Education | SJTU-BioX-Shanghai

On July 24, 2023, we launched the online popular science course with Yunnan Yuhu Junior High School, a junior high school in a moutainous area in China. The couse was jointly organized by iGEM competition team SJTU-BioX-Shanghai and Exploring Big from Small, a student-organized social practice organization in SJTU, and was host by 3 HP group members from team SJTU-BioX-Shanghai.

During the 45-minute course, we mainly introduced about the basic knowledge of biology from the following four sections: What’s Biology?, Small Cells Play Big, The Fantastic Microbiology world and Synthetic Biology, a field of great potential!, leading the students to enter the amazing world of biology. Through funny animations, storytelling and Q&As, we managed to arouse everyone’s interest in charming facts and details in the biological world. During one of the Q&A parts, one of the students from Yunnan Yuhu Junior High School raised an interesting question, “While some microorganisms ‘eat’ many organic matter from our food for nutrition, what does virus eat ?” Everyone laughed and then listened carefully to our answer. In a nutshell, this online course turned out to be a progress for both the students and us and we would love to spread more ideas and knowledge of Biology, especially Synthetic Biology to the young.

Fig.1 The cover of the powerpoint used for presentation and the online Tencent meeting

It’s worth to mention that one of the leader of this organization is also a former iGEMer, who offered us lots of valuable suggestions on this online course and maintained the order at the scene. We are really glad to see iGEMers helping each other and carrying forward iGEM spirit!

We have completed a powerpoint slide show promoting iGEM , synthetic biology and our own project to all college students interested in iGEM or synthtic biology. We are eager to disseminate our work to fellow teams through the iGEM platform (education-section-for-college-students). The synthetic biology section of this lecture is divided into the following sections: Understanding Synthetic Biology, Introduction to Key Concepts and Principles, Exploring Application Fields&Future Prospects, and Safety Challenges&Ethical Considerations. Each section is meticulously designed to enhance comprehension and engagement.

We have also listed out carefully-picked recommended reading materials at the end of the slides. This is tailored for those keen on delving deeper into the subject matter, ensuring a more holistic understanding of the intricate world of synthetic biology. We look forward to facilitating knowledge-sharing and fostering a collaborative learning environment within and outside the iGEM community.