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During the exploration of the project, we found that due to irregular work and rest, unreasonable diet and other reasons, the friends around us have more or less skin problems. Acne is a very common skin disease. Acne not only causes itching and pain, but also indirectly affects the psychology of teenagers.
After reviewing the data, we found that acne affects about 10% of the world's population, making it the eighth most popular disease in the world. So we hope that through the acne treatment program, we can help our friends and more teenagers improve their skin and enhance their self-confidence.
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We published a questionnaire about acne on the Internet, and most of the volunteers who participated in the survey were young people aged 18-27. We found that there are a lot of young people who have suffered from acne, but a considerable number of young people do not understand acne, and (proportionally fill in) % of the volunteers take the method of non-intervention or self-crushing recovery. In order to gain a deeper understanding of patients' thoughts, we have taken the form of in-depth interviews to carry out comprehensive human practice activities.
Li Yanyi is a classmate in the team. His facial skin had large acne during puberty. The skin problems not only caused him pain but also affected the aesthetics of his appearance. He recounted: "Because of the skin problems, I was very inferior in junior high school. Although all my friends and parents and teachers persuaded him that appearance was not important, in daily life I inevitably thought about how acne on my face would impress others. In high school, my acne was more serious, not only affecting my appearance, but sometimes itching. My forehead and face were full of red acne and acne marks, and I had almost no flat skin. At the worst of the period, I didn't even want to go to school. I tried applying ointments and correcting my life rules, but with little success. Fortunately, my skin problems improved in college, and I also had some self-confidence to participate in various student activities."
During our interview with this classmate, we discovered that acne, as a disease that affects appearance, almost inevitably affects its psychology. This classmate did not go to the hospital for mental illness, but similar experiences are likely to lead to depression. This also deepened our determination to delve into this project, and strive for our application to treat stubborn acne.
The patient does not know all kinds of knowledge about acne. During the exchange, he hopes that we can pass on the correct lifestyle to everyone, especially teenagers, in the form of popular science lectures.
The patient does not know all kinds of knowledge about acne. During the exchange, he hopes that we can pass on the correct lifestyle to everyone, especially teenagers, in the form of popular science lectures.
Gao Xinyi is a 20-year-old who is willing to accept in-depth interviews in the questionnaire. She occasionally suffers from acne, about once every few months, but it usually heals itself. The patient does not know all kinds of knowledge about acne. During the exchange, she hopes that we can pass on the correct lifestyle to everyone, especially teenagers, in the form of popular science lectures. In the exchange, she told us about her thoughts when suffering from acne: "If I am too busy for a period of time, I lack sleep, and my diet is irregular. And because of the high pressure, it is easier to eat some high-oil and high-sugar irritating foods, and it is easy to get acne. But this did not cause me too much trouble, because the frequency of my acne is very low, so I can often use makeup to cover my acne. When my life is regular again and I eat on time, I can basically heal myself."
In the interview with this patient and similar patients who are easy to heal themselves, we also got some experience that is more in line with common sense. That is, irregular life and irritating food are more likely to cause acne. Later, we also held a popular science lecture , and used the experience of similar patients as an example to advise our classmates, hoping that they can adopt a regular life to avoid acne as much as possible.
Ge Wenhua is a 28-year-old acne patient contacted locally by our contact team. She has also suffered from acne, but the degree is relatively mild. She has not taken treatment measures for acne due to the small impact on her life. In the follow-up interview, we found that the patient has obvious concerns about the side effects of drugs due to personal experience. In the treatment of other daily diseases, she also avoids the use of antibiotics or other irritating drugs as much as possible.
As a team that strives to be inclusive, we should see the needs of various groups of people for treatment. In order to dispel the concerns of similar patients, we try our best to achieve gentle treatment methods while ensuring the effect, such as using non-allergic hydrogels as a carrier for treatment, and try our best to make the treatment process unaffected.
Fan Fan is a 19-year-old teenager whose condition is similar to Patient 2, and his acne tends to resolve on its own. But according to his self-report: "I usually heal myself after acne on my face. If it doesn't heal for too long, I will apply aloe vera gel (a Chinese herbal skin care product), but after a period of time, it will produce new acne. There are no special triggering conditions for acne. But it just can't be cured." After learning about our program, he hopes to have a natural treatment to cure acne.
Yang Qingyi, a college student, had few skin problems before. She developed acne after being away from home in college, and did not treat it well for about a year. During treatment, she took isotretinoin, a drug that affects the patient's mood. This makes her emotionally unstable and sometimes meaningless in life. Coupled with skin discomfort and worries about affecting her social mood, these often plague her. She hopes that acne treatment should not affect her mood, because acne disease itself is prone to irritability, and the impact of drugs is even more serious.
This also inspires us to study safer treatment methods. At the same time, we should communicate with patients during treatment, soothe their emotions in time, and explain the method and mechanism of treatment to them.
Lu Yide is also a college student. He suffered from acne in high school, and he also learned about acne in order to treat it. Among the patients interviewed, he is almost the most knowledgeable about the causes and treatments of acne. He believes that acne needs treatment, but professional treatment in the hospital or effective skin care products are too expensive, so he resorts to self-healing. Fortunately, his acne did not recur later in life.
After communicating with him, we communicated with the experimental group, hoping to keep the cost of this treatment as low as possible, so that patients who do not take treatment because of cost issues have a low-cost and effective way to treat acne.
Note: In order to protect patient privacy, patient names are pseudonyms. We have signed an informed consent form with the patient and guarantee that the survey data will only be used for this project research and will not use their personal information or survey information for other purposes.
After in-depth interviews, we clarified the patient's demands. Therefore, the project aims to solve the problems of acne that is difficult to cure, drugs have side effects, and professional treatment is expensive. We use NO sensors and negative charge shielding modules to build an antimicrobial peptide action system, which can kill microorganisms at the site where acne occurs without killing microorganisms in normal skin areas. Using synthetic biology methods, this will effectively kill pathogenic bacteria without affecting the flora of the skin itself, and the cost is low.
On May 27, 2023, we invited Professor Wan Xinyi to give a synthetic biology lecture titled "Be Yourself, Fight Acne with Me". After the lecture, we also had a discussion with her. Initially, we chose Propionibacterium acnes as the representative strain, but during our conversation with her, we changed it to Staphylococcus aureus. The inactivation of antimicrobial peptides caused by the shielding of negative charges can only be reactivated after the removal of the negative charge portion by V8 protease secreted by Staphylococcus aureus. This change made our project more feasible and specific.
After the interview, we wanted to truly help people suffering from acne through practical activities. To promote a healthy lifestyle, we connected with Guo Jianglin, an undergraduate student from Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. During our conversation with him, he shared some experiences on how to maintain a healthy state of being. First and foremost, it's important to get enough sleep and avoid staying up late as much as possible. If it's unavoidable due to work, try to make up for it elsewhere. For example, in terms of diet, one can consume more light and mild food while limiting the intake of spicy food based on their own body's tolerance.
Another aspect is engaging in moderate exercise. After sweating during exercise, the sweat can nourish our skin, which is much better than relying solely on skincare products for hydration and moisturization. However, as we approach summer, it's essential not to over-exercise. While sweating can still nourish the skin, excessive sweating can deplete our energy.
The most important aspect is adjusting our mindset. When experiencing skin issues, there's no need to excessively worry or expect to be cured within a week or a month. Skin care is a long-term process, so it's crucial to maintain a positive mindset.
In order to assist patients around us, on June 4, 2023, we collaborated with the Youth Volunteer Association of Zhonghe Academy at Hainan University to carry out the "Free Medical Consultation and Popular Science Tour" event, providing free medical consultations to students, faculty, and staff members of Hainan University.
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We organized the 10th China iGEMer Community (CCiC) Conference, where experts in synthetic biology and iGEM scholars shared their ideas and advice. It helped us deepen our understanding of iGEM and our project. All teams presented their projects, and we engaged in discussions with other teams to exchange experiences, including human practices and experimental design methods.
When the project was basically completed, we continued to contact the volunteers for project introduction and interviews, hoping to get their willingness to use and suggestions.
Song Zixuan, a biological science student at Hainan University, occasionally suffers from acne. After learning about the project, she was very interested and expressed her willingness to try it. She also suggested that we could try simpler ways to achieve treatment.
Zheng Ke is a local high school student who has suffered from acne for two years in high school, but when asked about his willingness to use it, he said that he may not be willing to accept such a new type of biological product, preferring to use a traditional treatment form. We hope to continue popular science in the future and promote the acceptance of synthetic biology in the hearts of the Chinese public