We have established partnerships with CPU_CHINA and FAFU, carrying out deep collaboration together during different stages this year.
With CPU_CHINA
Click here to jump to the team CPU_CHINA
Overview
This year, the BIT team established a partnership with CPU_CHINA. BIT is a team with rich hardware experience, and the CPU_CHINA team also has a lot of experience in wet experiments and CRISPR/Cas.
During the project setting, with the help of CPU_CHINA, we interviewed the teachers from China Pharmaceutical University and formed a preliminary closed loop in the project setting.
In terms of hardware, the BIT team had a lot of knowledge about the glucometer sensor and introduced it to CPU_CHINA. Eventually, CPU_CHINA decided to use the glucometer in their hardware part.
In terms of biological experiments, BIT and CPU_CHINA communicated in-depth and shared experiences about the CRISPR/Cas system. The two teams regularly exchanged experimental results and analyzed the causes of failure. BIT team improved the experimental system according to CPU_CHINA's suggestions and obtained good fluorescence results.
Considering hardware, BIT introduced the Arduino Uno microcontroller board to CPU_CHINA based on years of iGEM hardware experience. And CPU_CHINA used it in hardware work after an in-depth understanding. In addition, BIT provides guidance on hardware design and development board coding for CPU_CHINA.
Moreover, during the project, we collaborated on several educational activities and organized a painting exhibition to jointly promote synthetic biology in an accessible way. In addition, we also participated in the exchange of other teams' projects and constantly promoted each other's projects with an open attitude.
Pro-phase: Build partnership broadly
The Beginning of the Partnership（May to Jun.）
In early May, the CPU_CHINA team held iGEM Meeting Up online and we were invited to contact CPU_CHINA. At this point, the BIT team set out to investigate chronic musculoskeletal pain. In late May, BIT hosted the CCIC Hardware roundtable to share its hardware design experience with many iGEM teams, and CPU_CHINA joined our IGEMer hardware sharing group chat.
Experience exchange of CRISPR/Cas system
During the communication in June, we learned that both teams had used the CRISPR system in last year's project and hoped to continue to use the system for disease detection in this year's project. Based on this, we shared our experience in the selection and use of different Cas proteins.
Get in touch with pain specialists with our partner's help
As the CPU_CHINA team belongs to China Pharmaceutical University, there are many professionals in the field of drug research and treatment. With the help of CPU_CHINA, we interviewed associate researcher Hu Weiwei and collected data on the treatment of neuropathic pain and nociceptive pain, which greatly promoted the project.
Mutual assistance
In the early stages of our project, we introduced hardware-related content to CPU_CHINA many times, hoping to be helpful for their topic determination and later experimental design. Finally, CPU_CHINA decided to add a hardware part to the project to realize the visual screening of signal molecules.
Online group-building activities
Having built a solid foundation of cooperation previously, we have decided to establish a long-term cooperative relationship and carry out online group-building activities in the form of a Tencent conference at the end of June. We will exchange project designs, increase our understanding of each other, and talk freely, aiming to lay a solid foundation for pleasant cooperation in the later period.
Meta-phase: Intensive and Steady Cooperation
Share hardware design experience with CPU_CHINA
The BIT team has a lot of experience in hardware design, and we have been refining the design and assembly of the hardware part of the project over the years. In the hardware sharing with CPU_CHINA, we introduced the content of a glucometer. Impressed by this, in order to make the detection results more intuitive, the CPU_CHINA team added a hardware part to the project and used the glucometer to realize the visual screening of signal molecules.
Additionally, the BIT team introduced the Arduino Uno to the CPU_CHINA team as a microcontroller board that can be used to develop interactive products that can read a large number of switch and sensor signals and control a wide variety of lights, motors, and other physical devices.
Jointly participate in educational activities
On July 23, BIT and CPU_CHINA jointly participated in the Tsinghua and FAFU series of synthetic biology education lectures, aiming to introduce and popularize synthetic biology for senior high school students. BIT and CPU_CHINA prepared and collaborated on the topic " Getting Started: Synthetic Biology for Life" in the same session. Before the presentation, we discussed the content of the lecture online, shared materials, and exchanged teaching plans. The BIT team presented an overview of the field of synthetic biology, and the CPU_CHINA team explained CRISPR/Cas technology in detail. The series of courses have been viewed nearly 10,000 times.
Participate in the CCIC meeting together
In mid-August, both the CPU_CHINA and BIT teams participated in the 9th CCIC online iGEM Exchange Communication to share the project design and current project progress.
Seek experiment help with the CRISPR system
In early August, BIT carried out various experiments one after another, and encountered many problems in the process. On August 28, the two teams sorted out the problems encountered in the recent experiments. Since the CRISPR reaction steps of the BIT team always failed to show fluorescence, the CPU_CHINA team made recommendations to the BIT team regarding the system architecture. According to the experimental system provided by the CPU_CHINA team, we carried out experimental verification of the proposal and finally obtained good fluorescence results.
Ana-phase: Views and Development（Sep. to Oct.）
Recruitment and future development
In September, we launched a recruitment talk for iGEM 2023, and we invited the CPU_CHINA team to participate in the meeting. At the meeting, they explained and shared their experience with us in an online way, and encouraged students to participate in the exploration of synthetic biology. This recruitment presentation also laid the foundation for the sustainable development of the two teams in the future.
Assist CPU_CHINA in the hardware module
At this stage, CPU_CHINA completed the hardware design and development board coding under the suggestions of BIT. The new architecture has realized the functions of bio-electrical signal transduction and input, signal analysis, and signal output. The Arduino Uno can read the amplified electrical signal and analyze it through the built-in programs, then output the results on the LED and LCD and send them to a smartphone using the HC-05 Bluetooth module.
Co-hosting a synthetic biology art exhibition
Last year, CPU_CHINA designed an online art exhibition with a mascot as the core. We thought that the art exhibition would be a good way to help people understand synthetic biology in an interesting and vivid way, so we all agreed to hold an online art exhibition together this year. We divided the art exhibition into three parts, "Germination", "Initiation" and "Circuitousness", which respectively represent the process of our two teams first seeing synthetic biology, understanding the iGEM competition, and finally getting to know each other through the competition.
Conclusion
CPU_CHINA is such a very excellent team, and we are very excited to spend the year with them in the iGEM competition, promoting the project in collaboration with each other, and working tirelessly to use synthetic biology to make a difference in the world. We thank them for their advice and help throughout the year and hope that we can all achieve satisfactory results this year!
With FAFU
Click here to jump to the team FAFU
Overview
This year, the BIT team established a close partnership with FAFU. The BIT team has rich hardware experience and the FAFU team has sufficient human practice experience, so this partnership is likely to be an extremely successful one.
In the process of project investigation, promotion, and improvement, the BIT team was inspired by the FAFU team in HP, carried out various practical activities, and gained feedback and promotion for the project.
In terms of hardware, we took the initiative to share hardware design experience with the FAFU team and provided authentic advice on how to choose the type of motor and the right power supply. With regard to modeling, we also recommended valuable reference books and provided some practical suggestions for them.
Additionally, throughout the whole competition season, we worked tirelessly together on educational outreach collaborations and also produced comics to promote synthetic biology in an easy-to-understand way for raising the public’s awareness.
The cooperation between our two teams can be summarized into three phrases:
The first phrase: the confirmation of the two teams' cooperation intention and the exchange of the overall project design;
The second phrase: the joint participation in HP activities, the communication, and the exchange of opinions on all aspects of the project;
The third phrase: the improvement of the project as well as the prospect of future development.
Pro-phase: Meet-up and Preparation（May. to Jun.）
Team acquaintance
On May 28, 2022, we were invited by CCIC to hold a roundtable to share our hardware experience as a sharing party. Based on this opportunity, we got acquainted with the FAFU team. FAFU was attracted by our rich experience in hardware, and we learned that they had carried out a lot of practical activities and hoped to learn from them.
At the end of May, in order to shorten the distance between the team members, the students of the BIT team and the FAFU team organized an online team-building activity, during which they preliminarily learned about each other's projects.
Exploring the design of human practice
Also at the end of May, we discussed the design of the human practice, discussed how to promote the project through collaboration and promote the impact of synthetic biology in society during the season, and completed the closed-loop design of HP. In this part, the ideas of FAFU are very broad, which inspires and guides our HP-related activities to a certain extent, so that the HP part can better serve the project, and promote synthetic biology in different forms.
Meta-phase: Promotion and Communication（Jul. to Aug.）
Experiment design
During this phase, we took the form of regular group meetings to carry out communication between the two parties in terms of experiment design. And we also supervised the project on both sides, continuing this format into the latter two phases of the project. Sometimes although we did not hold group meetings, we also had frequent and timely contact on WeChat.
Hardware design
In June, we carried out an investigation and shared it with the students in charge of hardware in the other team. The FAFU team hopes to build a device that can be placed near sewer lines to automatically detect pathogens in sewage. We shared some test devices, explained the relevant principles, and provided the FAFU team with relevant hardware guidance and help, such as how to select the appropriate motor type and power supply, etc.
In addition, we also shared some information on modeling, including reference books and so on.
Jointly promote the project by creating comics
A series of collaborations on how to develop educational and science communication activities were conducted in the past but might be too conventional to satisfy the young. Through communication with some of the teams, we decided to promote synthetic biology and our project in an innovative form of comics with the FAFU team. We jointly held a lecture on synthetic biology at the invitation of Tsinghua. Fortunately, both the comics and the lecture vitally raised the social awareness of synthetic biology and chronic musculoskeletal pain in the end.
Frequent daily contact and communication
During the development of the project, both teams often communicated with each other in the form of WeChat, exchanging the gains and shortcomings during this period, and providing their own opinions and suggestions for the other side's project implementation and topic determination.
Ana-phase: Supervision and Development（Sep. to Oct.）
Long-term development and future outlook
On October 2nd, students from the BIT team participated in the 2023 iGEM recruitment presentation initiated by the FAFU team, sharing and explaining our project online at the meeting, which laid a foundation for cooperation between the two teams in the next iGEM competition.
In October, towards the end of iGEM 2022, BIT and FAFU met for an online photo session and reminisced about their interactions. Not only do we share our projects, but in our daily life, we also share some interesting things such as food and good movies. We will have an in-person party in the winter holiday, and we are looking forward to meeting them in person!
Conclusion
We are so proud and honored to have worked with the FAFU team throughout this year of the iGEM competition, witnessing and participating in the research and achievements of both sides in biology, hardware, and HP. FAFU is a very warm and cohesive team, thanks for their advice and help throughout the year! I hope we can all achieve satisfactory results!