Education

# Overview

Our journey into the world of synthetic biology has led us to recognize its remarkable potential in space exploration. With a fervent commitment to expand public awareness of synthetic biology, we have embarked on a mission to immerse our audience in this captivating realm through tailored, engaging, and informative educational initiatives. Our ultimate aspiration is to demystify synthetic biology and kindle a genuine passion for this field in the hearts of all individuals.

# The Public Survey

To tailor our educational initiatives to our audience, we conducted a comprehensive survey involving over 400 participants representing diverse demographics. Based on the results of this public survey, we customized our educational activities to cater to specific age groups. For a more in-depth examination of data, please refer to this file about the survey results (opens new window).

Preferred Educational Activity Forms by Ages: The graphic displays preferred forms of educational activities among individuals of various age groups, with each bubble's size reflecting its preference ratio.

# Igniting the "FIRE" - Our Educational Initiatives

Building upon our survey findings, we have formulated 4 key educational initiatives:

Feed Curious Minds: We have created a series of picture books for children, fostered meaningful two-way dialogue with students at FDIS (opens new window), and actively engaged in volunteer teaching in rural areas.
Interactive Biological Exploration: Collaborating with the Shanghai Natural History Museum (opens new window) and the Shanghai Astronomy Museum (opens new window), we have organized hands-on activities such as Lab Experience Day and Parent-child Science Curriculum.
Reach the Public: Leveraging a metaverse game and conducting street interviews, we've brought synthetic biology to the general public.
Empower the iGEM Community: In commemoration of iGEM's 20th anniversary, we have embarked on several endeavors to expand the community of synthetic biology enthusiasts within Fudan University, educational enterprises, the Yangtze River Delta region, and China.

Collectively, these initiatives represent "FIRE". We aspire to see "FIRE" embraced by a growing community, igniting a wildfire of enthusiasm for synthetic biology, much like the fire of Heaven from Prometheus (opens new window) igniting the spirit of humanity.

# Feed Curious Minds

# Painting Our Genes: A Picture Book Series for Kids

📅 Date: Jul. - Oct., 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhe Dong, Chenye Li, Yijun Wang, Qingying Yang, Mingfang Zheng
👥Audience: Children aged 4-7

We were committed to creating an efficient educational model that enabled children to receive and understand information quickly, introducing them to the fascinating world of synthetic biology. To achieve this, we initiated a collaboration among four iGEM teams (Fudan, ShanghaiTech (opens new window), Tongji (opens new window), and NUDT (opens new window)) to create a picture book series centered on genes and gene editing. We carefully balanced professionalism with accessibility and incorporated interactive elements for an immersive reading experience and active participation. Continuous feedback from a children's book editor and a select group of children helped us refine the series. These books have been distributed freely both offline and online nationwide. Please refer to this file for Chinese versions (opens new window).

**Preliminary Research: ** Considering children's reading habits, our focus was on creating engaging picture books with concise content. We also received advice from an editor at "Same As Child (opens new window)", a renowned children's picture book publishing house, selecting essential concepts in synthetic biology, using simplified language and valid examples, and incorporating visualizations.

In the books "What Are Genes" and "Gene Editing", a magician takes two children on a journey through time and space. They learn about genes from Mendel and explore gene editing and the applications of synthetic biology in modern times. We also addressed ethical dimensions, reminding children about the importance of respecting life and raising awareness of the ethical aspects of gene editing.

Insights from Professional Editors and Child Feedback

We consulted the editor, organized picture book reading activities, and distributed our books offline and online nationwide.

Upon completing initial drafts, we asked professional editors for advice. On September 26th, we reached out to the editor from "Same As Child (opens new window)" for a second round of feedback. Based on the editor's suggestions, we optimized the font size, layout, and text. In addition, we also printed out a small number of the first edition to share with children, including team members' siblings and primary school students in Shanghai and rural areas.

Furthermore, we invited children to participate in our reading activities, guiding them through the picture books, encouraging them to contemplate the questions and complete interactive tasks like drawing in the books. This approach allowed us to not only promote synthetic biology by distributing our books but also receive valuable feedbacks directly from children, which helped us continually improve our books.

# Continuous Dialogue and Long-term Friendship with FDIS

FDIS (opens new window) (Fudan International School) is a high school affiliated to Fudan University. Given the growing interest in synthetic biology among FDIS students, we've initiated an ongoing and impactful dialogue to cultivate their enthusiasm and encourage their participation in iGEM 2024 (opens new window).

Online Lecture: What Is iGEM and How to Build a Team?

📅 Date: Sep. 13th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhe Dong, Yijun Wang, Qingying Yang, Siliang Zhan
👥Audience: High school students

We conducted a concise lecture titled “Unlocking the Mysteries of Synthetic Biology: Exploring iGEM” (the presentation file (opens new window)), which covered the basics of synthetic biology, introduced iGEM, showcased excellent iGEM projects in the high school track, and shared our own competition experiences. Following the lecture, questionnaires revealed a strong interest in iGEM among the audience, prompting us to organize a follow-up open house activity to further satisfy their curiosity.

Open House: Learn More about Synthetic Biology and iGEM

📅 Date: Sep. 24th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhe Dong, Xiaohan Jiang, Chenye Li, Qingying Yang
👥Audience: High school students

We invited other teams to share their iGEM projects and held a series of activities including crafting origami DNA structures.

During this comprehensive open house event (schedule (opens new window)), we initiated the collaboration with iGEM teams: ShanghaiTech iGEM 2023 (opens new window), XJTLU iGEM 2023 (opens new window), and our 2022 (opens new window) team members.

Visit to the Tan Jiazhen Museum: Honoring Mr. Tan, a renowned biologist who pioneered life sciences education in China.
Lunch meeting: Fostering dialogue between iGEMers and high school students to brainstorm developments in synthetic biology.
Interactive Workshop: Conducted by Fudan iGEM 2023 with other iGEM teams' assistance, including project introduction, gene circuit overviews, sharing of literature retrieval methods (the presentation file (opens new window)), and a DIY activity of crafting origami DNA structures.

The open house enhanced high school students' appreciation of synthetic biology and encouraged their future participation in iGEM, fostering cross-team cooperation and learning.

# Volunteer Teaching in Rural Areas

We are dedicated to advancing public education across China, with a special focus on underprivileged children. We have developed tailored courses and activities to cultivate their scientific curiosity and interest in synthetic biology.

“Tianwen Program": Astronomy and Biological Science Summer Camp

📅 Date: Jul. 19th - Jul. 25th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhiyue Chen, Chenye Li
👥Audience: Middle school students

The students learned about synthetic biology in painting and stargazing.

Nestled in an area blessed with a pristine starry sky, the Shizuishan School provided an ideal backdrop for our “Tianwen Program”, a week-long summer camp blending astronomy and biology. Collaborating with the Fudan University Astronomy Association (opens new window), we organized immersive experiences including stargazing and an introduction to synthetic biology and its potential in space exploration. We firmly believe that the interdisciplinary fusion can open new avenues to engage a wider audience in the wonders of synthetic biology.

Companion Home: Online Biology Education

📅 Date: Jul. 20th, 2023
🗣️Organizer: Qingying Yang
👥Audience: Left-behind children

We sent the children iGEM souvenirs as a token of appreciation for their enthusiastic response.

In collaboration with Fudan University's Colorful Cloud Association (opens new window), we offered online science education in synthetic biology and space sciences to left-behind children in Suining, Sichuan Province. The enthusiastic response from these children encouraged us to send them iGEM souvenirs as a token of appreciation.

Poetry Festival: Composing Poems for Life and Synthetic Biology

📅 Date: Jul. 24th - Aug. 4th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Xiaohan Jiang, Yijun Wang
👥Audience: Elementary school students

Imaginative children and the collage poems they created to grasp synthetic biology's fundamental logic.

Inspired by the rich folk poems and songs of Yongping County, Yunnan Province, we discovered intriguing parallels between collage poem and modular design in synthetic biology, both involving artful combination of elements—imagery in poetry and genetic components in synthetic biology—to achieve desired outcomes. Therefore, with the support of Fudan University's Department of Materials Science (opens new window), we hosted a poetry festival, encouraging students to create collage poems to grasp synthetic biology's fundamental logic. The students' imaginative and poetic interpretations of life left a profound impression on us.

Science Course: Integrating Ethnic Minority Culture

📅 Date: Aug. 12nd, 2023
🗣️Organizer: Qingying Yang
👥Audience: Ethnic minority students

Collaborating with Fudan University's Expedition Community (opens new window), we connected with Li students, who belong to a minority nationality in China, in Hainan Province. Recognizing the cultural differences between the Li and the Han people, we integrated elements of Li culture into our course content. Additionally, we provided iGEM souvenirs as gifts. Many students shared post-class reflections about their understanding of synthetic biology and their expectations for its future applications.

Biology Seminar: Learning Genes and Brainstorming Ideas

📅 Date: Aug. 16th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhiyue Chen, Chenye Li
👥Audience: Elementary school students

An interesting seminar and some drawings created by the children about their understanding of genes and synthetic biology.

We organized a biology seminar for fourth-grade students in Cangnan County, Zhejiang Province. By drawing connections between their understanding of individual traits and the link between genes and traits, we stimulated their curiosity and creativity. Students were encouraged to brainstorm and design their own "synthetic biology projects". Their innovative ideas served as a source of inspiration, reinforcing our belief that education is a mutual learning process.

# Interactive Biological Exploration

We endeavored to collaborate with famous museums to expand the influence of our educational activities. We hoped that our audience could learn about synthetic biology through diverse and engaging experiences of interactive exploration.

# Intern Researcher: Lab Experience Day

📅 Date: Aug. 14th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhe Dong, Zhikai Jiang, Yijun Wang, Siliang Zhan
👥Audience: High school students

"Intern Researcher" is program featured cooperation between the Shanghai Natural History Museum (opens new window) and universities, which provides high school students with the opportunity to gain insights into real research and engage in short-term independent projects under the mentorship of experienced seniors. This year, we hosted the Lab Experience Day (arrangement details (opens new window)) for Intern Researcher 2023 in partnership with Shanghai Natural History Museum (opens new window).

Workshop: Navigating Scientific Challenges

We organized an engaging workshop, showed the students around our lab, and instructed them to do the experiments by themselves.

Our day began with an engaging workshop titled "Navigating Scientific Challenges"(the presentation file (opens new window)), where we introduced the scientific research process, emphasizing problem-solving and research literature exploration. We also initiated a lively discussion on synthetic biology and our iGEM project.

Experiment: Discovering Your DNA Fingerprint

We provided ongoing guidance and answered students' questions throughout the experiment.

We had taken adequate laboratory safety measures before the experiment (available here).

Then the students embarked on an experiment to analyze their DNA fingerprints using the VNTR sequence DIS80 on the 1st human chromosome (Principle & Protocol (opens new window)). This hands-on experience exposed them to fundamental synthetic biology techniques such as PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis. Remarkably, most students achieved outstanding results, making this educational journey both enlightening and memorable.

Continuous Feedback and Continued Dialogue

Following the activity, we distributed a feedback questionnaire to participants, yielding valuable insights. Two participants, in particular, provided unique perspectives and even identified errors in our presentation slides. In response, we offered comprehensive explanations (opens new window) of DNA analysis techniques and extended invitations for a follow-up visit. This continued dialogue has further ignited their passion for biology.

Result of DNA fingerprint analysis from the high school students.

# Star Exploration Camp: Parent-child Science Curriculum

📅 Date: Sep. 10th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhe Dong, Yijun Wang, Qingying Yang
👥Audience: Children aged 6-9 and their parents

We established a robust partnership with the Shanghai Astronomy Museum (opens new window), recognized as the world's largest astronomy museum and drawing approximately 6,000 daily visitors in China. Leveraging this collaboration, we orchestrated the Star Exploration Camp, a dynamic initiative aimed at imparting fundamental knowledge in biology and Mars exploration to children and their parents.

We inspired the children to share their ideas and creations to others on the platform and encouraged parent-child interaction.

Lecture: The Light of Life on Mars

Our captivating lecture, titled "The Light of Life on Mars", merged biology and astronomy (the presentation file (opens new window)). It facilitated thought-provoking comparisons between the Earth's environment and that of Mars, including the life forms that could potentially thrive there. Furthermore, we introduced our project's synthetic biology approach to transform the Martian environment, highlighting its significant potential in space exploration. For most child participants, terms such as "DNA," "bacteria," and "synthetic biology" were entirely new, marking this as a pivotal educational beginning.

DIY Workshop: Create Clay Models of Martian life

A group photo of the Fudan iGEM team member and some of the child participants.

Following the lecture, we organized a DIY workshop where children and parents collaborated to create imaginative clay models of Martian life. Their boundless creativity resulted in outstanding and remarkable creations.

Interviews and Ongoing Discourse

In the lead-up to this event, the Shanghai Astronomy Museum (opens new window)'s exhibition and education department provided invaluable insights regarding essential teaching components, logical coherence, and interactive elements. Consequently, we meticulously designed interactive discussion sessions and conducted audience interviews during the DIY workshop. The enthusiastic endorsement and support from parents, coupled with the notable interest displayed by children in synthetic biology, reaffirmed the success and impact of our activities.

# Reach the Public

# Metaverse Game: Exploration and Discovery through Synthetic Biology

📅 Date: Jul. - Oct., 2023
🗣️Organizers: All team members
👥Audience: General public

Aiming at developing an educational tool which is both entertaining and scientific, so as to achieve efficient publicity results among the population, we collaborated with the Promise<Pending> group in Fudan University (team leader: Shitao Gong (opens new window), an iGEMer in 2021; team member: Gengyu Wang, Jiayi Wang, Shangxuan Tang), to create an immersive metaverse game (experience the game here (opens new window)), which is set in a distant future where humanity dispatches robots to explore a second home. In this intriguing virtual world, players navigate robots to uncover scattered genetic "parts", assemble gene circuits, and fulfill exploration missions.

Review and Engagement:

The testing of this game were undertaken by all team members, and our collective efforts helped identify and address several bugs and issues, contributing to the game's refinement.

Our promotional endeavors yielded noteworthy insights:

College students found the game creative and captivating, igniting their interest in synthetic biology.
Children easily comprehended the game's mechanics and delighted in their gaming experiences.
The general public demonstrated a strong willingness to embrace the game and commended our knowledge-sharing approach through gaming.

This metaverse game has proven to be a compelling and engaging tool to bridge the gap and foster interest in synthetic biology among diverse audiences.

# Street Interview: Encountering Diverse Perspectives

📅 Date: Sep. 17th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhe Dong, Xiaohan Jiang, Chenye Li, Qingying Yang
👥Audience: General public

To foster public engagement and promote synthetic biology, we conducted a series of enlightening street interviews. Our interactions spanned a wide spectrum of individuals, including bio-pharmaceutical professionals, international visitors from Australia, and university students. During these conversations, we introduced synthetic biology and expounded upon our project, while also gathering valuable feedback and diverse viewpoints.

We introduced synthetic biology to university students, bio-pharmaceutical professionals, and international tourists.

Highlights from Street Interviews:

Synthetic Biology: A New Technical Frontier

A dialogue with a bio-pharmaceutical expert delved into the potential and technical challenges of synthetic biology, with consensus that synthetic biology represents an emerging and promising technical frontier.

Conditional Support and Ethical Considerations

International friends from Australia expressed conditional support, emphasizing the importance of ethical considerations in the use of synthetic biology.

Connecting Genetic Circuits to Building Foundations

Students majoring in civil engineering at Donghua University encountered synthetic biology for the first time and likened it to constructing foundations, drawing parallels between gene components and bricks. Engaging conversations also unfolded with students majoring history and journalism.

# Empower iGEM Community

# The Bertalanffy Club: Cultivating Synthetic Biology Enthusiasts at Fudan

📅 Date: Mar 28th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhikai Jiang, Yijun Wang
👥Audience: College students

Established in 2011 and managed by Fudan iGEM, the Bertalanffy Club serves as a dynamic platform dedicated to igniting the passion for synthetic biology among Fudan University students. Each year, we enthusiastically organize engaging activities during campus fairs to not only recruit new members but also raise awareness and foster understanding of synthetic biology.

Many students at Fudan were attracted to our captivating activities on the theme of synthetic biology.

During Campus Fair 2023 (opens new window), a prominent university event where various clubs strive to attract new members, our club orchestrated several captivating synthetic biology-themed activities:

Distribution of informative flyers.
Encouragement for students to engage in hands-on activities, including crafting DIY balloons adorned with synthetic biology elements, constructing origami DNA models, and solving genetic circuit puzzles.
Hosting an engaging quiz (opens new window) complete with enticing rewards.

Ongoing Engagement

Our club garnered substantial attention, particularly from students majoring in biology and related disciplines such as chemistry and medicine. Following Campus Fair 2023, we observed a noteworthy increase in our WeChat followers, reflecting a growing interest and engagement with synthetic biology.

# Peer Dialogue: Developing Potential iGEMers

In our efforts to promote synthetic biology among students in middle school and high school, we've been dedicated to bridging the gap among middle school, high school, and university biological education.

Summer Camp: Conversations on Synthetic Biology with Middle School Students

📅 Date: Jul 14th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhe Dong, Yijun Wang, Qingying Yang, Zhenmao Ye
👥Audience: Middle school students

We introduced synthetic biology and iGEM to middle school students and interacted with them.

We hosted a one-day summer camp tailored for middle school students, introducing them to the captivating realm of synthetic biology. Beginning with the central dogma of genetics, we employed relatable analogies, likening cells to factories, organelles to workshops, and enzymes to workers, to elucidate the core principles of synthetic biology (the presentation file (opens new window)).

Buffet: Deep Communication with High School Students

📅 Date: Jul 22th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: All team members
👥Audience: High school students

We focused on stimulating students' interest and love of synthetic biology in the communication with them.

We actively participated in the "Decoding Life" (opens new window): excellent high school student summer camp organized by the School of Life Sciences at Fudan University (opens new window). During this event, we engaged in insightful discussions with high school students hailing from the Yangtze River Delta region. Topics ranged from scientific research and university education models to our own experiences in iGEM.

Interacting with these students highlighted a significant gap in Chinese education system. Chinese high school students are under intense academic pressure, with little time for career planning. Therefore, we hope to establish an efficient resource platform in the future, to help students learn about biology majors including synthetic biology.

# Collaboration with Enterprise: Preparing for THIS DL Team Building

📅 Date: Sep 13rd, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhiyue Chen, Chenye Li
👥Audience: High school students

We received, answered, and discussed various questions from students and parents during the Q&A session.

Facilitating the establishment of high school iGEM teams is one of the most significant contents of our educational work to promote synthetic biology among high school students.

THIS DL (opens new window) (Tsinghua International School, Daoxiang Lake) is a renowned international high school in Beijing, where an increasing number of students have shown interest in synthetic biology in recent years. Consequently, collaborating with LabXcel (opens new window), an educational company dedicated to inspiring and nurturing scientific thinking in young minds, we conducted a lecture at THIS DL titled Exploring Microbial Design, Integrating Multidisciplinary Talents to further cultivate their enthusiasm and encourage their participation in iGEM 2024 (opens new window).

During the lecture, we emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of iGEM, encouraging students from diverse backgrounds, including biology, programming, business, and graphic design, to participate. We also shared success stories of high school iGEM teams to illustrate the multifaceted skills assessment involved (see more details here (opens new window)).

The lecture session was followed by an engaging Q&A session, during which we discussed various topics and project ideas with the students. Notably, one student presented a project concept titled "Soil Cadmium Ion Content Determination Technology via Plant Gene Editing," and we provided valuable suggestions on its modeling and execution. We also answered numerous questions from students interested in graphic design, human practices, and other areas of synthetic biology.

# CCiC: Strengthening the Bonds of iGEM Teams in China

📅 Date: Jul. 8th - Jul. 10th, 2023
🗣️Organizers: Zhiyue Chen, Chenye Li, Yijun Wang, Qingying Yang
👥Audience: iGEM teams in China

At CCiC, we showcased our project and led the establishment of the iGEM Alliance of the Yangtze River Delta.

The Conference of China iGEMer Community (CCiC), an annual gathering initiated by Chinese iGEM teams. We were intended to achieve resource sharing and collaborative learning through this pivotal platform.

Presentation: During CCiC, we showcased our project, which focused on ecological biofilm design for terraforming (follow this link for detailed description).
Collaboration: Interacting with fellow iGEM teams from all over the country, we engaged in collaborative discussions and knowledge exchange, fostering mutual growth and learning.

# Sustaining Collaboration

Participating in CCiC allowed us to witness the remarkable growth of synthetic biology in China. Committed to fortifying inter-regional bonds, we took the initiative to establish the iGEM Alliance of the Yangtze River Delta. This alliance, comprising esteemed institutions such as ShanghaiTech (opens new window), TJU (opens new window), ZJU (opens new window), NJU (opens new window), and SJTU (opens new window), represents a unified regional community dedicated to advancing synthetic biology. Additionally, we have sought support from the Shanghai Society of Genetics. To date, these schools in the alliance have collaboratively crafted a series of educational children's picture books. With our collective endeavors, we hold a confident vision that the alliance will etch a profound and enduring mark on the future landscape of synthetic biology in China and beyond.

# Summary

Our educational initiatives, collectively represented by "FIRE", encompass a diverse range of endeavors. From stimulating and satisfying the curiosity of children and teenagers in synthetic biology to providing interactive biological explorations in partnership with famous museums, from bringing synthetic biology to the public through games and street interviews and conversations to empowering the iGEM community within Fudan University, educational enterprises, the Yangtze River Delta region and even China, these efforts aim to kindle a blazing passion for synthetic biology. Just as the fire of Heaven from Prometheus (opens new window) igniting the spirit of humanity, we aspire to demystify synthetic biology and ignite a wildfire of enthusiasm for synthetic biology in the hearts of all individuals through our tailored, engaging, and informative educational initiatives.