Nowadays, people's dietary and living habits are deteriorating with rapid societal development. This has led to an increase in potential triggers for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), such as spicy diets and irregular sleep patterns, making preventive measures and timely treatments crucial to avoiding life-threatening consequences. Through our investigation, we found that no medicines have been used to prevent ESCC in the past, and treatments typically begin only after patients are diagnosed with the disease. Since the symptoms of ESCC are often not obvious in the early stages, patients frequently miss the optimal treatment window, leading to more invasive procedures, such as esophagectomy or combined treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which significantly impact the body. Our project focuses on the early prevention of ESCC by identifying key signaling pathways and protein factors related to fatty acid metabolism. We aim to develop a tablet that will help reduce the incidence of ESCC and effectively prevent the disease.

While browsing the wiki websites of other teams in the past few years, we have seen many teams who tries to yield a final product and planning to put them into the market. Many teams have discussed about marketing like their selling plans and product designs.What our team did special is that we interviewed experts in medical field and a CEO of a drug making company in order to learn about the need and the feasibility in market. This will make the product to be more competitive and reliable to be put into the market by asking for the advise of the experts in the field. https://2023.igem.wiki/basis-china/entrepreneurship (an example of team which doesn’t include interview)

Previous team focused on nanotechnologies in the use of medicals such as delivering medicines. However, they never yield a true product themselves. What our team did innovative is that we produce a nano-encapsulated lozenge, using the nanotechnology to deliver the proteins in the lozenge more precisely. This provides and example of the way nanotechnology could be applied in biological field and products that could be truly used by people.

a.https://2023.igem.wiki/bnu-china/description
Description: The team that focuses on nanotechnology.

b.https://2023.igem.wiki/mcgill/description/
Similarities: Both projects leverage CRISPR technology to manipulate gene expression in cancer cells. The Proteus project utilizes the CRISPR-Craspase system to induce forced pyroptosis in cancer cells, aiming to eliminate cancerous cells before surgical removal becomes the only viable treatment. Similarly, our project constructs a high-protein expression vector, which is introduced into an E. coli expression system. We cultured esophageal epithelial cells and created an injury model through heat stress treatment. Thus, both teams focus on designing new cell models by altering gene expression to prevent and inhibit cancer development.
Differences: The strength of our project lies in the concretization of the therapy into a tablet form, making the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer more tangible, accessible, and easier to understand. This also broadens the market opportunities, enhancing the project's impact and practicality.

c.https://2023.igem.wiki/mcgill/description/
Similarities: Both projects focus on engineering cells with cancer-fighting capabilities. The TanCAR T-cell project designs chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells specifically targeting bladder cancer cells. Similarly, our project introduces a high-protein expression vector into an E. coli expression system, aiming to engineer cells that inhibit cancer. In both cases, new cells are constructed with the goal of suppressing cancer progression.
Differences: Our project takes a more comprehensive approach by evaluating the effectiveness of esophageal epithelial cell repair through the detection of various inflammatory factors in both the cells and the culture medium, and by assessing the expression levels of relevant molecular signaling pathways. This step ensures the scientific rigor of our method and enhances the validity of the experimental results.

ZntR and Zntp (BBa_K190016) are endogenous zinc ion sensing systems of E. coli. We utilized a dual plasmid system to test the expression levels of different promoters for ZntR. The promoter library was sourced from endogenous E. coli promoters and purchased from Ailurus. We induced the system with 0 µM and 500 µM concentrations, respectively, and obtained their growth curves. By dividing the signal values after the two systems reached a steady state, we obtained the ratio of system fluorescence values, which we used to measure the strength of the different promoters in initiating the expression of zntR. We hope this will provide a reference for other iGEM teams in the future.