Nanjing-China is a collegiate team aiming to use microbial cultivation technology to produce new dyed textile fibers as alternatives to traditional materials. Our shared residence in Nanjing brought us together, and our initial encounter at Nanjing University marked the inception of a productive collaboration. This partnership extended across various domains, encompassing the wet lab, modeling, and integrated human practices (IHP) facets of our respective projects. Throughout the year, our collaboration with Nanjing-China remained steadfast, driven by our common goal of optimizing the luciferase experiment, target gene searching modeling, western blot techniques, and cell transfection procedures that both of our teams were utilizing. Additionally, our joint efforts aimed to promote awareness about synthetic biology. In the realm of modeling, a significant exchange of knowledge occurred, as we shared insights into target gene searching modeling software with their dry lab team, while reciprocally gaining valuable insights from their modeling expertise.

You can also view about this partnership in Team Nanjing-China.

Our initial interaction involved the exchange of our respective projects and ideas, followed by in-depth discussions encompassing wet lab procedures, human practice considerations, and education & communication strategies. We delved into project design, engineering objectives, and implementation scenarios, engaging in constructive questioning and feedback. Subsequently, we collaboratively crafted a partnership proposal outlining potential future activities. Ultimately, our partnership evolved across various stages throughout this season, encapsulating:

Earlier Stage

• Exchanged our project idea
• Find out potential Human Practices/Education areas

Middle Stage

• Co-education
• Modeling Mentorship & Feedback

Later Stage

• Luciferase assay experiment
• Western blot experiment
• WIKI

Fig.1 The meetup with Nanjing-China team

It is very important we both use SynBio to benefit this world. Although we worked in different field and track, we share in synthetic biology. We both use plasmid to express the target proteins. The engineering design is very important in our projects. Each team introduced this part very carefully to ensure everyone in our team to understand.

Through HP, our teams co-organized the activities for high school students and community about synthetic biology in our projects and we hosted several meet-ups in Nanjing Universities on our iGEM projects. In order to find the focus for our education, Nanjing-NFLS and Nanjing-China decided to co-educate high school students and community members. In line with our strategic plans, our innovative dyed textile fibers project is tailored to cater to the fashion needs of modern society. It's worth noting that obesity also has a significant impact on the appearance of contemporary individuals. To enhance the appeal of our educational initiatives and foster crosstalk discussions, we cleverly combined these two aspects. Interestingly, both the younger generation and the elderly expressed keen interest in our topic, actively engaging with us and providing valuable feedback. Towards the end of our interaction, we introduced the concept of synthetic biology within our project, highlighting that while our approaches may vary, our collective goal remains consistent — to improve the quality of life and overall health for all.

For our high school team, one of the most challenging tasks we faced was the part submission process. Fortunately, we had the guidance of our instructor, Dr. Li Baochao, who was relatively new to this role but proved invaluable in providing the necessary support. With the complex steps involved, from base and amino sequencing to part searching and registration, we were fortunate to receive tremendous assistance from the Nanjing-China team's instructor, Zhao Jing. Thanks to their generous help and expertise, we were ultimately able to successfully complete our part submission and refine our results.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the modeling team from Nanjing-China, who generously assisted us in creating a protocol for utilizing the TargetScan software. Navigating TargetScan for our target gene search presented challenges, as the results were often intricate and difficult to decipher. However, under the guidance of their team leader, Chen, we received valuable suggestions on effectively integrating two search systems and identifying relevant literature in PubMed, significantly aiding our research process.

In wet lab, we regularly helped each other troubleshooting our cell transfection and fluorescence detection. Although we worked in different fields, we are very interested in the other side's project.

Nanjing-China's innovative approach of utilizing microbial cultivation technology to produce novel dyed textile fibers as alternatives to traditional materials sparked an exchange of ideas and technological insights between our teams. As we delved into discussions, we swiftly recognized common challenges in our respective projects and decided to collaboratively create a troubleshooting document tailored to luciferase experiments, an asset for future iGEM teams working with E. coli. We sought their assistance in resolving issues within our experiment, leading to an information exchange that proved mutually beneficial. Their expertise in western blot analysis was particularly invaluable, enabling us to evaluate our project's results effectively within our timeline. In return, we provided them with wet lab data specific to our miRNA research, gaining valuable advice from their unique perspective. This collaborative exchange greatly enhanced the progress and success of both our projects. We also exchanged important information about obtaining reagents through sponsorships and in-kind donations. Their guidance helped us acquire specialized equipment to do our web laboratory experiments.

Wiki serves as an essential platform for effectively communicating our entire project to the global community. Within our team, we are fortunate to have a dedicated wiki team consisting of Sun Chang and Zou Tong. Remarkably, their shared interest in wiki development led to the establishment of a strong and supportive friendship. Throughout the wiki creation process, they encountered common challenges and effectively collaborated by discussing these issues and sharing their respective solutions, further enhancing the quality and impact of our wiki.