E D U C A T I O N

Supporting Teaching

Overview

Our team meticulously planned and executed an educational outreach program tailored for students in remote rural areas with Loving Heart Society, Peking Univ. Recognizing synthetic biology as one of the most promising scientific fields of the 21st century, with profound implications beyond laboratory walls, we aimed to bring this cutting-edge knowledge to regions constrained by limited resources and information isolation, unlocking doors to the futuristic world of science for those children.

Due to limitations of time and other factors, we did not finish the teaching in person. The tasks of our team is to design the entire class, draft the teaching plan, prepare souvenirs and remotely aid the class. Prior to the outreach, we conducted thorough preparations, including devising lesson plans tailored for the target students, creating visually appealing teaching materials, and organizing mock lectures to ensure teaching quality.

Shandong Group

Junior high students in Shandong Province enjoyed an inspiring class of synthetic biology. We referred to their biology textbooks, made several discussions about the content and form of the class, and decided a final outline. The class content was comprised of a breif introduction to synthetic biology, the central dogma, close-to-life examples of synthetic biology and an interactive in-class game.

The game in this class was based on a practical ‘iGEM’-ive project: cefixime biosynthesis. A series of steps were listed and needed to be sorted according to design rules of synthetic biology taught in class. Once the ordering was finished, a full timeline of a typical synthetic biological project was shown to the students. Students learned about rational design through this game too.

Picture 1.1.1: Teachers of Shandong Group.

Gansu Group

We designed a class of evolution for primary school students in Gansu Province. Given their knowledge level of biology, we decided that the main part of the class should be a game of evolution. Based on this scheme, a lead-in story was made up. The game imitated black and white butterflies which evoluted by ‘natural selection’ through predators acted by the students. After the game was over, numbers of different colored butterflies were taken down and graphed. We introduced core definitions of Darwinian evolution like inheritance and variation, overgeneration, survival conflict through the analysis. Finally, the students welcomely understood the process of ENS and gained happiness and satisfaction.

Picture 1.1.2: Group photo of the teachers and students.

Picture 1.1.3: The teacher was concluding the game.

Picture 1.1.4: The teacher was teaching evolution by natural selection.

In-class performance

The entire outreach was filled with laughter, wonder, and interactive exploration. The students’ enthusiasm for Synthetic Biology surpassed our expectations, as they actively posed questions and boldly embarked on experiments, revealing a profound curiosity and thirst for knowledge about the unknown. Their innocence and passion infected us, reinforcing our commitment to disseminating scientific literacy among a broader audience. Furthermore, this was a valuable try to collaborate with such supporting teaching program and contribute to rural area education. We are convinced that through persistent efforts and unwavering dedication, we can ignite a passion for science in more children, nurturing a new generation of innovative and socially responsible scientists and engineers.

Orientation Game for Freshmen

The orientation game is a signature event organized annually by the School of Life Sciences to welcome new students. This year, the Peking University iGEM team once again collaborated with the Student Union of School of Life Sciences to set up an iGEM-themed checkpoint on the game map. This not only fosters collaboration and interaction among freshmen but also provides a valuable opportunity for them to experience essential synthetic biology research skills—molecular cloning.

We designed a game called “Spin the Plasmid, Love the Science,” which consists of three mini-games. The first mini-game, Gibson Assembly, presents players with single-stranded DNA sequences of a vector and a target gene, where only the vector contains overlapping fragments with the target gene. Players must match the corresponding vector and gene based on complementary base pairing.

The second mini-game simulates plasmid transcription, where participants act as RNA polymerase. They “transcribe” the plasmid by spinning a hula hoop, with six or more rotations considered successful.

In the third mini-game, plasmid translation, participants are given a DNA coding strand sequence and must translate it into the corresponding amino acids using a codon table. Success is achieved when they identify the matching protein from a given list.

Picture 1.2.1: Pre-event preparations.

Picture 1.2.2: Orientation game map & iGEM checkpoints.

Picture 1.2.3: Freshmen rushed towards our booth.

Picture 1.2.4: Enthusiastic participation in the mini games we designed.

Picture 1.2.5: Peking iGEM prepared fancy prizes.

Mid-Autumn Garden Festival

For the first time, the Peking University iGEM team collaborated with the Student Union of School of Life Sciences at the Mid-Autumn Garden Festival, blending cutting-edge synthetic biology with traditional Chinese culture in a fascinating way. The festive and harmonious atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn celebration made our synthetic biology mini-games even more popular.

We designed a game called “The Ancient Greek God of iGEM Wet Lab”.

In the first level, inspired by the classic memory game, we created double-sided cards featuring images of the 18 small experiments our iGEM team conducted this year. The back of each card displayed the team’s logo, while the front showed the corresponding experiment in picture form. Since there are 18 experiments, there are 2 identical cards for each, resulting in a 6x6 grid with 36 cards in total. The rules are as follows: players face 36 cards placed face down in a grid, and in three and a half minutes, they can flip over two cards at a time. If the two cards match, they remain face up; if they don’t match, both cards must be flipped back over. The game is won if all 36 cards (18 pairs) are matched within the time limit.

We also created a fun online version of this game using the CV photos of our 15 team members, turned into 30 cards. The same rules apply, but with a 2-minute limit. This version not only introduces participants to our experiments but also helps them get to know the iGEM team members better.

In the second level, players must identify at least three experiments from a list of 18 that correspond to the images on the cards to win. Successfully completing each level earns players a small prize.

Picture 1.3.1: Team booth.

Picture 1.3.2: Cards for memory games and attractive prazis.

Picture 1.3.3: Memory game - Peking iGEMer online version. (PS: How inclusive we are!)

Picture 1.3.4: Students were engaged in the games.

Communications

19/05/2024 Exchange Meetings in THU

Picture 2.1.1: The grand group photo of all attending iGEMers.

• Invited by BIT-China, we joined the meetup on May 19th, 2024, with other four excellent teams to exchange our ideas.
• We delved into the sea of synthetic biology, learning and drawing inspiration from other team, especially those working in different villages.

29/06/2024 Exchange Meetings of Beijing iGEM teams in BNU

Picture 2.2.1: The grand group photo of all attending iGEMers.

• We were invited by the BNU iGEM team to attend the Beijing iGEMer Meetup on June 29th, 2024. During this conference, we gained valuable insights from other teams. Most importantly, we engaged in in-depth discussions with PekingHSC, who advised us to reconsider using non-canonical amino acids due to the challenges in handling them.
• Besides, as our team had already initiated wet lab experiment, we shared useful tips on protein extraction and purification with team BNU, as they were also working on protein purification.

09/07/2024 iGEM academic conference with high school students

Picture 2.3.1: The grand group photo of all attending iGEMers.

• We exchanged project ideas with a high school iGEM team. Through their innovative project, we gained deeper insights into depression and the intriguing concept of using engineered probiotics to regulate it. In return, we presented our complete project, offering those high school students an enriching experience filled with valuable biological knowledge.

11/07/2024-14/07/2024 14th Conference of China iGEMer Community (CCiC)

• We attended to more than 70+ lectures in full.
• We gave a presentation on CCiC, and promoted our project through posters and exchange meeting.
• We have connected with at least 20 schools and groups informally.
• We won the Most Popular Award.

Picture 2.3.1: Our group photo by our team booth.

Picture 2.3.2: Our group photo in front of the display board.

• We participated in iGEMer collaborations organized by JLU.

Picture 2.3.3: The grand group photo of all attending iGEMers.

• We participated in a safety education symposium by the TestDaily-I-Beijing iGEM team.

Picture 2.3.4: The grand group photo of all attending iGEMers.

15/07/2024-18/07/2024 Ideological and Political Practice

• The first independent ideological and political practice team was established.

Picture 2.4.1: The flag-awarding ceremony of the team.

Picture 2.4.2: Group photo of attending team members.

• Yiyan Liao gave a speech on “What is Synbio”

Picture 2.4.3: Yiyan Liao was giving the speech.

• We had in-depth discussions with ECIB_PKU team.

Picture 2.4.4: Heated discussion with ECIB_PKU team.

07/07/2024-10/08/2024 Synbio Challenges

• We participated in the offline presentation of the Synthetic Biology Competition and won the Gold Award in the team regular competition.
• Junting Zhou won the Silver Award in the Protein Design Competition.

Picture 2.5.1: Our group photo with our prizes.

24/08/2024 Exchange Meetings held by HZAU (participated online)

• At the invitation of HZAU, our team leader, Yimang Xu, gave an online project presentation at the exchange meeting, and received valuable feedback from the judges. We reflected on our project based on their insights.

Picture 2.6.1: Screenshot of meeting by Tencent Meeting.