project PI, led the project team to the main straw-producing area of Northeast China to conduct field research and learned that the main treatment methods of local straw are returning straw to the field: mechanically crushing and directly spreading it in the field, or deep turning into the soil, to increase the content of soil organic matter, improve soil structure, and thus maintain soil fertility and prevent soil erosion. This is not only beneficial to the conservation of black soil but also reduces the use of chemical fertilizers. Due to the developed animal husbandry, a part of the corn straw is made into silage feed for the breeding of cattle, sheep, and other livestock, promoting the organic combination of agriculture and animal husbandry.

However, there are still many challenges in the treatment of corn straw in the Northeast black soil area: the phenomenon of straw burning has been alleviated but still occurs, and it still has a certain impact on the atmospheric environment; the collection and transportation costs of straw are high, limiting the economic benefits of large-scale industrial use; farmers' cognition and skills in the resource utilization of straw are limited, and there is a need to increase training and publicity efforts. There is still a long way to go in solving these problems.

Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Researcher Fan Kelong's research direction is the biomimetic synthesis of nanozymes and their biomedical applications. He first proposed the new concept of simulating the active center of natural enzymes and designing nanozymes. Fan Kelong provided many theoretical suggestions for the NPU-CHINA team in using synthetic biology methods to improve the performance of nanozymes and provided technical guidance for the analysis and performance evaluation of nanozymes.

School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University

Professor Li Aipeng is an expert in synthetic biology with extensive research experience in the fields of genetic engineering and enzyme engineering. His team has a very comprehensive synthetic biology research platform. Provided technical and experimental support for the modification of the promoter and plasmid construction required for Pseudomonas aeruginosa in this project

In the process of communication and learning, the team members deeply realized the importance of internalizing the knowledge learned and practicing it. They actively advocated and practiced the concept of "teaching to learn, learning to act," leading more teachers, students, and the public to participate in practical actions of ecological protection. Through a series of practical activities, not only were the participants' awareness of environmental protection enhanced, but the significant meaning of practical education in cultivating future guardians of ecology was also deeply reflected, greatly stimulating everyone's strong interest and exploration enthusiasm for the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (IGEM) and the field of synthetic biology.

From May 13 to May 22, 2024, in order to further consolidate learning achievements and promote skill improvement, the team organized the "Lignin Degradation Bacteria Screening" experimental skills competition. This activity further stimulated the members' interest in learning life sciences, exercised their experimental skills, and enhanced their innovative consciousness, providing a communication platform for life science practice activities for related professional students.

In April 2024, with the support of the Life Power Style Cultivation Studio and the China Association for Science and Technology's "Life Pilot, Soaring Future" - "Soaring Wings" College Student Science and Technology Volunteer Service Project, relying on the "Life Pilot, Soaring Future" science popularization education base jointly built by the Life College and the Northwest Polytechnical University Affiliated Kindergarten, the team members carefully planned ecological protection science popularization activities for children, explaining ecological knowledge in a lively and interesting way, sowing green hope, and bringing many lively and interesting Qinling biodiversity science popularization reports, allowing children to further come into contact with the great charm of life science.

In addition, in order to expand the channels of communication and deepen the cooperation network, the team members actively participated in many activities including the China iGEM Community Conference, the Northwest Regional Academic Seminar, the National Biomedical Engineering Innovation Design Competition, and the National Synthetic Biology Innovation Competition. These platforms not only provided a stage for them to showcase research results but also gave the team members the opportunity to communicate in depth with industry experts, scholars, and outstanding teams to discuss the innovative applications of synthetic biology in ecological protection and other fields.

The China iGEM Community Conference (Conference of China iGEMer Community, CCiC) is a national exchange event initiated by Chinese iGEM teams. Its purpose is to build a resource-sharing platform for teams participating in the iGEM competition and young enthusiasts of synthetic biology in China to promote mutual learning and communication. The NPU-CHINA team actively participated in this event and shared project design and progress with iGEM teams from all over China, stimulating thought collisions and accepting targeted questions and suggestions from guests and judges. In addition, they listened carefully to the wonderful lectures by experts and scholars in the field of synthetic biology, deepening their understanding and recognition of iGEM projects.

On August 5, 2024, the NPU-CHINA team participated in the 6th Northwest Regional Exchange and had in-depth exchanges and learning with teams from multiple universities. Each team presented their project results from various aspects such as project background, experimental design, model construction, human practice activities, and future planning. At the same time, they also focused on elaborating on the advantages, shortcomings, and uncertainties in their respective projects. During the Q&A session, participants actively raised questions about other teams' projects and offered suggestions for improvement. The exchange achieved positive and fruitful results.

From August 8 to August 9, 2024, the NPU-CHINA team members participated in the 3rd Synthetic Biology Innovation Competition (SynBio Challenges) held at the Guangming Tian'an Cloud Valley International Convention and Exhibition Center in Shenzhen, and stood out from many excellent participating teams, winning the gold award. This competition is hosted by the Synthetic Biology Branch of the Chinese Society of Bioengineering and is a top event in the field of synthetic biology in China. It aims to cultivate original innovation ability through three major challenges: "knowledge accumulation, problem analysis, and continuous improvement," providing a platform for young students to communicate and learn face-to-face with leading scholars in the field, and to show their own innovation on a creative and creative platform.

On July 26, 2024, the NPU-CHINA team members successfully entered the final after the offline preliminary competition display and defense, and won the national second prize and two third prizes in the 9th National College Students' Biomedical Engineering Innovation Design Competition. This competition is a top national competition for college students in the field of biomedical engineering, with high-quality works, strengthening the connection between academia and industry. The competition, with the theme of "Innovation Drives, Healthy Future," aims to promote students' academic exchange and innovative practice in the field of biomedical engineering and to promote the application and development of biomedical technology in the field of future medical and health.

During the 2024 freshman welcome activity of Northwestern Polytechnical University, the team actively seized the opportunity and planned a series of publicity and promotion activities to bring the excitement of IGEM and the charm of synthetic biology into the vision of freshmen, aiming to stimulate their interest and yearning for the IGEM competition and their love for scientific and technological innovation. By holding IGEM promotion lectures for freshmen in 2024, the team invited excellent team members and instructors from previous years to use vivid cases and in-depth explanations to let freshmen understand the history, purpose, competition process, and significant importance of IGEM in the field of synthetic biology. The lecture also shared the challenges and gains of the team in the competition, stimulating the freshmen's enthusiasm for exploring the unknown and bravely climbing the peak of science and technology.

In March 2024, the NPU-CHINA team successfully held a series of ecological protection cultural festival activities for all students at Northwestern Polytechnical University. The activity launched the "Green Dye Three Qin" ecological newspaper drawing activity, and participants need to draw a vivid ecological newspaper from the perspectives of Qinling scenery, natural resources, history and culture, policy protection, etc., using the knowledge learned and personal creativity. After fierce competition, a number of excellent works were produced: the theme is clear, the content is rich, and the form is diverse, fully showing the students' attention and love for the Qinling ecology. This activity not only provided a platform for students to show themselves and communicate and learn, but also further stimulated their strong interest and enthusiasm for biology and interdisciplinary fields.

In order to further promote the transformation of experimental results, we plan to further communicate and cooperate with downstream enterprises to promote the industrialization and landing of results.

Jiangsu Taicang Enterprise Interview and Visit: During the interview, we learned that the enterprise is trying to use biological methods to degrade lignocellulose. In the communication process, they are very interested in our project and gave us several suggestions. At present, many people believe that genetically modified organisms are harmful, even if this is not the case. We need to further demonstrate the impact of our products on the safety of agricultural products through experimental data when applied in practical applications. In addition, the entry of our products into the market needs to consider the issues of efficiency and output. In terms of efficiency, the degradation ability of lignin by genetically modified Pseudomonas putida is enhanced; in terms of output, fermentation engineering is inevitably used to increase the output of fermentation, but this will also bring a greater burden to the separation and purification process, such as introducing other impurities, etc. Therefore, when designing the fermentation process, we need to further consider the problems that may arise in the separation and purification process.

The team members went to a rural revitalization industrial park in Xi'an City to discuss with the staff on the topic of straw utilization to help rural revitalization. The staff pointed out that most of the rural land currently has low utilization efficiency of straw, and the soil fertility is decreasing. Moreover, the amount of straw after the autumn harvest every year is huge. If these straws are simply burned, it is really a waste. The measure of degrading lignin through biological methods is beneficial to both straw utilization and soil fertility, and will also promote the growth of crops, helping rural revitalization.

The team went to the Yangling Modern Agricultural Demonstration Zone in Xi'an City for a visit and exchange. The staff showed us the greenhouses and soilless cultivation technologies, as well as the precise agriculture of positioning, timing, and quantification. We were amazed by the automation and intelligence of modern agriculture, and at the same time, we introduced Pseudomonas putida to her. She recognized its contribution to agricultural sustainability, transforming agricultural waste into valuable products while reducing the negative impact on the environment. This not only improves the overall efficiency of the agricultural system but also helps to achieve the goals of a circular economy and green agriculture. She looks forward to our achievements being industrialized to further benefit the development of modern agriculture, and let Pseudomonas putida play an increasingly important role in modern agriculture.