Education

From Hands-off to Hands-on

The Chinese poet Lu You from the Song Dynasty wrote, "What is learned on paper is shallow; to truly understand, one must practice."We believe that in order for the public to better understand and learn about synthetic biology, it is necessary to engage them not only through textual learning but also through observation and hands-on activities.

We gained a deep understanding of this point through two EDU activities organized by our team this year. In the high school summer camp, we used oral presentations to introduce fundamental biology as well as cutting-edge technologies in synthetic biology and the iGEM competition to the students. However, the dry and hands-off lectures did not ignite the enthusiasm of the high school students in the audience. Therefore, in another activity, the middle and elementary school summer camp, we attempted to incorporate many interesting activities to help the students absorb knowledge through engaging hands-on experiences.

---

Lecture on the Synthetic Biology

When it comes to education, lectures are the first thing that comes to mind. Through lectures, we can easily disseminate cutting-edge knowledge to biology enthusiasts. In the past, we have organized online lectures where we shared biology hotspots, introduced our iGEM project, and engaged in discussions. However, these lectures lacked interactive activities and failed to attract the audience effectively. In the post-pandemic era, with offline activities becoming more feasible, we see an opportunity to enhance education.

We shifted our focus to summer camps. Due to limited opportunities caused by the pandemic, the demand for summer camps has increased. The offline form of summer camps allows us to integrate various activities into lectures for better results.

Considering this, we collaborated with summer camp organizers to conduct lectures for the camp participants. The School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Beijing Institute of Technology(BIT) hosted a summer camp for high school students, and we had the privilege to deliver a lecture related to synthetic biology. We prepared content based on high school biology knowledge, introduced the iGEM competition and our team, and engaged in interactive Q&A sessions. We even gave small gifts to enhance everyone's enthusiasm.

Compared to online lectures, this offline attempt received positive feedback. High school students prefer face-to-face interactions, which brought us closer to them. However, due to time constraints, we were unable to organize more activities. We believe that if time permits, hosting more diverse and enriching summer camps will achieve greater success in educational efforts.

---

Summer Camp Themed on the Synthetic Biology

Preparing for a larger summer camp with great ambition, we soon found it hard to face many challenges, including the time, venue, manpower, funding, publicity and so on, which made us feel at a loss. Thankfully, relying on the series of “Omnipotent Youth” summer camps held by our school in BIT, our two principal investigators Bing Hu and Yang Yu led the BIT-China team to hold our own branch camp themed on the Synthetic Biology. We designed various courses for each day of the summer camp, including an introduction to microorganisms, achievements in microbiology especially those won the Nobel Prize, and some cutting-edge technologies in biosynthesis. After these courses, there were some hands-on activities to reinforce the knowledge that the campers had just learned. Through the one-week gradual learning, we hoped the campers could broaden their horizons and experience the joy of synthetic biology here.

As a volunteer, Tianyao Chai played an extremely important role in the entire summer camp, not only being an assistant to the teacher to maintain order in the class, but also a big brother and a beloved playmate for children. “Working as a volunteer these days has been exhausting, but this experience has also benefited me a lot. Holding this summer camp is not only a test of the individual abilities of every volunteer, but also a test of the whole BIT-China team. The success of this summer camp clearly shows the full preparation as well as the enthusiasm of our team. Look at these notes! The thoughts written by these cute kids reflect their love and effort towards this synthetic-biology-themed summer camp. I firmly believe that this period of time will definitely become a beautiful memory for every participant, especially us.” He said with great pleasure.

Additionally, we would like to express our gratitude to the members of CAU-China! [click here to link to CAU-China!] In the process of hosting the Synthetic Biology Camp, we invited CAU-China to collaborate with us in organizing the microbial painting activity, hoping to make it more fascinating. The children were also excited to have these new volunteers accompanying them. With the cooperation of the two volunteers, the microbial painting experiment activity was successfully carried out.

July 2023

Chai’s Diary

During the whole summer camp, Tianyao Chai kept a diary to record his own thoughts as well. He had decided to record campers’ reactions to our planned activities in this way, making it possible to improve the Education work for future activities based on the feedback of the campers. However, when we looked back at these contents, we found the diary seemed to be also a good way to summarize our work of the Education part. Therefore, here we present some of the content in the diary, and we sincerely hope these could inspire everyone while reviewing the summer camp.

9 July 2023

Day 1

The summer camp themed on the synthetic biology finally opened today! As a volunteer, I participated in the opening ceremony with so many little campers. Actually, I was somewhat nervous back then, because I really didn't know how to lead these kids. But soon, my concerns were dispelled by their excellent performance!
After the opening ceremony, we began the course of synthetic biology immediately. Given that most of our small camp members haven’t had a good foundation of biology, Ms. Hu started with some basic biological concepts, such as the composition of cells and the role of organelles. This step-by-step teaching method was very suitable for children who were lack of biological knowledge. As for me, I did a lot of photographing work while listening to the class, as well as kept order during the break. Children are mischievous by nature, which made me feel a headache. But thanks to their obeying discipline, the difficulty of the management work didn’t rise to a high level.

10 July 2023

Day 2

If the knowledge is just taught blindly, then even the most entertaining courses will make campers feel bored. Therefore, Ms. Hu played some cartoons for these children to watch in the morning. All the campers watched them with great interest, even I found them full of fun. The pleasure in today’s class is exactly what sets summer camps apart from regular classes.

10 July 2023

Day 2

In the afternoon, the campers attempted to use plasticine to create a model of the cells according to the knowledge they learnt yesterday. This was not only a test of their hands-on ability, but also a test of their knowledge mastery.
Afterwards, we took the campers to visit some biological laboratories. They felt a bit nervous in those rooms at the beginning, but under the guidance of Mr. Yu, this emotion had gradually been replaced by curiosity about the lab.

11 July 2023

Day 3

Today's activity is model building. Mr. Yu demonstrated the DNA double helix structure model to the children at first, and their attention was quickly drawn to the exquisite model in his hand. After that, the campers worked in groups to build their own models under the guidance of Mr. Yu and me. I believe after they actually finished assembling the model, they would have a better understanding of the double helix structure of DNA.

11 July 2023

Day 3

We also prepared a coloring activity based on the cartoon characters of yeast, E. coli and virus designed by the BIT-China team for our campers as an entertainment in their spare time. From their wonderful coloring works, we could discover the infinite creativity and imagination of children.

12 July 2023

Day 4

On this day, the campers tried to make yogurt in person with Mr. Yu. Yogurt is a very common food in our daily life, but its fermentation process has undergone a lot of research and attempts before finding out the current perfect fermentation equipment and conditions. To some degree, the production of yogurt contains rich science connotations. It was the first time for many campers to try to ferment milk and soon they found it very interesting. Actually, the fermentation process of yogurt is closely related to the knowledge they have been learning in the past few days. This kind of experiment that both meets teaching requirements and is full of fun is perfect for our campers. They can better understand the important uses of microorganisms for human’s life through it as well.

12 July 2023

Day 4

After completing the previous work of making yogurt, the campers experienced the microbial painting. For these children who have almost no experience in biological operations, using microorganisms to “draw” is definitely a new experience. As expected, they have shown great interest and enthusiasm for this activity.

13 July 2023

Day 5

After a day of fermentation, the campers couldn't wait to taste the yogurt they made in the flesh yesterday. However, the expressions on their faces are very complex. “It’s not exactly the same taste as the yogurt we used to drink,” they said. Due to the differences in equipment and conditions from the factory, we must conduct the experiment while ensuring food safety. Therefore, we could only produce simple-taste yogurt. Although the taste cannot match the yogurt sold in the store, our little campers can truly experience the process and results of the fermentation, through which they gained a huge sense of achievement.

13 July 2023

Day 5

After Ms. Hu's lecture on the development process of genetic-engineering-related technologies, the campers have learned how scientists can promote the development of science and technology, and what problems humans have encountered during the development. If it’s our campers that encounter these problems, how will they respond? With great curiosity about this issue, we organized a small debate competition for the campers, with Ms. Hu proposing two debate topics, she and Mr. Yu as well as one of the BIT-China team members serving as judges. We thought it would be a relaxing and enjoyable discussion, but the result turned out to be a huge shock for all of us!

13 July 2023

Day 5

One of the two topics is “Can cloning technology be used to alleviate the problem of low fertility in the population”, and the other is “Should genetically modified foods remain in the stage of scientific research”. The campers had just half an hour to conclude their opinions on each topic, but they were still willing to have discussions with each other lively even though the time is very tight. Soon the competition began, and the campers divided into four pairs to debate against each other. For the first topic, standing at a macro perspective, they compared the cost of cloning humans with encouraging young people to have children, attempting to summarize the reason why modern people are increasingly reluctant to have children. For the second topic, they tried their best exploring the limit of scientific development and the responsibility of humanity through their debate.

13 July 2023

Day 5

To be honest, their debate was certainly very immature, but it has offered us some new perspectives on these two hot topics. Most of their opinions could be elaborated clearly by only a few sentences, but as the debate deepened, these little debaters constantly developed new connotations from their existing viewpoints. At that moment, I suddenly realized that we always believed that we just have educated them, but actually these young minds are also educating us at the same time!

14 July 2023

Day 6

On the last day of the summer camp, the campers tried out the card game “To See Biotech in a Tree” designed by the BIT-China team. This card game is based on the development history of scientific research and synthetic biological technology, leaving an extremely deep impression on them. After playing, many campers wanted to purchase a set of this card game as a souvenir. Unfortunately, as the card game is still in the development stage, we even don’t have so many sets ourselves! Therefore, we only gave away several sets of our card game as rewards to the outstanding students.

14 July 2023

Day 6

Before leaving the summer camp, our little campers were very curious about the situation of microbial paintings they had drawn two days ago, so we let them admire each other's masterpieces under the black light. They must have never seen those colonies that emit fluorescence before!

14 July 2023

Day 6

How time flies! Now is the time to bid farewell to this one-week-long synthetic-biology-themed summer camp. Seeing the campers saying goodbye to me with great reluctance, my heart was also filled with the sadness of parting. Perhaps we may not have the opportunity to meet again, but it will greatly comfort me if this series of activities could stimulate their curiosity about biology, even fall in love with synthetic biology!

Playing while Learning

The famous educator Confucius said, "They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it." (the Analects, “Yong Ye”) This statement emphasizes the importance of interest in learning, meaning that cultivating an interest in learning is crucial for acquiring knowledge. When one is interested in learning, they shift from being passive to being proactive. Learning in a joyful manner not only enhances learning efficiency but also deepens understanding of knowledge, enabling flexible application of what has been learned.

Therefore, we have adopted various formats, including quiz games, coloring cards, and tabletop card games, to incorporate knowledge of synthetic biology into these simple yet enjoyable entertainment activities, allowing the public to gain popular science knowledge while having fun.

Card Game: “To See Biotech in a Tree”

In China, card games are a very popular form of leisure and entertainment, and almost all teenagers and even adults have had experiences with various card games. This inspired us to create a science-themed card game.

So, in May, we started writing the first edition of the game rules book. We believe that through the interactivity and entertainment of card games, teenagers can more easily understand and engage with scientific knowledge. Through this game, we hope that young people can have a deeper understanding of the development process and applications of synthetic biology technology. At the same time, we also hope to inspire their interest in scientific research and encourage them to participate in future scientific innovations.

During the design process of this card game, we gained a deeper understanding of the history of synthetic biology and accumulated a lot of experience. What is even more valuable is that, through continuous research, modification, and testing, we approached these familiar knowledge with a mindset similar to that of beginners, and glimpsed the essence of popular science – to stimulate players' interest and inspire thinking beyond knowledge itself. In fact, we did achieve this. We introduced an event card called "Plagiarism" in the game, where activating this event allows players to claim the technology tree (i.e., technological progress) initiated by others, but at the cost of giving all their own hand cards to the opponent. This card was designed to remind everyone involved in technological development that plagiarism is highly unethical, and even if the plagiarist pays the price after being discovered, the unfairness suffered by the victim of plagiarism will always exist. During the summer camp, we taught this card game to the children, not only to reinforce the knowledge they had just learned in class, but also with the hope that one day they will have their own thoughts from the events depicted on these cards. The seeds we have sown will eventually sprout.

In addition, we have translated the rule book of this card game into five official languages (English, German, Russian, French, Spanish) , making it accessible to synthetic biology enthusiasts from around the world. We have also created cards in both Chinese and English to facilitate future reference by other iGEM teams. For more information, please visit the Contribution section.

Card game creation process:

In the early stages, we invited experienced card game players to provide suggestions for our game, especially members from BIT Board Game League. Through continuous modifications, our first physical edition of the card game was completed in July. We showcased it to the children participating in the summer camp, and they became the first play testers of our physical cards. This edition of the game was based on the development history of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, which happened to be related to the children's curriculum that day. As a result, their gaming experience was excellent, as it reinforced their classroom knowledge and allowed them to enjoy the fun of learning. After the experience, many children wanted to buy the cards from us, indicating their immense interest in the game.

Later, we invited college student players to evaluate the card game. During this playtest, we discovered more flaws in the cards, such as excessive randomness in card drawing and some loopholes in the gameplay process. Therefore, we wrote the second edition of the rulebook, which addressed most of the known rule issues and significantly improved the gaming experience. As a result, we adopted the new rulebook and introduced the second technological pathway, the discovery of the DNA double helix structure.

With the completion of the design for two technology tree paths in our card game, our card game is becoming more refined. Therefore, we are currently preparing to apply for patents for each card face to better protect our efforts. However, we will open up the rules of this card game to all iGEM teams. We believe that as more interesting ideas converge, this card game will develop more technology tree storylines and have a greater impact.

We ultimately named this card game "To See Biotech in a Tree" , inspired by the Buddhist classic "The Avatamsaka Sutra": "To see a world in a wild flower, and a bodhi in a leaf." The meaning is that even the smallest things can reveal the significant importance to the entire world. We named this game "One Tree, One Technology" to illustrate that every idea and action in scientific research is a significant impact on technology. Every technological achievement we enjoy today is the result of extensive scientific research.

Creative Market

Synthetic Biology as an emerging discipline encompasses a vast body of knowledge. To achieve this, we participated in the school's Creative Market event, conducting science popularization activities on synthetic biology for the entire school community, including students, teachers, staff members, and international students.

We spent half a month preparing for the event, designing different projects tailored to different age groups and knowledge levels. Eventually, we decided to set up booths for science popularization education, focusing on biology knowledge quizzes, microbiological art displays, microbiological four-panel comics, and character design coloring cards.

During this event, our booth, represented by the BIT-China team, received many "little red flowers" (indicating the level of people's love for us) and was awarded "Best Booth" in the overall evaluation. Through this event, we were able to educate more people about synthetic biology and raise awareness of our iGEM team. Many individuals became followers of our WeChat public account and Bilibili website. Particularly noteworthy is that amidst the other booths at the creative fair, which predominantly focused on entertainment themes such as nail art, handicrafts, and live music performances, we were able to stand out. This has instilled confidence in us to conduct even more diverse forms of science popularization activities in the future.

Activities available for participation

1. Regarding the synthetic biology knowledge quiz, we designed questionnaires of different difficulty levels based on the varying knowledge levels of different professional groups in synthetic biology. If participants achieved excellent results in the quiz, they would receive corresponding rewards.

2. For the microbiological art display, we prepared ultraviolet lights and traditional Chinese patterns that we created to showcase to students and teachers.

3. For the microbiological four-panel comics and character design coloring cards, we prepared the first edition of our four-panel comics for display, as well as some character sketches and coloring pens for the public to color. During their reading and coloring process, we would explain the story of the comics and the design prototypes of the characters in a simple and understandable manner.

Make the Popular Acts More Popular

WeChat official account

In China, the number of users on WeChat official accounts is enormous, with almost everyone who has a WeChat account reading articles on public accounts. Therefore, sending out articles on WeChat public accounts has the following benefits: 1. Environmentally friendly, reducing paper waste caused by traditional media dissemination. 2. Convenient reading, people can easily access and read articles in their spare time by opening WeChat. 3. Wide educational reach, covering almost everyone who has WeChat.

From June 1, 2023, to September 6, 2023, we have sent out a total of 19 articles, with 2700+ views. Among the 19 articles we published, there are records of events that BIT-China participated in or organized, as well as some popular science articles. These articles were topics from our brainstorming phase but presented in a more humorous and relaxed way. For example, in "Degradable 'Mushroom Houses'," we introduced mycelium, a new building material. In "New Applications for Plant Skeletons (Lignin)," we discussed the degradation and utilization of lignin from logs. In "That’s What Makes You Drunk?!" we explained the reason for drunkenness and popularized the fermentation of alcohol. In "Go Get Some Digestible Milk on The Pier," we popularized lactose intolerance to the public... These interesting popular science articles attracted many readers!

We are continuing to produce more articles, and the official account will remain one of our means of promotion and education. In the process of creating these articles, Hang Zhai and other students have gradually mastered the essentials of writing informative articles, placing relevant images effectively, and structuring them in an attractive manner. Of course, by understanding the feedback from readers of the articles, we will strive to improve our popular science contents.

Science Popularization on Bilibili and TikTok

Bilibili and TikTok, as the two largest self-media video platforms in China, primarily attract users who are mostly concentrated in the under 35 age group. Bilibili focuses on content related to education, knowledge, anime, and travel, with long videos of 20 minutes or more being the main form of dissemination. Through conversations with university students, we found that Bilibili is predominantly used by students as a platform for learning and acquiring knowledge. On the other hand, TikTok's content mainly consists of short videos with a strong entertainment factor, attracting a large user base and enjoying widespread popularity. The short duration of videos on TikTok allows it to effectively cater to users' entertainment needs in various scenarios, capturing their attention. These two video platforms have a significant influence among the young population in China, so we have decided to release videos on both platforms.

To better cater to the needs of users on these two influential video platforms, we have created two different styles of video content. The videos we release on Bilibili are generally longer and have a more relaxed pace, while the videos on Tiktok have a faster pace to align with its more entertaining nature. Regarding the content of the videos, we have already published vlogs covering various topics such as an introduction to the iGEM competition, popular science knowledge about synthetic biology, domestic CCIC exchanges, laboratory operation demonstrations, campus interviews, street interviews, and comic strips related to synthetic biology.

Through the medium of media dissemination, we aim to make people aware of our pre-competition life and team achievements through the release of videos or image works, and better help them pay attention to synthetic biology, encouraging more people interested in synthetic biology to participate in the iGEM competition!

It is worth mentioning that the videos we have posted on Bilibili have received over 2700 views, and the cumulative views of the five videos we have uploaded on Douyin have exceeded 16000, with one video receiving over 13000 views! We are delighted to have achieved such high view counts, which indicates that these videos have a high level of interest and universality. It also shows us the tremendous potential of science popularization on popular video platforms.

In addition, one of our videos won first prize in the "BoYue Cup" Science Popularization Video Contest hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology and co-organized by BIT! This award recognizes the quality of our video content and demonstrates that we have successfully produced informative and entertaining science popularization videos while ensuring scientific accuracy.

eatGEM

This year, we have collaborated with multiple iGEM teams, including SDU-CHINA, Tongji-software, XJTLU-CHINA and so on, to plan for team-based science popularization in a format similar to TED talks. We have named this project "education on applications of technology in Genetically Engineered Machine(eatGEM)". Each team will present their expertise or discuss how the technologies involved in their project this year can be applied in everyday life. We intend to record videos and publish them on the Bilibili, bringing together the projects of each team and ensuring the effectiveness of science popularization by controlling the quality of each team's presentation video. The collaboration among teams allows for mutual learning and expands the audience, enabling more people to learn about iGEM and attracting future iGEMers. Additionally, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University is willing to collaborate with our team to review and improve the manuscripts and videos of other teams.

BIT-China's main speaker, Xiang Ji, has years of experience in biology competitions and is studying automation, possessing a rich academic background. By integrating synthetic biology with emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, Ji provided a detailed introduction to the comprehensiveness of synthetic biology, starting from the basics and delving into deeper concepts. He also provided a detailed overview of our project this year, which utilizes the principle of light regulation to synthesize sclareol and santalol, giving students a profound understanding of the applications of synthetic biology.

In the preparation of this presentation, we have seen more possibilities for the integration of synthetic biology with other disciplines, enhancing Ji's and other team members' understanding of biology and education. Our presentation activity has also sparked interest in biology among many students at BIT.

Cooperation & Exchange

CCiC

From July 8th to 11th, three members of the BIT-China team traveled to Haikou, Hainan Province, China to participate in the 10th CCiC (Conference of China iGEMer Community). We gained a lot from this conference, as we had the opportunity to learn about many excellent and interesting projects. We also had the chance to share our perspectives with other teams and learn about their approaches. Additionally, we learned how other teams work efficiently. Through the exchange with other participating teams, their questions and thoughts raised many issues that we had not considered before, which provided constructive insights for our project's future work. Similarly, our questioning of certain aspects of other teams' projects can help them improve their projects in the future. At the same time, we shared our interesting and advanced methods with other teams, inspiring them in their own work.

Other participating teams had the following questions and concerns about our project:

1) Have you considered the limited penetration of short-wavelength blue light in the culture medium, which may prevent sufficient irradiation of the bacteria?

Haoyu Zhang answered: "The choice of blue light is based on the activation conditions of the optogenetic components. While the penetration may not be ideal, it is necessary for our engineered cell factory. Blue light also has relatively low toxicity and is a cost-effective method. To address the issue of limited light penetration, we will conduct experiments to determine if increasing the light intensity can compensate for this limitation."

2) What is the purpose of using facial microexpression recognition? How does it relate to your project?

Wei Zhang answered: "Based on discussions with professors in a related field at Shanghai Applied Technology University, the ability to produce pleasant aromas is crucial for the commercial viability of spices and fragrance bases. However, evaluating the quality of aromas is challenging. Therefore, we aim to capture microexpressions of individuals smelling the fragrance and use them as a reference for evaluating the quality of our fragrance base."

3) Will facial recognition involve issues of authorization and data collection of facial information? How do you plan to address these concerns?

Xiang Ji answered: "We have considered this issue. On one hand, we will communicate with the individuals whose information is being collected. On the other hand, we will ensure the protection of facial information. We will also consult legal experts to understand the specific requirements and regulations."

4) Building a neural network machine learning model with only 50 data points, will it be enough to fit an accurate curve?

Xiang Ji answered: "This question needs to be considered from two perspectives. Firstly, the issue of data quantity. Based on existing experiments and methodology, neural network-based fitting methods do require a certain amount of data. To address this, we will experiment with three different methods, including regression algorithms and decision trees, in addition to neural networks, to determine the most suitable approach for data fitting. Secondly, the issue of data authenticity. It is challenging to provide a solution from the perspective of machine learning methodology alone. Machine learning methods, which are based on statistics, require large amounts of data to produce accurate results. However, we can make efforts in two areas to improve the accuracy and precision of the model. Firstly, close collaboration between the experimental and modeling teams can help reduce errors and anomalies in the data. Secondly, we can optimize the training process and model structure. This includes data cleaning and transformation methods to reduce the impact of outliers during training, as well as using robust and ensemble models combined with cross-validation to improve the model's generalization performance."

How can we help other teams with their projects?

During the Q&A session of other teams' project presentations, our team members actively asked questions. Xiang Ji asked questions to other teams regarding their work on predicting experimental results using machine learning and exchanged ideas on solutions for insufficient data and inaccurate predictions. Haoyu Zhang, based on his research direction in targeted therapy, raised questions about the experimental aspects of a targeted therapy project. After our presentation, Xiang Ji, with his excellent interpersonal skills and outstanding expertise, established connections with multiple teams. He provided suggestions to XMU-China team from Xiamen University regarding their modeling work on identifying the severity of facial acne, and both teams engaged in further discussions.

Share Tips with BJYUAN-China

On May 20th (Saturday), we had an educational exchange with the high school team BJYUAN-China from Beijing 101 High School. They are a newly established iGEM high school team and we wanted to provide them with some information about the iGEM competition. Although we have had ten years of experience participating in iGEM, we were not very familiar with the details of the high school division. So, we reached out to Rachel Chen, the team captain of iBowu-China, the 2021 Top 10 iGEM high school team, who was also one of our collaborative teams in 2021. Rachel kindly recorded a video for them, introducing the competition format, sharing her team's experience, and discussing the new gold medal criteria for this year. In the video, Rachel emphasized the importance and benefits of various communication activities in iGEM, encouraged them to ask questions and communicate without hesitation due to a lack of professional knowledge, and suggested that they choose topics related to Chinese culture and use genetic editing technology to solve practical issues unique to China. Afterward, our team's advisor, Xuanye Zhao, explained the requirements for medals and the emphasis on each award in the new gold medal criteria, as well as the timeline and reasonable work planning in iGEM.

On August 20th (Sunday), we introduced our respective team projects to each other and provided some suggestions and guidance based on the project presentations. Under the guidance of our team advisor, we had more in-depth discussions on the suggestions provided. Regarding the human practice work of BJYUAN-China, Xuanye Zhao from our team suggested that they could engage in communication with community hospitals considering the application scenarios of their product. Additionally, lightweight hardware suggestions were also given for their project.

Biosecurity and Bioethics Debate

The early 21st century marks the embryo for synthetic biology, and the construction of relevant laws and regulations is still incomplete. However, it is progressing in parallel with scientific development, and legal norms will become more sound. Professionals are still exploring, and public understanding is limited.

In collaboration with Tianjin, BIT-China organized a debate to provide a unique platform to promote a deeper understanding of biosecurity and bioethics issues among the public. The aim is to facilitate the sharing and exchange of different perspectives on the ethics of synthetic biology and raise awareness among the public about the importance, potential risks, and impacts of biological science.

Multidisciplinarity

Wenyi Workshop

The BIT-China team delivered popular science lectures on synthetic biology to undergraduate students from different majors such as life sciences, chemistry, physics, and mathematics at BIT. Xiang Ji, a student majoring in automation, was primarily responsible for the lecture. From an interdisciplinary perspective, the lecture explained what synthetic biology is and what the iGEM competition entails.

First, Ji introduced the close connection between synthetic biology and students' daily lives, academic frontiers, and industry by delving into the fields of life sciences, synthesis, artificial intelligence, and industry. Ji had a profound experience in biology competitions during high school, which gave him unique insights and feelings towards biology. He believed that although biology is a phenomenological discipline with an extensive knowledge system that cannot be summarized by a single formula, it guides the progress of human technology. Humans continuously explore the mysteries of life through the behavior of organisms and are filled with awe and inspiration.

After introducing synthetic biology, Ji further explained the iGEM competition and BIT-China's project for this year, encouraging the students in attendance to learn about synthetic biology and participate in iGEM. Throughout the entire process, the students listened attentively and actively asked questions related to the iGEM competition and synthetic biology during the Q&A session. After the lecture, one audience member expressed to a member of BIT-China, that the presentation on the impact of biology shattered his preconceived notion that biology is "simple and boring." It was the first time he was truly amazed by biology and its related disciplines.

Life Origin Teaching Activity

BIT-China team member Xiang Ji participated in a public welfare teaching activity with a focus on aerospace in Chuzhou, Anhui province. As a life sciences enthusiast and a member of BIT-China, he was responsible for the popularization of knowledge related to the origin of life in the universe. Ji sparked the curiosity and enthusiasm of the elementary school students by introducing them to the concepts of space exploration and the origin of life.

Starting from the familiar Marvel series movies, Ji used various alien creatures from the Marvel universe as a starting point to engage the children. He asked them questions like "What do you think alien creatures might look like?" and "What kind of environment could support the existence of life?". The children creatively thought and analyzed these questions based on their own observations and reflections. Ji combined their unique perspectives and used AI drawing tools to help them visualize their ideas through drawings, allowing them to see their own thoughts come to life.

Ji further integrated the principles of biological evolution, ecology, and animal ethology to help the children analyze the conditions for the existence of various forms of life and understand how life has evolved from single-celled organisms to complex organisms. He helped them develop a scientific and analytical mindset. At the end of the activity, Ji also shared a lesson with the children: our analysis of everything is based on life on Earth as a reference, which may not fully represent the universal laws of the universe. However, through this analytical approach, we have discovered many mysteries. We hope that the children will always maintain an open-minded attitude and actively explore the possibilities of life.

China Bioindustry Convention

On June 10, 2023, the 15th China Bioindustry Convention opened at the China Optics Valley Convention & Exhibition Center in Wuhan. The convention lasted for three days, focusing on biotechnology, biomaterials, biopharmaceuticals, and the development of the bioindustry. The theme of the convention was "New Patterns, New Starting Points: Building a New Engine for the Development of the Bioeconomy". It provided a national and international platform for the development of the bioindustry, academic exchanges among academicians and experts, business negotiations, and popularization of biological knowledge. Invited by the China Society of Biotechnology, BIT-China sent three members to attend the convention. They were responsible for explaining the exhibition boards and conducting science popularization activities at the synthetic biology exhibition hall.

During the three-day science popularization activities, our team members in charge of the synthetic biology exhibition hall attracted a large number of attendees, responsible persons from related companies, and some experts and scholars who stopped by to browse. What surprised our team members was the great curiosity and interest that the children present at the convention showed towards synthetic biology. They showed great interest in the synthetic biology picture books exhibited in the hall. As a presenter, our team members used the picture books as a basis to popularize biological knowledge for the children, cultivating their interest in the field of biology. After the conclusion of the Bioeconomy Summit and thematic forums, personnel from the biological fields other than synthetic biology engaged in in-depth discussions with our team's mentor, Bing Hu, to understand the development status of other fields beyond their own work areas. Bing Hu also provided a concise and comprehensive introduction to the development of synthetic biology.

The experience of participating in the China Bioindustry Convention greatly benefited the three team members. At this convention, on one hand, we as volunteers provided popular science knowledge to biology enthusiasts visiting the exhibition. On the other hand, we were honored to have the opportunity to communicate with experts, scholars, and relevant companies in the field of biology at this conference. This not only fulfilled our mission of educating the public, but also made us the recipients of education in the process. This bidirectional learning made education more meaningful.