In the dawn of a new era, our generation of young people is tasked with propelling the world forward, embracing the mission to achieve the 17 ambitious goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our project consistently implements SDG3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG4 (Quality Education), and SDG17 (Partnerships for the Goals), with SZPU-China as our banner of action. Through concrete actions, we are injecting youthful vitality into global sustainable development, collectively shaping a future that is healthier, more educated, and characterized by win-win cooperation.
Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is dedicated to ensuring healthy lifestyles and promoting well-being for all ages. The core objectives include reducing maternal and child mortality, controlling infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and decreasing deaths from non-communicable diseases. Additionally, it encompasses preventing substance abuse, reducing traffic accidents, universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, achieving universal health coverage, and reducing the impact of pollution and hazardous chemicals on health.
3.8 Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services, and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.
3.2 By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. ——Hippocrates
We recognize that prevention is better than cure, a valuable wisdom left to us by Hippocrates. Our project aims to protect mothers, infants, and non-pathogen carriers by reducing the risk of pathogen transmission, thereby indirectly reducing mortality rates. Starting from prevention, we hope to achieve a continuous inhibitory effect on pathogens. By selecting the probiotic E.coli Nissle1917 (EcN), we are developing a bio-sanitizer that is cost-effective and provides sustained preventive protection, ensuring our strategy is both effective and safe.
We aim for continuous suppression and cost-effective, sustained preventive protection. Development of Engineering Strains: By using gene-editing technology, we are developing a probiotic EcN strain that can colonize in the human body or environment and effectively suppress the growth of harmful pathogens. Enhancing the strain's natural defense mechanisms, such as increasing the length of fimbriae by knocking out the FimE gene and increasing the production of capsular polysaccharides by overexpressing key genes (galU, pgmA, KpsT), thus improving resistance to pathogenic attacks. At the same time, we will utilize the T6SS and CDI systems of the engineered bacteria to suppress pathogens, allowing beneficial engineered bacteria to occupy ecological niches and continuously inhibit pathogens.
To ensure the safety of the engineered bacteria, we have designed a suicide switch mechanism, such as temperature-controlled toxin accumulation or membrane rupture strategy, ensuring that the engineered bacteria can self-destruct after a certain time or upon contact with the human body temperature environment, avoiding potential risks to the environment or human body.
(For details, please jump to the corresponding page.)The abuse of antibiotics and the continuous evolution of drug-resistant bacteria, using the bacterial antagonism of probiotics to combat pathogen drug resistance. The continuous evolution of pathogen drug resistance is a global issue that not only threatens individual health but also poses a serious challenge to public health security. The emergence of drug-resistant bacteria reduces the available treatment options, making common infectious diseases difficult to treat, increasing medical costs, and mortality.
Synthetic biology and genetic engineering research, lower costs. With the continuous discovery of bacterial antagonism systems, we are researching bacterial antagonism to suppress pathogens. Genetic engineering is fascinating, with the diversity of genetic sequences, providing us with more potential means to combat pathogens. By discovering more effective genetic sequences against drug-resistant pathogens and constructing a weapon library, we can make corresponding adjustments to the changes in pathogen drug resistance.
Beneficial Bacteria's Bacterial Antagonism: Bacterial antagonism refers to the phenomenon where certain bacteria can inhibit or kill other bacteria. This phenomenon is widespread in natural environments and the human microbiome and can be used to combat drug-resistant bacteria.
Screening and Utilizing Natural Antagonistic Strains: Through laboratory screening and genetic engineering techniques, we have identified and improved beneficial strains with strong antagonistic activity that can secrete antimicrobial substances or inhibit the growth of drug-resistant bacteria through other mechanisms.
Development of Engineering Bacteria: Using synthetic biology methods, we have constructed engineered bacteria that can express specific antimicrobial proteins or peptides. These engineered bacteria are carefully designed in the laboratory to ensure they can effectively suppress drug-resistant bacteria in the natural environment.
Construction of Bacterial Communities: In addition to the development of single strains, we are also exploring the possibility of constructing complex bacterial communities that can work together through various mechanisms to enhance the inhibitory effect on drug-resistant bacteria.
We hope for this in the future, but there are always some issues we are not aware of. This is our vision, but there are many uncontrollable factors in public environments, and our project may not be able to cover everything completely.
Stakeholders: Visiting Community Health Centers and Pharmacies: During our visits to Shenzhen community health centers and pharmacies, we focused on understanding the specific practices of these institutions in bacterial prevention and routine disinfection operations. Through communication, we learned that community health centers and pharmacies usually use alcohol as a disinfectant and regularly disinfect the environment and surfaces to ensure the health and safety of the premises. Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Physician: Dr. Guo Lihua mainly treats respiratory system diseases. We hope to understand the current situation of respiratory pathogen infections, treatment methods, and main prevention methods, and learn how to prevent pathogen infections. We have learned about one of the transmission methods and prevention methods of pathogens. Next, we will go to the gastroenterology department to learn more about the transmission through the digestive tract, so as to determine the direction of our project. Shenzhen People's Hospital Disinfection Center Expert: Dr. Cai is an expert in the field of disinfection. We are delighted to have had the opportunity to talk with her and receive her valuable insights and opinions. We discussed the application of chemical disinfection or physical disinfection methods to kill pathogens in public health places and the shortcomings of each method. After talking with her, we were encouraged and further researched how bio-preventive products can meet national standards. Interviewing Enterprises: We visited Shenzhen Ando Fu Disinfection High-tech Co., Ltd. and had an in-depth exchange with Vice Chairman Zhou Hailin. Mr. Zhou introduced the company's corporate culture and development history to the team, giving us a clearer understanding of the current situation of the disinfectant industry and how to follow standards for production. During the communication with Ando Fu, Mr. Zhou affirmed our project and shared the company's concept of sustainable development.
"Education is to help the educated develop their own abilities,
complete their personality, and fulfill a part of their responsibility in human culture." — Cai Yuanpei
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education that leads to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.
Difficulty in accessing the emerging field of synthetic biology Traditional and emerging divide: In China's traditional education system, although biology has been included as a subject in the compulsory education system, new branches of biology such as synthetic biology are difficult for people to access and learn. Therefore, we strive to bring the subject of synthetic biology into the students' field of vision, and we promote the relationship between biology and synthetic biology through high school synthetic biology education.
Regional imbalance in educational resources: In some regions of China, there is still a relative lag in educational resources. Under the circumstances of limited educational resources and pathways, it is difficult for people to access such an emerging discipline. We use our knowledge of synthetic biology, such as experimental or theoretical knowledge, to teach in areas with relatively scarce educational resources (middle and high schools), allowing them to have a certain understanding of the discipline of synthetic biology.
Accessible education methods: We realize that people are not only unable to access synthetic biology
due to educational resources and pathways, but also due to physical limitations.
We hope to benefit
these groups, so we have developed synthetic biology books in Braille, hoping to solve the
difficulties these groups face in accessing synthetic biology.
Different groups have different educational methods Synthetic biology is a specialized discipline, and teaching highly specialized content to non-biology professionals may make it difficult for them to understand or even resist. At the same time, we also consider that different groups have different acceptance levels for the same discipline. "Tailoring teaching to individual students" is an important concept in Chinese education, which means that different educational measures should be taken for different groups. Promoting synthetic biology and sustainable development concepts with this educational philosophy may bring us unexpected surprises. Therefore, we have identified two issues and taken corresponding measures:
Different learning abilities and acceptance levels: People with different educational backgrounds or age groups have different understanding and acceptance abilities for a discipline. Therefore, we hope to teach synthetic biology knowledge in different ways for different groups, hoping to stimulate their interest in synthetic biology and sustainable development concepts.
Resistance and resistance psychology to unknown disciplines: "Down-to-earth" education methods (Chinese traditional culture). We have thought about how to better let local people learn synthetic biology. People often prefer to learn knowledge through easy-to-understand methods. We believe that starting from Chinese traditional culture is a good thing. We combine Chinese traditional culture with synthetic biology, such as integrating synthetic biology into traditional cultures such as tie-dyeing, shadow puppetry, seal cutting, and cyanotype, to understand and learn synthetic biology in a way that is familiar to Chinese people.
Our ability is limited and it is difficult to benefit too many people.
We know that relying solely on our team to do educational publicity, the ability is limited, and this cannot extend our education to too many people. There is a famous saying in China, "A single spark can start a prairie fire," which means that although it starts small, it has a promising future. Our number of people and resources are relatively small, but we pass on knowledge to a group of people, and let this group of people pass on this knowledge to another group of people, which allows our education to benefit more people.
The Development of Synthetic Biology: Opportunities and Challenges Faced by China Building a Synthetic Biology Competition and Education Platform Based on Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Courses Goal 4 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs (un.org)
Actions for the future iGEM team on SDG boards I. Skilled interpretation of the meaning behind the SDGs A deep understanding of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations is the foundation for achieving sustainable development. These goals not only cover all aspects of the economy, society and environment, but also reflect the major challenges shared by the world. iGEM teams should enhance their comprehensive understanding of the SDGs by systematically studying their historical background, targets and indicators, and the interrelationships between them. For example, understanding the formation process of the SDGs and their importance in the international development agenda can help the team better grasp their core concepts and thus effectively apply these principles in the project. II. Understanding the link between the project and the SDGs Identifying the linkages between the project and the SDGs is an important part of ensuring the success of the project. The team should identify how the project corresponds to one or more of the SDGs. By examining the potential contribution of the project to the SDGs, the team can identify these linkages during the design phase, ensuring that the project is not only scientifically sound and innovative, but also contributes substantively to the achievement of the global SDGs. Integrate SDGs into project development Considering the impact of SDGs at every stage of a project is key to achieving sustainable development. Teams should ensure that all activities, objectives and expected outcomes are aligned with the relevant SDGs during project planning. This will not only help to enhance the social value of the project, but also enable timely adjustment of strategies to address challenges and opportunities that may arise by continuously tracking and evaluating their impact on the SDGs during project implementation. IV. Demand for Stakeholders' Help Communication and co-operation with project-related stakeholders is crucial. These stakeholders include local communities, government agencies, NGOs, academic institutions, and businesses. By building a good working relationship with these stakeholders, the team is able to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and expectations, thus ensuring the success and sustainability of the project. For example, working closely with the local community not only ensures that the project meets their actual needs, but also enhances the project's social recognition and support.
| Materials | Targets | Why and How |
| Brochures for professional | Experts & Enterprises | The brochures are to let professionals know about our project. |
| Brochures for the public | Public audiences | The brochures are to let amateurs know about our project. |
| Chinese shadow puppetry | Children & Elderly & College students | The elderly are disseminators of traditional culture, so we popularize science through the shadow puppetry that they can easily accept. Children are the inheritors of traditional culture and the future innovators of synthetic biology, so we popularize science and traditioanl culture for them. College students are learners of science, so we perform shadow puppetry in the school sports ground to popularize synthetic biology while spreading traditional culture for them. |
| Chinese paper cutting | Members of Traditional Culture Club | The Traditional Culture Club in our school specializes in traditional culture. The paper-cutting form not only conforms to the nature of their club, but also allows them to learn about biological bacteria via this figurative way. |
| Monopoly game | Children & Teenagers | The history of synthetic biology will be popularized through the game that children and teenagers like. |
| DNA model | Children & Elderly without biological background | To explain what is DNA abstractly will only make people lose interest in synthetic biology. By visualizing DNA through DNA models, people can learn and play at the same time. |
| Promotion Video | Public & Judges | The PV can make our project easier for the public and judges to understand our project and play a role in promoting our project. |
| Picture book for children | Children | Picture book for children is a good form to carry out science popularization and synthetic biology for children. |
| Masks | Children | Ask the children to fill in colors and draw patterns. Let them learn the knowledge of synthetic biology in the process of painting. |
| Building block | Children | Let children build gene circuits by using building blocks, so that they can learn about synthetic biology in the process. |
| Breathing Masks | Science poplarized audiences & Interviewed enterprises | Breathing masks are given as small gifts to people participating in project research and activities. |
| Social media | Public | Social media can enable the public to learn about synthetic biology online in the situation of epidemic. |
Chinese Traditional Culture is the fundamental creativity of the achievements of Chinese civilization and the spiritual lifeblood of the Chinese nation. It is precisely because of its inheritance and importance that we want to combine the Chinese Traditional Culture with synthetic biology together.
Chinese shadow puppetry is a traditional Chinese folk drama in which people are silhouetted in animal skin or cardboard to perform stories. During the performance, the artists were behind the white curtain to tell stories with local popular tunes. With percussion instruments and string music, the shadow puppetry reveals a strong local flavor. In China, the shadow puppetry has a long history and receives a wide popularity. Due to the lack of interesting forms of general knowledge preaching, synthetic biology can not be well accepted and understood by the target object. In order to attract more people to participate in the process of understanding and learning synthetic biology, we used shadow puppetry to attract audiences.
The elderly and children in the Liyayuan Community.
We hope that the audiences can learn the knowledge of synthetic biology while watching the shadow puppetry, so as to have a certain understanding of our project.
On August 23rd, we came to Liyayuan Community in Shenzhen. We explained synthetic biology to the elderly and children in the community through Chinese shadow puppetry.
We added the element of Journey to the West, one of the four Chinese literature classics, to our promotion video last year, which is very popular with the public. Therefore, in the promotion of this year's project, we decided to continue to add elements of Chinese culture, that is, to use Chinese intangible cultural heritage shadow puppetry to interpret our relevant content. (See transcript for details)
Our shadow puppetry has attracted many old people and children. The old people stopped to watch because of their familiarity with Chinese Traditional Culture, while the children actively involved in the shadow puppetry because of its unique interest.
After the performance, we stayed to teach the children how to manipulate the shadow puppetry and perform the content related to our project. Whether it is shadow puppetry or synthetic biology, the children all learned earnestly.
We believe that synthetic biology and Chinese Traditional Culture need to be inherited. Through this science popularization activity of shadow puppetry, we brought companionship and joy to the elderly and children. As for the elderly, their eyesight declines with the growth of their grades. Through the popular shadow puppetry, they can learn the knowledge of synthetic biology without books, so that they can "live and learn". As for the Children, they are not only inheritors of Chinese Traditional Culture, but also may become scientists, biologists, and even innovators of synthetic biology in the future. After the activity, we also improved the shadow puppetry script and made more professional science popularization for college students on the school sports ground. Based on our experience of this activity, we suggest that if the future iGEMers want to conduct science popularization through shadow puppetry again, they can also consider more professional institutions such as nursing homes and kindergartens.
College students.
In order to make it easier for college students to understand our project, we have conducted science popularization for them by performing Chinese shadow puppetry.
On October 6th, we took the revised shadow puppetry script to the school sports ground to perform the shadow puppetry. Before the activity, we first distributed the public brochures and briefly introduced our iGEM competition and the reason for playing shadow puppetry to the students. Then, we began to perform the shadow puppetry. The comedy story attracted many students. In the process of watching, the students learned some knowledge of synthetic biology invisibly. After the performance, many students expressed their interest in our project and raised relevant questions.
Traditional culture is the root and soul of the Chinese nation, rooted in the heart of the Chinese people. This event has attracted a larger audience than we expected. It can be seen that people are very interested in the way of popularizing science with traditional culture.
We also hope that the "Chinese Traditional Culture" section can give future iGEMers some inspiration to use traditional culture or national characteristics to popularize science. Future iGEMers can refer to our script, or rewrite it through their own PV content, and use the above mentioned methods to popularize science. We hope everyone can learn synthetic biology and feel the charm of each ethnic culture at the same time.
Chinese paper cutting is an art of cutting pattern on paper with scissors or carving knives. It's a folk art used to decorate life or cooperate with other folk activities. In China, paper cutting has a wide mass base. It is interwoven into the social life of peoples of all ethnic groups. It is an important part of various folk activities.
Creative Craft Club--a club that organizes Chinese Traditional Culture at school.
Most people are unfamiliar with the shape and structure of bacteria and DNA, and Chinese paper cutting is a good way to show it. Chinese traditional paper cutting is not only beautiful, but also very interesting. We used paper-cut to present DNA and cartoon bacteria, and let people cut them in person, so that they can learn synthetic biology and enjoy the beauty of Chinese paper cutting at the same time.
First, we gave the audiences an introduction to the iGEM competition, synthetic biology and bacterial structures. We introduced bacterial species and the plasmid profile of our project. Then they combined our science popularization and their imaginations to cut out various bacteria, DNA shapes and plasmid profile of our project from big red paper. They spliced their plasmid profile they cut out to form the complete plasmid profile of our project.
We believe that the traditional Chinese paper cutting art can be perfectly combined with synthetic biology, allowing audiences to learn about synthetic biology from another perspective. We brought Chinese paper cutting into the laboratory, and people can understand the shape and structure of bacteria more specifically through paper cutting.
Urban villages are residential areas that lag behind the urban development and have a relatively low living standards in the process of rapid urban development. Because of the relatively cheap housing rent, urban villages gather more migrant workers.
Children in urban villages tend to be more separated from their parents during winter and summer holidays. A large proportion of them use the holidays to travel from rural areas to urban village to reunite with their parents. However, their parents still need to work and don't have much time to accompany them.
Many people think that the age of 4-12 years old is too early to promote the science of synthetic biology. However, we consider that the age of 4-12 is a good time for children to start science popularization, and the key is to give them science popularization through appropriate methods. For this reason, we have conducted activities such as "Science in Kindergarten", "Beauty G. hansenii in Masks and Blocks" and "Urban Villages". It is easy for them to learn synthetic biology through these activities.
We hope to teach them, and plant a seed of synthetic biology and science in their minds. When they grow up, the seed may take root and sprout.
Children aged 4-12 in Question Mark Art Institution who have not been exposed to synthetic biology.
On August 15th, members of our team went to the Question Mark Art Institution in Guangzhou to conduct synthetic biology science education for children aged 4-12 in the urban village who have not been exposed to synthetic biology. We first presented them a PowerPoint presentation to let the kids have a preliminary understanding of the topic.
Because bacteria are cultured in culture medium, so we used paper as a "culture medium" and let the children "cultivate" the bacteria in their minds on the paper.
Under the children's paintbrushes, the bacteria become vivid. The seeds of synthetic biology were planted in the children's hearts after we introduced them to the science at the Question Mark Art Institution. And in the process of "cultivating" bacteria through the brush, the seeds of synthetic biology are slowly taking root in their hearts.
Children aged 4-12 in Wulonggang Village.
On August 12th, we conducted a science popularization for children aged 4-12 in Wulonggang Village, and we used our educational PowerPoint presentation named "Are bacteria all bad?" to teach them about science. At the beginning, our team members asked the children: Are all bacteria the bad guys? Children thought that bacteria are all bad guys. After the science popularization, our team members started to teach the children how to fold DNA.
Children knew that yogurt is fermented by lactic acid bacteria and bread is fermented by yeast, but they didn't know that these are all bacteria. So we taught them what DNA is and what bacteria are. Through this education, children began to know that bacteria are not always the big bad guys!
Parents of the children were also involved in both the science popularization and the stacking process. There were moms and dads aged 30-50, and grandparents aged 60-70 and up. They were all very interested in DNA and bacteria. This activity not only popularized the knowledge about synthetic biology, but also enhanced the exchange between children and elders. This kind of emotional enhancement is one of the effects we want to achieve through this activity.
Some aged 3-7 children who are from Nanshui Kindergarten.
The early childhood stage is a period when the acceptance of new things is very strong. However, due to their age or receptivity, children in this age group are often neglected by the science of synthetic biology. Therefore, our team would like to provide science education to this age group through lectures and experiments.
We went to Nanshui Kindergarten to teach the children about synthetic biology on June 22nd. We explained synthetic biology to the children by means of PowerPoint presentation and video. They showed their interest in exploring the synthetic biology knowledge in the process of science education. We had a quiz on synthetic biology which have explained with prizes during this time we used the team's breathing masks as rewards. It deepened their understanding of synthetic biology knowledge, and moreover made children more interested in synthetic biology through interactivity.
We gave them the public brochures experiment in combination with the project after the science popularization. We used honey as Gluconacetobacter hansenii and watermelon rind as BC and then mixed the two and applied them to their hands. They were able to understand how our project works through two different ways: tactile and visual. Not only they can learn more about our project, but they can also learn about synthetic biology while having fun. More so, they can feel the charm of synthetic biology.
Children used a paintbrush to draw the results of the experiment they had just done after the experiment. They can learn about synthetic biology in different ways. We used new and interesting methods instead of simply transmitting the science through words in this activity. For example, we believe that drawing can make the abstract knowledge of synthetic biology tangible and make it easier for children to learn about synthetic biology. In addition, we also expanded the audience by holding a "Question Mark Art Gallery" to make it easier for more children to learn synthetic biology through drawing.
Freshmen who are non-biology major.
Our team not only wants to carry out the popularization of synthetic biology, but also wants to carry out science popularization and inheritance more effectively through the iGEM competition. We wants more people to understand synthetic biology, but also understand this competition at the same time. Therefore, when freshmen entered the school, they can understand this competition first. Then we took them into the lab and taught them to use the basic equipment. Finally, let them experience the experiment of biology, inspired their motivation and talent, and motivated them to participate in the iGEM competition in the future.
We gave a lecture to freshmen on September 5th. In this lecture, our team leader explained the iGEM competition to the freshmen. Then, she introduced our project to the freshmen and recommended the engineered bacteria we use. Lastly, she summed up her experience and thoughts about iGEM competition. She said that she learned a lot from the competition, both in terms of synthetic biology knowledge and time planning in the competition.
The response to the science activity was particularly good. We were approached by several new students who wanted to learn more about synthetic biology and our program after this science activity. We want to make it easy for them to understand our project at a deeper level. We took them into the laboratory to experience the charm of synthetic biology.
Freshmen who are non-biology major students.
We were approached by a lot of non-biology freshmen. So we took them into the lab and held a lab activity for these non-biology majors on September 5th. We went into synthetic biology delivery by making emulsion products.
We held a "Step in the lab" activity on September 10th. First, we gave them an in-depth explanation of what synthetic biology is and the history of synthetic biology, which gave them a new understanding of synthetic biology and how it came to be. We then started the activity of making creams and emulsions immediately afterwards. We first talked to them about the process of making it and then they started making the emulsion. The team members also taught and corrected any mistakes in the experiment. They also understood the form of the product of our project while they were making the product.
After the activity, an art-major girl expressed her interest in our project and said she wanted to paint for our project. To express her gratitude, we put her painting works on our website.
This activity not only let them learn the history and knowledge of synthetic biology, but also gave them a deeper understanding of the form of our product. We hope this form of science popularization can inspire future iGEMers: close to their own team's project in the process of popularizing synthetic biology, taking people to make products of similar projects can make people know their team's product form more simply and specifically, and thus understand synthetic biology better. If we simply explain the expertise of synthetic biology, non-specialists will be bored by it. This method can also increase their interest in synthetic biology.
Ethnic minorities have made great contributions to Chinese Traditional Culture, and played a very important role in China. For thousands of years, ethnic minorities have blended Chinese or foreign cultures with their own, thus creating a richer ethnic culture.
There are 56 ethnic groups in China, including 55 minority groups. Currently, the percentage of Han Chinese is 91.51%, while the rest are ethnic minorities. Our team is located in Shenzhen, it is difficult to get in touch with ethnic minorities. Therefore, we went to the minority autonomous regions with our materials to popularize our project to the minority people.
Ethnic minorities in Qingyuan Yao Autonomous Region.
The Yao is one of the oldest ethnic groups in China among the 55 minority groups. They live in mountain hazards and have less contact with the outside world.Educational resources are relatively scarce. We hope that the Yao can enter the world of synthetic biology through this activity.
SZPT-CHINA iGEMer gave a science lesson to the troupe of the long drum dance which is Intangible Cultural Heritage of China when our team members went to the Yao Autonomous Region in Qingyuan on August 13th. We found that not only the Yao are in this region, but also the Miao. This allowed us to further expand the scope of our science popularization. While educating we found out that the Yao people in Qingyuan Yao Autonomous Region have never been exposed to synthetic biology because of the lack of educational resources. They don't know what synthetic biology is. So we continued to expand the areas and audiences for education.
We learned from the long-drum dance class that many tourists like to visit here. Our team members found a B & B in Qingyuan Yao Autonomous Region and educated the visitors of their B & B about synthetic biology and how they can experience the beauty of the region while they are in Qingyuan Yao Autonomous Region. Our team members taught the visitors about bacteria, DNA and our project, and not only the children but also their parents were taught about synthetic biology and its powerful charm.
This B & B will be occupied by many people in the future. We hope that people can learn more about our project when step in this region. So we put the project brochures on the promotion board in front of that B & B.
This place is beautiful and the people of this region are good at finding beauty. Our project is also beautiful. The meaning of science popularization is that we hope our project can bring them healthy skin and let them discover more beauty with healthy skin, and also let them feel the different beauty of synthetic biology in the beautiful Yao Village.
We found that the ethnic minority people are interested in the knowledge of synthetic biology and our project through the popularization of science in the ethnic minority areas.
Since the scope of minority people, we involved is not big enough. In order to bring the beauty of our project to more minority areas, we conducted science popularization activities in schools, Guangxi and other places to different minority areas.
Our school's minority students.
Our school pays special attention to the education of ethnic minorities. We have minority students from various regions in our school, such as Yi, Hani, Miao, Tibetan and so on. We gave them the science of synthetic biology and made them focus on minority education. They can bring synthetic biology to various regions when they return to their hometowns.
We brought minority students into the lab on September 17th. We first gave them an introduction to the iGEM competition and also explained about synthetic biology as well as its impact in the future, which gave them a preliminary understanding of synthetic biology. Immediately after that we recommended them to the project, we found that they were very interested in the project. They shared their knowledge about synthetic biology with each other and asked questions about our project during the presentation. After the popularization, we started the activity.
We first taught them the method of use about pipette. Members of our team would point out and instruct on the wrong operations during the learning process. Then they are taught to make sunscreen emulsion because the main reasons for aging, spot, wrinkle, etc. is UV rays. Our product is in the form of emulsion, so we want to take them to make emulsion. Students all experienced the joy of experiments among others. At the end, we gave the team's peripherals as a gift for them.
Minority students experienced our products in a format. We thought it was a great way to learn about our project in a more simple and understandable way. We wanted to continue this approach, so we created a cream emulsion for freshman students.
Ethnic minority students aged 7-12 at Anlan Primary School in Beijing town, Dahua Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Together with the HBUT-China team, we visited Anlan Primary School in Beijing Town, Dahua Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi, to educated them about synthetic biology so that they can be enlightened in the thinking of synthetic biology on August 18th.
Members of HBUT-China combined their project to teach the children of Anlan Elementary School about the cures and medicines that synthetic biology can bring to diseases and the healthier and better quality food that can be made with synthetic biology on August 11st. Our team prepared a board drawing activity for the children. After the science talk, we worked with the HBUT-China team members to guide the children to draw the synthetic biology in their minds.
They drew the synthetic biology and drew the bacteria in their mind through guidance; more people entered the world of synthetic biology and reaped the thought of synthetic biology enlightenment through our association with HBUT-China.
"Education"” is not only the direct transfer of knowledge through books, but also the connection of various fields with education. We create different ways of education. We combine synthetic biology with art, so that the public can learn about synthetic biology while experiencing art. We educated different audiences about synthetic biology through movies, clay, and other methods.
Member of the school Japanese Language Club.
Film is a very visual art form, which can present what you want to express through different images, and this is the most direct way of artistic expression. Therefore, our team uses film as a way to educate the public about synthetic biology.
Translation of the yellow horizontal line: From a bioethical point of view, the destruction of human genetic rights has a greater potential to lead to the degradation of the human race and to shake up the normal notions of life and death.
Translation of the yellow horizontal line: According to the bioethics point of view, science and technology should be considered for the long-term benefit of the whole human race, and human cloning technology must comply with the four internationally recognized ethical principles of "beneficence, non-maleficence, respect and justice"
Translation of the yellow horizontal line: In conclusion, science is always a double-edged sword. The key to the benefit of a scientific and technological advancement for mankind lies in how mankind treats and applies it. It is also we should treat cloning technology with seriousness, the technology should comply with laws and regulations, not to endanger human health, not to violate ethics and morality, not to harm public Dissociation.
Because one of the members of our team is a member of the Japanese language club at school. She found that the members of this club were interested in synthetic biology, so we co-organized this education with the Japanese club.
We want to educate the public about synthetic biology by means of a film on June 9th. We first gave the iGEM competition and synthetic biology to the members of the Japanese Club to give them some understanding of it online through the Tencent conference. Then we let the Japanese club members watch the movie "The Island" to further experience the power and charm of synthetic biology in the future.
We have received many letters from members of the Japanese language club after the activity of collision of art and synthetic biology. The letters expressed their ideas and thoughts about synthetic biology. We thought it would be a good way to teach them about synthetic biology through movies.
We saw the spark between synthetic biology and art and found the diversity of synthetic biology science in this educational activity.
College student member of Spirit Creation Club and Jewelry Club.
We believe that the sticky nature of clay and the three-dimensionality and texture of the shapes it produces make it a rich medium for artistic expression. We combined the profound knowledge of synthetic biology with the easy-to-understand art of crafting. Therefore, we co-organized this event with two handicraft clubs, the Spirit Creation Club and the Jewelry Club.
On June 15th, We conducted a science popularization of synthetic biology and bacteria for members of the Inspiration and Creativity Club and the Jewelry Club at the online meeting. During the session, they asked a lot of questions about bacteria.
The members of the Spirit Creation Club and Jewelry Club used clay to make various shapes of bacteria through our knowledge of science and their imagination. Not only can they deeply understand the knowledge of biology, but also can think about the knowledge of biology in the process of making clay bacteria.
We didn't expect that they could make such a similar and three-dimensional model of bacteria by hand with clay when we received the clay work. The members of our team found the fascination between art and synthetic biology in the course of this activity.
We believe that communication is essential in the process of education. We can learn our shortcomings and improve them, and we can also find out the shining points of our educational activities, and at the same time, we can get suggestions to carry out educational activities by communicating with other teams, so improvement are essential in our educational path.
This is the era of advanced technology and online teaching has become one of the convenient ways for many people to understand and learn to knowledge. We found that many people will read some tweets on the road, as well as listen to some book knowledge or novels when we are on the way to interview and do education. We therefore wanted to popularize our project and knowledge of synthetic biology through the internet. We publish the scientific knowledge of synthetic biology and skin on our public website. We also conducted online lectures on synthetic biology with five teams and over 300 people came to the lectures.
| Number | Theme |
|---|---|
| Phase 1 | What can we learn from "synthetic biology"? |
| Phase 2 | Can syntheic organisms make food? |
| Phase 3 | Syntheic biology and plant natural products |
| Phase 4 | Syntheic biology and cosmetics raw materials |
| Phase 5 | Microbial Fermentation ① |
| Phase 6 | Microbial Fermentation ② |
| Phase 7 | Application of AI in Syntheic Biology |
| Phase 8 | Synthetic biology powers vaccine development |
| Phase 9 | Synthetic biology for fluorescent bioimaging |
| Phase 10 | Advances in synthetic biology of CO2 cofixation |
| Number | Theme |
| Phase 1 | Start your skin care journey -- moisturizing |
| Phase 2 | Have you ever seen a person with two faces? |
| Phase 3 | What do you know about spot? |
| Phase 4 | A family of bacteria on the skin |
| Number | Theme |
| Phase 1 | Synthetic biology is an angel? Or a devil? |
| Phase 2 | The beautiful world of synthetic biology |
| Phase 3 | Synthetic biology is changing lives |
| Phase 4 | Applications of synthetic biology in medicine |
| Phase 5 | Application of synthetic biology in food |
| Phase 6 | Applications of synthetic biology in biomaterials and beauty |
| Number | Theme |
| Phase 1 | Reader (1) |
| Phase 2 | Reader (2) |
| Phase 3 | Reader (3) |
| Phase 4 | Reader (4) |
| Phase 5 | Reader (5) |
| Phase 6 | Reader (6) |
| Phase 7 | Reader (7) |
| Phase 8 | Reader (8) |
| Phase 9 | Reader (9) |
| Phase 10 | Reader (10) |
| Phase 11 | Reader (11) |
| Phase 12 | Reader (12) |
| Phase 13 | Reader (13) |
| Phase 14 | Reader (14) |
| Phase 15 | Reader (15) |
| Phase 16 | Reader (16) |
| Phase 17 | Reader (17) |
| Phase 18 | Reader (18) |
College students from the school of SZPT-CHINA, NWU-CHINA-A, HBUT-China, NEFU_China, BNUZH-China.
We found that some people do not understand synthetic biology and feel that synthetic biology is not relevant to our life during the survey and science popularization. We think it is because the public does not know much about synthetic biology. In fact, synthetic biology is all around us. Synthetic biology is often used in food, cosmetics, and other fields.
We organized the online seminar "Step into the World of Synthetic Biology" with HBUT-China, NWU-CHINA-A, NEFU_China and BNUZH-China teams on August 6th for the above reasons. We were aimed at the university students of each team's school. Each team introduced to the audience what synthetic biology is and introduced the iGEM competition in the lecture. We gave the audience a better understanding of what synthetic biology is and what it can do by combining lectures and examples in order to make the world of synthetic biology more accessible to university students.
Therefore, we combined with this year's project to teach them how to use synthetic biology to solve the above problems after the SZPT-CHINA team has taught the audience what synthetic biology was.
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. How to prevent and treat it is imminent. Nowadays, microorganisms have been developed to diagnose various diseases, including bacterial infections, cancer, inflammatory diseases, metabolic diseases and so on. NWU-CHINA-A would introduce the application of synthetic biology in the diagnosis of tuberculosis and cancer.
Synthetic biology can solve the problems encountered in many fields. Therefore, BNUZH-China team gave a scientific introduction to the application of synthetic biology in dermal damage treatment and artifact restoration, and introduced the competition iGEM.
Synthetic biology is considered by many to be a science on the shelf, but in fact, it is relevant to all aspects of our lives. The NEFU_China team hoped that through this popularization, more non-majors would realize the important value of synthetic biology.
HBUT-CHINA team uses their project as a basis to popularize antioxidant alchemy: the cutting-edge synthesis process of the powerful antioxidant ergothioneine and related knowledge.
Microorganisms have helped us to "conduct" many experiments in the development of synthetic biology, such as microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria, Gluconacetobacter hansenii , and so on. They have sacrificed their "lives" for these experiments and we are touched by their selflessness.
Together with NEFU_China and BNUZH-China, For example, the yeast used for brewing wine and other bacteria were posted on the public website.
Through Education, everyone of us has learnt a lot and different groups of people also get to know about synthetic biology via our education activities.
At the beginning, because of the epidemic, many of our educational activities could only be carried out online. Later, with the relief of the epidemic, we overcame difficulties and carried out many colorful offline activities. We combined the age, knowledge background, region and other backgrounds of the audience, and used a more understandable method to carry out our education activities. The audience of our project ranges from children in kindergartens to teenagers in urban villages, from college students to retired elderly people. Our influence has also expanded from dozens of audiences at the beginning to nearly 10000 audiences for current stage.
Our science popularization has attracted more people on our project and wanted to learn more about synthetic biology. We hope that our education can enable them to take the wings of science and travel in the world of synthetic biology.
