School Activities

Primary School

Primary school is the enlightening stage of education in people's life. If a seed of synthetic biology is planted in the minds of students during primary school, the curiosity about synthetic biology will always be with them.

We held a talk about synthetic biology at Changchun First Experimental Primary School. We started by linking the recently popular Spider-Man movies with the 2022 gold medal-winning iGEM project “Ocean Spider Silk” and used many analogies, such as building with blocks and assembling puzzles, to explain the concept of a synthetic biology, which led to very convivial moments of sharing and exchanges of scientific interests.

Specifically, we told them that a synthetic biology project included three parts: chassis, components, and modules.

• Chassis construction. The "Ocean Spider Silk" project used BL21 strain of E. coli as a chassis to produce their target protein, which was similar to lay the foundation of a building.
• Component manufacturing. We explained to the children that synthetic biology was like a jigsaw puzzle, brainstorming together to elaborate the various component fragments needed for the "Ocean Spider Silk" project, and finally successfully stitched together into spider silk!
• Module design. This process was quite similar to assembling the LEGO sets. Upon completing the Spider-Man theme with the project "Spider Ocean Silk", we proceeded to explain the iGEM competition and our "BreFast" project to students. They were impressed by the potential applications of synthetic biology and the interesting tests we have produced at the end of our talk.

In the course of our presentation and the children's questions, they showed excellent comprehension of scientific concepts and innovative ideas. It was a challenge to us to think about how to adapt our presentation to such young children, but we did it! We also learned a lot from this talk. We were surprised by their curiosity, just as they understood the "Ocean Spider Silk" project and the "BreFast" project so well.

Middle School

Middle school students began to take some entry-level biology courses, but their understanding of synthetic biology is still limited.

We made a Q&A about biology at Changchun 58th Middle School.

• Firstly, we asked and they answered. We took the framework knowledge of biology as the entry point, and inquired about many biological phenomena such as the morphological structure of cells and ecological environment homeostasis.
• After that, we introduced the main topic of our talk, synthetic biology. Through introducing some excellent iGEM projects, we made the students feel the fascination of synthetic biology, which has such a strong connection with people's daily life.
• Subsequently, they asked and we answered. We loved answering their questions, including the methods of learning biology, the use of synthetic biology for unrestrained imagination of biosynthetic, and so on.
• At the end of the Q&A, we also introduced the official website of iGEM to the students, encouraging them to make the most of their spare time to study it, which cultivated their interest in synthetic biology.

This presentation was actually two-way educational process to us. It not only stimulated students' interest in synthetic biology, but also broadened our own mind on how to present the beauty of synthetic biology effectively.

High School

Northeast Normal University Affiliated High School is the leading high school in Jilin province with excellent teaching resources and very talent students. To fulfill our commitment to high school students, we gave a presentation on synthetic biology at Northeast Normal University Affiliated High School under the guidance of our PI, professor Youzhong Wan.

• We first used the metaphor of "Xiuxian" in Chinese mythology to introduce the basic principles of synthetic biology, which described the process of transforming target organisms to artificial biological systems. In specific directions, we talked about the wide application of synthetic biology in cancer treatment and diagnosis.
• Secondly, We emphasized that high school students with enthusiasm on synthetic biology can also participate in iGEM competition, which greatly inspired students to learn biology. Many of them said they would like to accumulate more biological knowledge to participate in iGEM.
• Ultimately, the students asked many questions that they had in learning biology, and we answered their questions based on our own experience. Professor Wan also reminded students to cherish their high school years and be prepared to see a big world outside campus.

We were deeply impressed by the students' enthusiasm and efforts in learning biology. We were glad that our experience and knowledge can help them see the potential and beauty of synthetic biology. Our team would also help them set up their own team or recruit some potential high school students in the future, and we look forward to the collaboration with them!

University

To recruit undergraduate students into our iGEM team, we conducted a comprehensive seminar about iGEM competition and synthetic biology at Jilin University at the early stage of our project. Hundreds of students from the School of Medicine, School of Life Sciences, School of Mathematics, School of Physics and School of Chemistry attended the lecture.

• During the lecture, Professor Xin Hu, PI of our team, introduced the 20-year history of the iGEM competition and elaborated the diverse applications and profound significance of synthetic biology.
• Then, she explained the different roles of team members in the competition, and provided insights into various aspects of iGEM tasks, such as wet lab, dry lab, human practices and so on. This guidance aimed to help students find the right places in iGEM team that fit their interest and personalities well. She also introduced some iGEM projects that won gold medals.
• Finally, she answered many questions from students that wanted to join our iGEM team. We recruited many talent students who were enthusiastic about synthetic biology as our team members and let lots of students know iGEM after this seminar.

Diversified student backgrounds, cross-cutting scientific research, and innovative questions posing presented different highlights in this comprehensive seminar. Professor Hu's lecture was engaging, which publicized iGEM and synthetic biology to more students.

Volunteer Teaching at Rural Area

We hold a firm belief that education should be equal and accessible to all. We noticed that, in previous iGEM projects, students in undeveloped regions were not the primary focus of attention. However, these students are indeed the group that we should pay more attention to. They have great potential for growth and learning but lack enough educational resources. Therefore, this summer, we volunteered teaching at Dongjian'an Primary School in Dongjian'an Village, Shanxi Province, where there were a total of 60 students.

• First of all, we introduced synthetic biology from the structure and function of human intestinal tract, which is rich in microbial species. Synthetic biology provides a tool for the modification of intestinal microbes so that beneficial bacteria can be engineered to produce vitamins and other nutrients that cannot be synthesized by the human body.
• In addition, "smart microbes" that sense changes in the intestinal environment can be designed to detect and diagnose health of the human body.
• In the end, kids there were intrigued by the power of synthetic biology, and they said: ‘Synthetic biology is around us. "Synthetic biology is related to our health!"

We can sense their talent to learn knowledge, and we can feel the eagerness in their eyes to see outside world. We believe that our educational activities have expanded their horizons, introducing them to some previously unfamiliar area. At the same time, we were proud of ourselves to have some positive impacts to these lovely kids.