Introduction
The United Nations announced 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) in the year of 2015[1]. SDGs are proposed in response to
worldwide social, economic, and environmental challenges, the
aim of which is to create a more sustainable and equitable
future for all.
Our project focuses on Goal 13, Climate action, Goal 12,
responsible consumption and production, and Goal 4, quality
education.
Figure1 17 Sustainable Development Goals
（https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment）
Goal 13 — Take urgent actions to combat climate change and
its impacts
Targets
13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and
institutional capacity on climate change mitigation,
adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
Fact and Figures[2]
With a climate cataclysm looming, the pace and scale of current
climate action plans are wholly insufficient to effectively
tackle climate change. Increasingly frequent and intense extreme
weather events are already impacting every region on Earth.
Rising temperatures will escalate these hazards further, posing
grave risks.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasizes
that deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions are essential in all sectors, beginning now and
continuing throughout this decade. To limit global warming to
1.5°C above pre- industrial levels, emissions must already be
decreasing and need to be cut by almost half by 2030, just seven
years away.
Urgent and transformative action is crucial, going beyond mere
plans and promises. It requires raising ambition, covering
entire economies and moving towards climate-resilient
development, while outlining a clear path to achieve net-zero
emissions. Time is running out, and immediate measures are
necessary to avoid catastrophic consequences and secure a
sustainable future for generations to come.
Figure2 Impacts of Climate Change
（https://www.hippopx.com/zh/polar-bear-iceberg-ice-floe-north-pole-climate-change-animal-bear-9928）
Our Action
1.1 Construction of a NOG pathway with lower carbon emissions in
Clostridium tyrobutyricum ：
Clostridium tyrobutyricum is a natural high yielding strain of butyric acid, which
has a huge market capacity as an important fine chemical in the pharmaceutical, feed, cosmetic, food and medical
industries . [3] The production of butyric acid by using Clostridium tyrobutyricum as chassis cells can reduce the pollution in the
production process. And Clostridium tyrobutyricum can also use cheap substrates and wastes such as
cellulose and shrimp and crab shells [4], which can make full
use of resources and reduce unnecessary loss and
pollution.
After constructing an artificial NOG metabolic pathway in Clostridium tyrobutyricum and integrating it with the natural EMP pathway, bacteria
can control carbon loss, thereby reducing CO2 emissions, and may also reduce greenhouse gas CO2 emissions in large-scale industrial fermentation
processes.
1.2 Future：
Our approach to reducing microbial carbon emissions can be
applied to other strains with EMP pathways, or coupled with
related pathways such as rGS, MCG, etc. The beneficial effects
of the NOG pathway are related to carbon savings and
productivity. NOG can be used in conjunction with CO2 fixation and other one-carbon assimilation pathways to achieve
100% carbon yield for fuels and industrial chemicals. By using
the NOG pathway, green production systems can be created, which
help reduce the carbon footprint of industrial processes and
increase the efficiency of bioproduction.
Overall, the NOG pathway has the potential to provide a more
sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to engineering
metabolic processes. The most direct impact is to reduce the
emission of the greenhouse gas, CO2, in order to protect the
environment and mitigate the climate change.
2.1 Educating climate change to teenagers
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023 mentions that 47
countries do not mention climate change in national curriculum
textbooks, and one in five young people believe that what they
have learned is not enough to prepare them for climate change,
and are asking for more information about its complexity [2].
In response to the lack of awareness of climate change, we
designed a booklet called "The Sustainable Development
Adventurer" to convey to youth the significance of
sustainability and the actions we can take. We sent the booklet
to schools in 15 cities, and organized various activities with
local teachers, such as seminars, contests, and drawings.
Through these activities, we were able to convey the concept of
sustainability in a more profound way and make it easier for
children to understand how to put it into practice.
Figure 3 The Booklet and Promotion Activities in schools
2.2 Future
Although we did our best to appeal to as many people and
schools as possible, our power is limited and we can't get a
very big change in a short period of time, but we believe that
books can be passed on year after year, and brochures on
specialized topics can raise people’s awareness. Through small
persistence, more and more efforts can be concerted!
Goal 12 — Ensure sustainable consumption and production
patterns
Targets
12.4 — achieve the environmentally sound management of
chemicals and all wastes
CO2 throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed
international frameworks,
and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts
on human health and the environment
12.5 —By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through
prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
12.8 — ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable
development and lifestyles in harmony with nature.
12.A—Support developing countries to strengthen their
scientific and technological capacity to move towards more
sustainable patterns of consumption and production
Our Action
For TARGETS 12.4 and 12.5，We built Non-Oxidative Glycolysis (NOG) in Clostridium tyrobutyricum.
NOG avoids release of CO2 in production of AcCoA, whereas 2 molecules of CO2 are generated in EMP from 1 molecule of glucose. In this
way, we can "prevent" and "reduce" the emission of waste
CO2 into the atmosphere, which has a negative impact on the
environment and human beings.
It is necessary for a company or a manufacturer to look for new
solutions that can achieve sustainable consumption and
production patterns [5]. If the costs of traditional chemical
synthesis and microbial fermentation were roughly the same, the
manufacturer would prefer the latter, as it will lead to less
pollution and dependence on petrochemicals. This also brings
about benefits for environmental protection and well-being of
society.
Chinese government and companies have been trying to control
carbon emissions, and the development of low-carbon industries
is a very promising measure.[6]
Chinese government believes that the biomanufacturing industry
is expected to change the world's industrial manufacturing
pattern in the fields of energy, chemical industry and medicine,
and make industrial product manufacturing like a green,
low-carbon, sustainable development model
transformation.[7][8][9][10]
Therefore, for TARGET 12.A, the use of synthetic biology to change the production
technology route to achieve environmental protection will be
recognized and supported by the government.
For TARGET 12.8, we expanded our audience to the
public.
First, we held promotional activities in museum, science and
technology center, and designed a themed comic book -
Sustainable Development Explorer - to be publicized in schools
around the country. We focused on publicizing carbon emission
and its impacts, and discussing how to do it as an individual,
as a company, and as a government, so that more people would
realize the importance and urgency of a low-carbon lifestyle and
production style around the world nowadays.
Secondly, we also held a live broadcast on our live streaming
platform on the theme of "Sustainable Development" to educate
netizens about the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
and our efforts for environmental protection work - building a
NOG pathway in Clostridium tyrobutyricum with lower carbon emissions, so that practicing the NOG pathway
can help them to realize the importance of carbon emissions and
their impact on the environment. By doing this makes practicing
the concept of sustainable development more accessible to people
in a more convenient way.
Finally, we are also mindful of developing the people around
us. When we interacted with the students in the BioExploration
Camp, we not only exchanged ideas about sustainability with
them, but also discussed how to convince others to practice
sustainability at the expense of profit.
Figure 4 Activities Mentioned
In addition, we have influenced the people around us to a
certain extent by distributing questionnaires to understanding
people's awareness of low-carbon lifestyles, holding live
broadcasts with other teams, participating in Nantional
Technology Weeks, and promoting iGEM and our own topics in
various cities and schools, helping that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable
development and lifestyles in harmony with nature.
Figure 5 Activities Mentioned
Goal 4 — Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Target
4.7 — ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, through
education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyle.
Our Action
Our group organized four educational activities.
First were in Nanjing Museum and the Jiangsu Science and Technology Museum. We favored those spots since people from
different cities, even countries come to visit these two places
which brings us a great opportunity to promote sustainable
development.
For the Nanjing Museum activity, considering the hot weather
during summer in Nanjing, we built a gathering stand outside to
give away fans printed with scan codes accessing our authentic
websites introducing sustainable development and our own
project. We also give away leaflets about the iGEM competition
and brief introduction of our team. We gave away a total
approximately 100 pieces of leaflets.
For the second time we went to the Jiangsu
Science&Techology Museum for further promotion of the
concept of sustainable development. We handmade three
questionnaires consisting of various questions about sustainable
development and the environment. We put three forms of questions
into our paper, the multiple choices ones, the correct or wrong
ones and the “filling the blank” ones. For those (mainly
students, little kids, sometimes their parents or random adults)
who made it all correct in the questionnaires, we rewarded them
with cartoon dolls and lollipops. Some adults were deeply
fascinated by out project, so we also deliberately introduced
our project and explained how it could reach the ultimate goal
of sustainable development.
The third one was held inside a community learning class set
for kids. We made slides and designed two games to introduce
them the concepts of sustainable development.
Finally, we discussed with senior high students at the summer
camp, BIOX, issues around sustainable development, for example
how to persuade people to give in some of their own benefits for
achieving sustainable development. We exchanged our opinions on
the topic, through which both sides ended up with improved and
broadened knowledge and awareness of sustainable development
goals and lifestyles.
Figure 6 Activities Mentioned
For Detail，Click Education and
Human Practices
References
1. “The 17 Goals | Sustainable Development.” United Nations,
sdgs.un.org/goals. Accessed 31 July 2023.
2. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2023
3. LIU Jiayu,et al:Advances in the development of Clostridium tyrobutyricum cell
factories driven by synthetic biotechnology[J].Synthetic Biology
Journal 2022，3（6）：1174-1200.
4. YANG Zhihan,et al:Production of Novel Single Cell Protein Feed
Using Clostridium tyrobutyricum Fed on Discarded Shrimp
Shells[J]. Journal of Food Science and Biotechnology,42(2): 25-30.
5. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-consumption-production/
6. https://news.cnstock.com/news,qy-202211-4986289.htm?continueFlag=901573bcdd0049eb6413d02cdd15cab7
7. https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/jd/jd/202205/t20220510_1324454.html
8. http://www.csteelnews.com/special/1311/2022061002/202206/t20220615_63975.html
9. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-10/27/content_5646697.htm
10. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43979-022-00010-y