It has been reported that China had 18.7% of population aged over 65 years. There is an increasing trend of a growing population for elderly, meaning a higher possibility of elderly disease incidents (Ren R, Qi J, Lin S, et al., 2022). Besides, through our previous survey, we found out that the public’s understanding of AD and AD treatment is not that high. Thus, AAA’s mission is to get more people to know what AD is, current prevention method, and related synthetic biology knowledge.

2.1 WeChat Official Account

We created a WeChat Official Account to release tweets every two days. The main purpose of this account is to popularize AD-related knowledge for everyone based on what we learned in the previous questionnaires and to promote our AAA team and what we do every day.

We have collectively published 5 articles, with a total of over 400 views, and received likes from more than 50 individuals. The viewing number is growing everyday.

2.2Bilibili

We also created an account on Bilibili, a social platform where people can post videos. On that account, we are mainly focusing on the popularization of our project related synthetic biology knowledge. Currently, we have uploaded three videos.

2.2.1 Science for Alzheimer's disease

In our first video, we gave out a brief introduction about AD, since the results of the questionnaire stated that the public understanding of AD remains at a low level.

2.2.2 Drug research for Alzheimer's disease

In our second video, because the results of our second questionnaire showed that the understanding of available AD drugs or treatment is not clear among the public, we demonstrated related AD drug information to raise people’s awareness.

2.2.3 Definition and principle of clinical trials

Apart from some basic information, in order to ensure the popularity of new drugs after they are launched, we also need to address the concerns of the public in an easy-to-understand way, according to the questionnaire.

In total, more than 600 people have viewed our videos posted on Bilibili. We have received a total of 23 likes, and what surprised us is that our videos have also received 23 'coins' (a unique form of reward on Bilibili). Amazingly, eight users gave our video a 'One-Click Triple Combo'. 'One-Click Triple Combo' on Bilibili refers to viewers showing their support and appreciation for a video by clicking the three buttons below the video (coin, favorite, like) while watching it. These statistics signify a high level of recognition and appreciation from the community users for the content we produced. We hope more people will view our video and 'like' us.

2.3Cartoon book——the difference between OTC Drugs and Rx Drugs

Through our previous survey, we got to know that the public’s understanding of drugs is generally not high, so the goal of this education activity is to improve their basic understanding of drugs for people aged 9-11. Although the main research topic of our team is AD, we also find it necessary to address some related topics. In this regard, we have designed a cartoon book. Within the pages of this book, we conducted a comparative analysis of these two types of medications, taking into account aspects such as appearance, purchase methods, usage, properties and types.

3.1Senior house in Pudong area, Shanghai

We went to Lujiazui Street Comprehensive Old Service Center in Pudong, Shanghai. Because our team’s major stakeholder is the senior citizens, we chose a group of seniors to be our first education target. We gave those senior citizens who live there a small lecture first to let them know about our project and some longevity tips.

In addition, we also communicated with the senior citizens and learned some of their daily life. Some of them were talkative, some of them could not hear clearly, some of them were abnormal in behavior. Elderly people in here have different mental and physical states, and we seem to have entered another world, a world with a weaker response to the outside world. We imagine that we are old people, unable to feel others, unable to remember the past, and reaching out in this state can make us feel lonely and afraid. This also makes us more clearly understand the significance of our project, hoping that through our efforts, we can make some elderly people's life more comfortable.

In order to protect the privacy of the old who live in the senior house, we will not post any frontal pictures of them.

3.2Tianlin Street in Xujiahui, Shanghai

In addition, on 12th July 2023, we visited Tianlin Street in Xujiahui, Shanghai.

We conducted a simple science popularization about AD for children. In the class, we briefly introduced some basic information related to AD and AD patients, including brain structure of AD patients, AD’s common symptoms, and some proper ways to deal with AD patients.

Besides these didactic information, we also present the children with more vivid ways of explanation. A sitcom is played at the end of this activity, aiming to popularize appropriate ways to get along with AD patients. Additionally, in middle of the activity, we arranged various small games, such as finding the difference in the brain between normal people and AD patients while using light clay to imitate the outline of the brain. It was an entertaining way for the children to learn. During the interaction with those children, we found out that these children are born with a caring heart. They were stressing the importance to treat AD patients equally as if they are normal people, and give additional encourage to them. The responses were spontaneous before the popularizing information have given.

Through this science popularization activity, we felt everyone's enthusiasm, and while everyone gained knowledge, we also gained a sense of achievement and happiness. We believe that AD patients would be ameliorated in such friendly environment.

We have conducted a diverse range of education activities, utilizing both online and offline methods, reaching individuals of all age groups, including the elderly, middle-aged, and young. The feedback from our activities has been highly positive and effective. All the data substantiates our commitment to delivering valuable content continuously. We hope to help more people gain an understanding of Alzheimer's disease.

Ren R, Qi J, Lin S, Liu X, Yin P, Wang Z, Tang R, Wang J, Huang Q, Li J, Xie X, Hu Y, Cui S, Zhu Y, Yu X, Wang P, Zhu Y, Wang Y, Huang Y, Hu Y, Wang Y, Li C, Zhou M, Wang G. The China Alzheimer Report 2022. Gen Psychiatr. 2022 Mar 11;35(1):e100751. doi: 10.1136/gpsych-2022-100751. PMID: 35372787; PMCID: PMC8919463.