Education

Background

In order to promote synthetic biology and our project, we designed posters, brochures, Character ip, popular science videos and games. We organized five popular science activities for students and the public, and we also promoted them through several media platforms.

Communication with synthetic biology enthusiasts

During the summer vacation, together with two iGEM teams, we held a networking event with a group of biology enthusiasts. Tang Zhuo, the leader of our team, introduced our project on stage and promoted the team's questionnaire and social platform account. We introduced the achievements of our project and shared our experience of participating in this project to the biology enthusiasts. At the end of the activity, the participants also expressed their great interest in this project and expressed their willingness to join the iGEM family in the future.

Hangzhou Olive Tree International Academy Opening speech

In the opening speech, student Lou Xinlei gave a detailed introduction of our iGEM project. She first explained the background and significance of the iGEM competition, and then elaborated on the core of our project—the production mechanism of NAOS. She described how we utilized synthetic biology techniques to produce β-agarase AgaA and then used the engineered enzyme to generate NAOS, a compound with antioxidant properties.

She also reviewed the team's journey throughout the experiment, sharing the entire process from literature research, experimental design, to the final optimization of the production process. Additionally, she introduced the history of our team and highlighted our various science outreach activities, particularly our collaboration and exchanges with other teams.

Lou Xinlei also reflected on her personal experience during the summer project activities. She emphasized that by participating in these activities, she not only deepened her understanding of scientific research but also improved her teamwork and public communication skills. She recognized the importance of science communication and is now more confident in her future research endeavors. In conclusion, she encouraged more students to pay attention to the iGEM project and expressed her hope that more people would get involved in future activities, contributing to the advancement of scientific innovation together.

Molecular Science Club

This time, we held a club fair to recruit new members of our community. We mainly told you the purpose and process of our project, and introduced the IGEM competition to you, hoping to bring fresh blood to our team. In this activity, we also brought together a lot of partners who are interested in biology. Join us to explore our topic and participate in this challenging iGEM competition, so that more people can know more interesting knowledge about biology and chemistry besides the traditional biology and chemistry we have learned. This is a very favorable start for broadening our horizons. Not only can we improve the expression ability and recommendation ability of our team members, but also allow more partners with the same interests to join us to improve and grow together. From the perspective of this new recruitment, it is generally very successful. A lot of students have paid attention to this different competition, which is different from the traditional competition. But innovation, so that more people can understand that we are not an innovation. But there are things that we can do better, like for example, we can do an animated video to introduce our competition, we can show you the interesting process of our experiment, so that maybe more people can be very clear and clear about what we are doing and why we are doing it, but overall, This new recruitment is very successful, I hope in the future, I can grow together with the new players, make progress together, and be brave in innovation.

Public science popularization activity

Low-carbon hall science popularization activities

Location: Hangzhou Low Carbon Science and Technology Museum

Event date: August 4, 2024

1. Purpose of the activity:

To make the public more aware of the superiority of NAOS as an antioxidant skin care additive compared to other similar products;

To let the public know more about the superiority of NAOS made by biotechnology compared to NAOS made by traditional methods;

To popularize laboratory knowledge to children, stimulate their interest in scientific research, enlighten their thinking, and tap the talents for the development of science and civilization of the country and the world;

To popularize the method of using synthetic biology to manufacture NAOS, the principle of NAOS as an antioxidant and antioxidant to the public, so that they can use the product with confidence and peace of mind;

Stimulate the target group's interest in using the product by comprehensively popularizing the product's manufacturing process, principle of action, safety research and advantage analysis.

2. Campaign content:

Distribute brochures about the introduction of our activities and set up team IPs to give people a preliminary understanding of the project to facilitate the next presentation;

Explain the principle of bio-manufacturing NAOS, the principle of antioxidant effect, the advantages of the product and safety advantages, so that the public can be assured of the product, to stimulate the interest of the target group in the product;

Facing the children's age groups, we designed the "Labs" game to let students understand the general knowledge of experiments and stimulate their interest in science learning;

3. Activity results:

More than 1,000 people participated in the activities and expressed great benefit and interest; greatly stimulate potential customers, laying an indelible foundation of reputation for the subsequent development.

4. Activity Reflection:

Because the number of people on the scene is really too large, the number of our team members present was limited, and we could not thoughtfully take care of the experience of every gamer, so next time we have to set aside more personnel to prepare; but the good thing is that we point to point basically to everyone output our product introduction and science, and satisfactorily accomplished our task.

Neoagaroligosaccharides antioxidant experiment publicity and education activities

Location: Hangzhou Linping Yu City Shopping Center Square

Event date: September 1, 2024

1. Purpose of the activity

• Popularizing scientific knowledge: raising public awareness of new oligosaccharide antioxidants in the biosciences.

• Stimulate students' interest: Stimulate students' interest in biological sciences by introducing the iGEM Synthetic Biology Competition.

2. Activity content

Product presentation

• Introduce the principle, composition and efficacy of NAOS antioxidants.

• Focus on the advantages of NAOS in antioxidant aspects, such as delaying aging, enhancing immunity, and protecting cells from free radical damage.

Experience activities

• Healthy drinks and snacks are available on site to demonstrate the antioxidant lifestyle.

Interactive session

• Set up an interactive Q&A to answer residents' questions about antioxidants and health issues, and provide relevant knowledge.

• Enhance the sense of participation and fun through small games (such as antioxidant Grand Challenge Quiz), lottery and other forms.

Release of publicity materials

• Distribution of brochures and pamphlets on NAOS antioxidants.

Live broadcast of propaganda and education activities on the we-media platform.

3. Activity effect

High participation: Introducing the experimental process and efficacy of new oligosaccharides to passers-by, increasing the awareness and trust of community residents on the new antioxidants of NAOS. This event successfully brought scientific knowledge to the public, achieved the intended educational purpose, and enhanced the community's awareness of biological science. Effectively promote the new antioxidant NAOS, so that more people know and benefit from this efficient, safe and natural health choice.

Education on several popular social platforms

To promote our team's project and raise public awareness of synthetic biology, we created team accounts on several popular social media platforms, including Douyin, Bilibili, and Xiaohongshu.

On these platforms, we share our daily lab activities, document experimental progress, and give followers a behind-the-scenes look at the research process. In addition, we publish educational content to introduce the basics of synthetic biology. One of our key strategies has been leveraging Bilibili's livestream feature to engage directly with our audience. During these livestreams, we collaborated with several well-known content creators (upstream hosts) to discuss the iGEM competition, our team, and our project. By working with influencers who have large followings, we were able to reach a broader audience and attract more attention to our project.

Through these collaborative livestreams, we provided detailed explanations of the core concepts of synthetic biology and the goals of our project, appealing to an audience passionate about science and innovation. We shared our journey through iGEM, the challenges we faced, and how synthetic biology can be applied to solve real-world issues such as sustainability and healthcare. These real-time interactions allowed viewers to ask questions, which we answered during the livestream, further enhancing their understanding of and engagement with our project.

Our social media efforts not only expanded the team's reach but also sparked curiosity about synthetic biology among a larger audience. As more people followed our accounts, we noticed an increase in discussions and questions about our project and the iGEM competition. This growing interaction helped us build a supportive community around the team, with more individuals expressing interest in getting involved or learning more about the future of synthetic biology.

Ultimately, by strategically using social media, we successfully broadened the project's influence. Through the creation of educational, engaging, and interactive content, we raised public awareness of synthetic biology, connected with like-minded individuals, and increased interest in our innovative scientific project. With our continued efforts, we hope to inspire more people to participate in this field and contribute to scientific progress.

Conclusion

Overall, during these activities, we achieved the goals of encourage more people to participate in synthetic biology.