Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, is one of the most important vitamins. Vitamin B2 deficiency can lead to inflammation and organic disorders of the mouth, lips, skin, and genitalia. Despite the importance of vitamin B2 for maintaining optimal health, there appears to be a lack of awareness regarding vitamin B2 deficiency among the general population. To deal with the prevalence of vitamin B2 deficiency, we decided to genetically modify the baker’s yeast to make vitamin-B2-rich bread and steamed buns.
To increase public awareness of vitamin B2 deficiency and to promote our project, this year, our team organized and participated in several events, focusing on the topics “vitamin B2 deficiency” and “synthetic biology”.
List of events we organized and participated in:
1. Education at the Hangzhou Science and Technology Exhibition
2. Online United Public Education and Promotion Event
3. Offline Public Education and Promotion Event
4. Education and Promotion Events in High Schools
5. Making and Distributing Comic Brochures
6. Education and Promotion on Social Media
Topics: synthetic biology and vitamin B2 deficiency
As for the Hangzhou Science and Technology Exhibition on May 20, 2023, we brought models of DNA, crayons, and microscopes that could help us display and popularize synthetic biology and our team’s project. Since the microscope may seem hard to operate to see the cell structures, we prepared samples and put them into the slides. Even though drawing cells on paper seems to be an activity to attract children only, we noticed that many adults were captivated by the mechanisms inside the cell. Additionally, we displayed slides related to our projects, which consisted of the causes and effects of vitamin B2 deficiency. We also gave out our pamphlets and collected people’s feelings and understandings toward vitamin B2 deficiency. An old lady, being attracted to our booths, confessed that she never considered those health risks. Another man was shocked by the seriousness of vitamin B2 deficiency. As a result, most of the people we met held positive attitudes towards synthetic biology that could generate vitamin B supplements in a more accessible way.
During this activity, we encountered limitations to our projects too. Some people refuse to accept our pamphlets and answer our inquiries. As expected, some people were skeptical toward our projects (as habitual thinking of rejecting advertisements) and synthetic biology. Yet, we actively adopt the opinions of all voices. In this case, our investigation would benefit our project. Public opinion could help us adjust our group promotion as it indicates people’s concerns and ideas.
Topics: synthetic biology and vitamin B2 deficiency
We cooperated with other seven iGEM teams (Hangzhou-SDG, Shanghai-SDG, Guangzhou-MedX, Shanghai-MedX, Nanjing-BioX, Shanghai-BioX, and Nanjing-SDG) and held the online public promotion event on July 15, 2023. The main activities of this event were to give a lecture to the public on synthetic biology and to promote each team’s project.
When preparing our presentation, each team member was assigned a task, including slides, script, and speech. In this way, each member's sense of participation was ensured, and the overall efficiency was improved. Everyone's assignment was completed in time, which gave us plenty of time to revise the slides and script, and the presenter was able to read the script thoroughly. On July 15, hours before the official event, we had a rehearsal with other teams. After the rehearsal, our team leader and the leaders of the other teams discussed the problems that appeared in the rehearsal. Finally, with everyone's efforts, the activity was carried out smoothly.
This event was for the public of all ages who were interested in food, health, and synthetic biology. Through this event, we let more people understand the importance of vitamin B2 and our team's project. There were 1863 viewers, and many of them showed interest in our project. Some of them followed us on social media and donated to us.
Topics: vitamin B2 deficiency and engineered yeast
On August 12, three of the team members organized an offline public promotion event in Hangzhou. We planned to give out 100 leaflets to promote our project and social media accounts. The location we chose was a large shopping mall next to West Lake. However, the security personnel inside the mall did not allow us to send the leaflets within the mall area, so we had to move to the pedestrian zone next to West Lake.
We divided into two teams to distribute the leaflets to different people. Yang Song's team distributed the leaflets to the staff of the shops next to West Lake, and Yifan Pan and Tianquan Qiu's team distributed leaflets to the people in the pedestrian zone. Some shop staff took the leaflets enthusiastically, but others were suspicious, so most of them refused our leaflets or simply left. Fortunately, many people were interested in our project, so they followed us on social media right away. After two hours of busy work, the leaflets were finally distributed. We found that most people who were interested in our project were young people in their 20s or 30s. Overall, this offline public promotion event was very successful.
Topics: vitamin B2 deficiency and engineered yeast
After public promotions, we turned to the people around us. We believed that, compared to the general public, people around us would be more patient and willing to accept our opinions.
From August to September, we organized small promotion events in our high schools. The events took place in six provinces, eight cities, and seventeen schools (Hangzhou NewChannel Jingqiu, Hangzhou Foreign Languages School, Hangzhou Dipont School of Arts & Science, Hangzhou Entel Foreign Language School, Zhenhai High School of Ningbo, Ningbo Xiaoshi High School, The High School Affiliated to the University of Nottingham Ningbo, Georgia School Ningbo, Shanghai Baoshan World Foreign Language School, WLSA Shanghai Academy, Shanghai Xiwai International School, Wuxi Big Bridge Academy, Suzhou North America High School, Western Academy of Beijing, Beijing Futurecity Academy, Hefei Xinhua Academy, Shenzhen Senior High School Group). We distributed leaflets and introduced our project to classmates and school teachers. Most of the listeners were shocked by the prevalence of vitamin B2 deficiency in China and had a positive attitude towards our project. We also posted our leaflets on the bulletin boards in schools.
Topic: biological experiments
Through previous events, we found that most of the public had misunderstandings about genetically modified organisms and synthetic biology. Many of them fantasized that molecular biology was magic and that we were mad scientists in Hollywood movies. To dispel the misunderstandings and gain more public attention, we chose to promote our project in a relaxing way: comics. We made comic brochures about the biological experiments. We included anecdotes in the labs, as well as introductions to some basic experiments. Our goal was to make the public know that synthetic biology was interesting and could change everyone’s life.
During the making process, we carefully outlined deadlines for each stage. We leveraged collaborative tools and platforms to streamline communication and document sharing. Quality control measures were put in place to ensure that the content was accurate, concise, and suitable for a general audience. We conducted internal reviews and sought feedback from team members especially the captain of the teams to refine the content. Once the preparation phase was completed, we moved on to the production and publicizing stage. To maximize the reach of the brochure, we handed out copies in local schools and collaborated with the biology clubs in schools. This allowed us to engage directly with the target audience and address any questions or concerns they might have.
Topics: vitamin B2 deficiency, synthetic biology, and experimental progress
Xiaohongshu and WeChat Public are the most popular social media in China, so we decided to create accounts on the platforms to get more attention for our project. The accounts were registered in early August. After our accounts were registered, our team members and their family and friends actively shared them on social media to promote our accounts.
We uploaded photos, videos, and experiment records to the accounts. We hoped to convey how interesting and powerful synthetic biology can be to the public. Besides, the accounts could also serve as our archives. Our other goal is to raise public awareness of the health issues caused by vitamin B2 deficiency. So, we posted articles about how to prevent vitamin B2 deficiency. These articles were reposted by users on the platform and gained attention. We also got replies from the readers, and we were very happy to have the opportunity to communicate with them. We believed that our social media accounts had contributed to a broader understanding of vitamin B2 deficiency and synthetic biology.
