We participated in the 10th Conference of China iGEMer Community (CCiC). At the conference, we introduced our project by the poster and online presentation. We also listened other high school and Collegiate iGEM teams' presentation. We exchanged our thoughts and our ideas at CCiC and learned from each other, enabling us to enhance our design and refine our approach to integrated human practice.

Fig.1 Communication with other CCiC iGEM teams

iG 20 was hosted by team LZU-CHINA, with more than 28 teams participating in these activities. We joined iG 20 to raise awareness about our project. We produced four videos, including introductions to our school and synthetic biology. iG 20 successfully garnered more attention for our project and increased awareness of the consequences of obesity on our joints.

Fig.2 Communication with other iG20 teams

We actively took part in a meetup organized by Nanjing-Bioxstem, involving both online and offline components (with our presence in offline activities). During this event, high school teams from across the country presented their projects and shared insights into their human practice efforts. We were fortunate to receive valuable guidance from Mr. Bao Yuhan, an experienced iGEMer and human practice instructor, who provided us with detailed instructions on how to enhance our own human practice initiatives.

Fig.3 Communication with other high school iGEM teams

The CRISPR online conference, jointly hosted by Tongji-Software, WHU-China, AFMU, SMBU, CJUH-CLU-China, and the Nanjing-NFLS team, was a notable event. Among the participants, we were the sole high school team in attendance. This conference provided us with a valuable platform to listen and learn from other teams, who greatly inspired us to concentrate on enhancing the specificity of miRNA drugs. Through these interactions, we gained insights into the application of CRISPR technology for detecting miRNA expression levels in individual patients' blood or synovial fluid.

Fig.4 Communication with other iGEM teams on similar projects

We extended invitations to several PhD students from esteemed institutions such as Nanjing University, University College London, University of Queensland, National University of Singapore, and University of California, San Francisco. Together, we conducted a comprehensive online meeting where we not only delved into the advancements made in our project but also garnered valuable insights into laboratory security practices. Then, they separately introduced the safety rules in their labs. This experience helped us better perform subsequent experiments.

Fig.4 Communication with other iGEM teams on similar projects

Obesity significantly increases the risk of developing various chronic diseases and medical conditions. These include but are not limited to cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain types of cancer, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis.

Our team had the incredible opportunity to attend a lecture delivered by Dr. Zhu Xinhua. During his enlightening presentation, he highlighted the global prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and its increasing incidence, particularly in conjunction with comorbidities like metabolic syndrome. Dr. Zhu emphasized the significant role of obesity in contributing to sleep apnea. Following the lecture, we engaged with Dr. Zhu in a discussion, inquiring about the potential impact of a new drug with anti-obesity properties that could also protect knee health. Dr. Zhu displayed keen interest in our project and offered invaluable guidance. He emphasized the clinical significance of identifying target miRNA, highlighting its potential for meaningful applications in healthcare.

Fig.7 Communication with other obesity related disease experts in sleep apnea forum

We attended different online meetings to learn differentthings about iGEM project. The topics were involved with different aspects, such as “what is new requirement in 2023 iGEM project?” “Human Practice” “Biosafety and Bio-Containment Webinar” “ WIKI Workshop”. It was very useful and helpful for new iGEM team. We learned a lot how to do iGEM project and how to balance every part as a whole project unit. More importantly, the deadline for each part was introduced very carefully.

Fig.8 Online meeting with iGEM Slackm