In this year, we have accomplished a lot of human practices to make the public have a better understanding about arsenic pollution, synthetic biology and iGEM. We have been committed to reaching out to different groups, including but not limited to the farmers who suffer from arsenic pollution, researchers who focus on the field of arsenic monitor and control. By connecting with real people facing the arsenic risk, we decided to find a way to help them through synthetic biology. During this path, we kept communicating and collaborating with not only arsenic-related researchers who gave us a lot of useful advice, but also other excellent iGEMers, from whom we had a fresh understanding of synthetic biology ideas. Integrated human practice emphasizes what we gain from our human practices and how our project’s purpose, design or execution are impacted by those activities. During the whole year of practice, interaction with others benefited us a lot.
iGEM encourages us to solve local problems in local community and we are devoted to this goal. According to our on-site investigation in the Jianghan Plain, high arsenic groundwater is widely distributed, and often is used as agricultural water for rice field irrigation. It poses a threat to the safety of agricultural products such as grains, especially rice, and fish. From our communication with local farmers, we learned that the endemic arsenic poisoning caused by high arsenic environment poses a threat to the health of local people, such as skin keratinization, numbness of limbs，even cancer. We also know that using traditional detection methods , due to the dispersion of pollution sources and environmental factors, the difficulty coefficient of detecting arsenic in soil and water is relatively high. These facts lead us to the focus of the arsenic detection. By brainstorming and consulting with our supervisor, we aim to design a biosensor with high stability, high sensitivity, and not limited by environmental factors for detecting arsenic.
We interviewed Prof. YanHong Wang working in State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences. Her research efforts have been focused on the migration and transformation of underground arsenic. She mentioned that the current WHO standard for arsenic content in drinking water is 0.01 mg/L. She suggested that we can genetically modify our model bacteria so that our biosensors can detect lower concentrations of arsenic without being influenced . For instance, we can search for some arsenic-responsive gene circuit and combine it with other reporters. In her opinion, arsenic biosensor provided an effective method to monitor arsenic concentration, which could be of great significance in many fields such as food analysis, environmental monitoring, clinical medicine and so on.
We had a meeting with iGEM team from Tianjin University to share projects. During the meeting, we introduced our project framework and design scheme, then had a free talk. We discussed the problems about the projects of both sides and proposed some suggestions to help each other improve the idea of project as much as possible. As a senior team, they gave us a lot of useful suggestions about how to manage the whole iGEM competition, how to reasonably handle the project workflow, as well as how to coordinate the wet and dry lab and so on.
On July 5th, we participated in the 2023 Hubei Synthetic Biology Open Conference held at Hubei University, with many excellent iGEM teams, such as WHU CHINA, HZAU CHINA. Dr. Yi Xiao, a special guest from Shenzhen Advanced Technology Research Institute, talked about the development, application, and future of synthetic biology. He mentioned that synthetic biology is a cutting-edge interdisciplinary field in the development of life sciences and biotechnology in the 21st century. Through the integration of biology, mathematics, chemistry, computational science, engineering science, and other disciplines, remarkable achievements will be achieved in exploring the laws of life, applying biotechnology, empowering the new materials and energy industry, and supporting the 'dual carbon' strategy in many fields.
The collision of different ideas sparks new possibilities, and the power of science is enhanced. Dozens of iGEM teams from central China reported and discussed at the meeting. In the discussion section, we asked questions about whether team HZAU CHINA's implantation of engineered bacteria in cats' mouths would affect their normal life. We also suggested that they need to consider safety issues more. We have also received many suggestions from other teams, which were very helpful to us. For example, WHU CHINA reminded us to collaborate more with relevant testing institutions to expand the wide range of application of biosensors. This meeting broadened our horizons and greatly improved the safety and rationality of our experiment.
On July 9th, iGEMers in China attended the Conference of China iGEMer Community (CCiC). We had a chance to share our project and received many useful advice from the judges.
During the meeting, we introduced our project, shared our views on arsenic pollution issues, and provided insights on how to apply synthetic biology to address these issues. We gave the poster talk and had a meaningful conversation with the CCiC judges. The judges have provided us with some constructive suggestions on how to avoid excessive concentrations of arsenic affecting cell activity, and they look forward to achieving the determination of arsenic concentration on a finer scale. During the discussion, we were asked questions about human practices and received suggestions on how to carry out various activities. We are delighted to meet so many friends who are also committed to synthetic biology and have received useful advice from experienced iGEMers. CCiC provides a wonderful communication platform where iGEMers can share projects and obtain suggestions, and achieve troubleshooting through communication to achieve win-win cooperation.
The level of understanding of synthetic biology varies among different age groups, so we hope to adopt various forms of activities to increase public interest and understanding of arsenic pollution, synthetic biology, and iGEM. Let elderly people explore the field of biological knowledge. Our team went to nursing homes to educate middle-aged and elderly people about the dangers of arsenic, the symptoms of arsenic related diseases, and measures to prevent arsenic poisoning. They were very interested in our ideas for modifying bacteria, knocking out genes, and converting biological signals. And they believed that the development of synthetic biology will create more benefits for socially disadvantaged groups.
We have conducted a series of campus outreach activities targeting university students. College students from different majors have different perceptions and attitudes towards genetic modification. But most believe that humans need to constantly explore the secrets of genes and make reasonable use of gene editing technology to benefit humanity. During the campus science and technology festival, as a display team, we played many fun games related to synthetic biology, such as drawing DNA images, identifying bacterial structures, and received good feedback.
The health disaster caused by high arsenic groundwater is a global environmental geological problem, and the local arsenic poisoning caused by it directly endangers human health. By utilizing our biosensors, inspectors can more efficiently and conveniently detect water, soil, agricultural, and food samples. In addition, since we mainly convert the chemical signals of pollutants into biological electrical signals, this part of electrical energy can be applied in MFC, such as pollutant degradation and heavy metal treatment, which is to recover energy while detecting arsenic, achieving the goal of energy conservation and environmental protection, and expanding application fields.
