Education

Synthetic biology is an exciting field that blends biology and engineering to create new systems and organisms. One area where synthetic biology is making a significant impact is in cancer treatment, particularly for colorectal cancer, which affects the colon and rectum.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. It starts when cells in the colon or rectum begin to grow uncontrollably, forming tumors that can spread to other parts of the body. Traditional treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, but synthetic biology offers new hope by designing innovative approaches to target cancer cells more precisely.

Our high school team is passionate about promoting this cutting-edge treatment. We believe that synthetic biology can revolutionize how we fight colorectal cancer by creating engineered cells that can identify and destroy cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. We are excited about spreading awareness and educating others about these advancements because they represent a future where cancer treatments are more effective and personalized. By supporting and understanding these developments, we hope to contribute to a world where fewer people suffer from this disease and where new, life-saving therapies become a reality.

Therefore, in order to raise awareness of our project, our team has actively promoted our project across various social media platforms and we aims to reach a broader audience, engage more supporters, and generate greater interest in our cause.

Utilizing a WeChat official account to promote a colorectal cancer treatment project presents a highly feasible and strategic approach. WeChat is a dominant platform in China with extensive reach and engagement, making it ideal for disseminating information, fostering community support, and driving funding initiatives. 

Promoting our colorectal cancer treatment project via a WeChat official account is highly feasible and effective. The platform’s extensive reach allows us to engage a broad audience with diverse content. We utilize educational articles on siRNA to explain our innovative treatment method, enhancing public understanding and interest. Crowdfunding efforts can be seamlessly integrated into our team account, leveraging WeChat’s payment tools to secure necessary funds. We also Introduce our team members through detailed profiles and behind-the-scenes content in order to build trust and personal connection with our audience. What’s more, we had some interviews with the local experts like university professors, doctors from local hospitals as well as entrepreneurs, which will lend credibility and provide authoritative insights, reinforcing the project’s legitimacy. Overall, WeChat’s features support a comprehensive promotional strategy that can drive awareness, engagement, and funding for our project.

We also use other social medias like Bilibili and Tik Tok to share our daily lives in the laboratory, our promotion work and popularization contents.

To gauge public understanding of colorectal cancer, our team conducted a comprehensive survey. The results revealed valuable insights into people’s awareness and knowledge about the disease. We found that while there is a general awareness, detailed knowledge and understanding are often lacking. This data is instrumental for our ongoing research, as it highlights areas where public education needs to be strengthened. The findings will help us tailor our outreach and educational efforts more effectively, ensuring that we address the gaps in knowledge and improve overall awareness. This survey not only informed our project strategy but also underscored the importance of targeted communication in advancing colorectal cancer awareness.

Colorectal cancer poses significant health risks, being one of the most common and potentially fatal cancers worldwide. It often develops with minimal symptoms in its early stages, leading to late diagnoses and challenging treatment options. Recognizing the urgent need for increased awareness, our team decided to take proactive steps to educate the community about this critical issue.

To address this, we organized an outreach event in the vibrant community of Hubu Lane in Wuhan. Our goal was to engage directly with local residents, provide valuable information about colorectal cancer, and emphasize the importance of early detection and prevention. Understanding that attracting and retaining attention is crucial for effective education, we designed and distributed unique, custom-branded gifts to participants. These gifts not only served as a token of appreciation but also helped in creating a memorable association with our cause.

This activity proved to be highly successful. We observed a substantial turnout, with many attendees showing genuine interest in our project and the information we provided. Numerous participants expressed their desire to learn more about colorectal cancer, including its risk factors, symptoms, and prevention strategies. The positive feedback and enthusiastic response underscored the community's readiness to engage with and support our efforts. Overall, our Hubu Lane event was a significant step in raising awareness and fostering a deeper understanding of colorectal cancer within the community.

On June 14th, our team attended the Conference of the China iGEMer Community (2024 CCiC). At this stage, we had just finished our project design and was starting wet lab experiments, so we mainly focused on our idea RNA interference vector targeted to TEAD4 could serve as a promising therapeutic candidate for colorectal cancer treatment.Then we had an open communication with other teams and shared our experience discussion with excellent teams.

In addition, we also listened to the presentations from other teams, which expanded our knowledge and further encouraged us to contribute in a positive way to medicine and synthetic biology. We had the opportunity for meaningful communication with various teams from China, which had a profound impact on the later development of the project.

We had an online communication with a team from China Pharmaceutical University called CPU-China. Same as our study topic, they are also studying treatment approaches for CRC. They selected and improved LL 37, from the terminal antimicrobial region of human cationic antimicrobial protein 18(hCAP18), as their candidate killing peptide，which inspired us to learn deeper and find new treatment options for CRC.

Hubei University in Wuhan(HUBU-China) aims to address the impact of pests on crops through RNAi-based drugs. They exploited RNAi’s mechanism of action to induce complementary mRNA degradation leading to dege silencing in the important lepidopteran pest Spodoptera litura. Overall, this exchange inspires us to learn more about RNA, not only for cancer use but also in other fields.

In the end of September, we have communicated with links China in Shenzhen (Basis international school) and shared our thoughts towards our projects. They seek to solve the poor medical conditions caused by ongoing regional conflicts and unpredicted natural disasters with innovative first aid kits. Their solution was to use antimicrobials as an effective alternative compared to traditional antibiotics used in first aid kit. Defensin is chosen as the antimicrobial, and designed with a releasing domain, functional domain, and binding domain in the form of both bandage and gel. Although their direction of research is significantly different than ours, it still reminds us the benefits of cutting costs of mass production. Again, providing a good example of implementation of synthetic biology within daily life.