JLU-China
Introduction
Coming together is a beginning; Keeping together is progress; Working together is success. The above quote is attributed to Henry Ford and is also what we believe. (An instruction handbook for new team)
This year, we entered into a partnership with JLU-China, also as a first-year team, and in a full and pleasant cooperation, we established common goals and promoted the development of each other's projects and enhanced our friendship through a series of activities such as exchanging Human Practice work, mutual assistance in experiments, and making manuals.
Figure 1. Team crest of HainanU-China
Figure 2. Team crest of JLU China
An opportunity for us to become partners
This year, Li Tianhong, who has rich experience in iGEM, served as the mentor of HainanU-China and also as an advisor to JLU-China.
With the introduction of Tianhong, Huang Shuo, the captain of HainanU-China, met Wang Xu, the captain of JLU-China. After having a basic understanding of the structure and direction of their respective teams, the two teams developed the idea of cooperating in human practice.
Figure 3. Photo of members of HainanU-China group
Figure 4. Photo of members of JLU-China group
5.16: Partnership establishment
On 5.16, HananU_China and JLU_China met online for the first time. Through this meeting, we initially understood each other's team situation and current ideas. And established a partnership. These exchanges and discussions greatly contributed to the development of each other's projects and enhanced our friendship.
Figure 5. Screenshot of partnership building meeting
5.23: Discuss topics such as topic selection
In this exchange meeting, JLU-China proposed their project idea, that is, by obtaining current data, analyzing and processing the data in the background, outputting emotional signals, and inducing the synthesis and release of odor substances in the dark room through the operation of engineering bacteria, stimulating people's sense of smell to mobilize the emotional regulation system, helping people to relieve some of the stress in work and life in time, and prompting the brain to actively deal with bad emotions. Based on the current local advantages of Hainan and the specific problems of microorganisms and other topics, HainanU-China proposed the idea of constructing a microbial drug resistance detection platform, and both sides started brainstorming and discussing specific problems for each other's preliminary ideas, pointing out problems to each other to promote the overall progress.
Figure 6. Pointing out problems to each other to promote the overall progress.
5.31: Start of joint journal production
At the beginning of the team, we established a good partnership with Jilin University and started a long-term exchange program. Since then, we have been publishing a joint newsletter every two weeks, with content centered on the cooperation between the two teams in various aspects.
As two newcomers to igem, we encountered many of the problems that arise for new teams in the early stages. We believe that many problems are common, so we recorded many basic problems we encountered in the process of forming teams and competing, and gave our solutions to compile this experience manual to provide reference and help for later competing teams.
Figure 7. Some screenshots of our magazine
7.23: Online Public Welfare Lecture of Ten Schools, lectured by Jilin University, assisted by Hainan University
The synthetic biology classroom jointly produced by Tsinghua University, Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Jilin University, Tongji University and other 10 universities went online in July. This public service classroom closely follows the hot topics of biology competition and the frontier field of synthetic biology, and designs the lecture content, taking the project content of each iGEM team as an example, and talks about the principles and applications of each synthetic biology technology in depth.
Figure 8. Online Public Welfare Lecture
Early June: Begin the experiment
In early June, we worked with Jilin University and Xiamen University on the design and discussion of the Lethal system. With the collaboration and help of the three teams, we completed the experiments related to the blue light and red light lethality genes.
Figure 9. PRO plasmid
(fluorescent protein coding sequence ← toxic protein coding sequence)
Figure 10. Pro target plasmids that replace fluorescent proteins with toxic proteins
However, the final experimental results were not satisfactory, so we had several gatherings on line where we discussed the main reasons for achieving such results and finally replaced the validation strategy of the experiment and achieved success. In our case, we had an in-depth discussion and communication mainly with Jilin University. For example, the construction of plasmids and the expression of lethal genes, etc. In addition, we carried out online communication with JLU-China on modeling and other stem experiments, and JLU-China provided us with experience support on modeling.(Click here to see the content of our experimental support for JIU)
From June 28th to July 6th, the two teams preliminarily edited the contents of the manual
Between May and July, we kept in constant communication and shared a bi-weekly article about the development of the igem teams and their experiences in the competition.
By now, our two teams have jointly pushed 4 issues of the joint public journal content. As the tweets advance and the content deepens, we gradually integrate and complete the 1.0 version of the handbook. Later on, we hope to find more teams to join and share on this basis, to continuously improve and expand this experience manual, and to publish it in the official community in the form of open source, to become a manual that really helps future igem teams to learn and promote the development of igem competition and even the development of synthetic biology. In this sense, it is not only a summary of experience, but also a platform for all our teams to share their experience, and it will pave the way for those who come after us and wait for the exchange between them and the pioneers.
Figure 11. Screenshot of our cooperation manual
9.1: Discussion on Project Promotion Video
During the production of JLU-China's Project Promotion Video, we conducted online meetings to discuss filming techniques and scripting examples, and then, during the production of Captions, JLU-China had problems with the transcoding of their Captions, and we helped them successfully transcode the format.
Figure 12. Screenshot of chat between members of the two teams
9.20: Completion of Instruction Manual
By 9.20, our manual has invited GXU_China, BUCT_China, Duke Kunshan, Dalian Polytechnic University, Beijing Normal University to provide us with detailed article contents including how to build a team, how to raise money, experience of speedy hardware and software, experiment guidance, experience of speedy wiki, etc.
In the future, we intend to translate this manual into multiple national languages to provide an all-inclusive instructional how-to for igem, helping each team to better get up and running with the igem competition.
In addition
The two teams maintained frequent contact throughout the competition, communicating and helping each other at various points of submission of entry materials, as both teams were first-year teams, so communication in this regard provided great help to both sides.
Figure 13. Files in our group (A total of 51 files)
Figure 14. Members of our group and other cooperation group
Worldshaper-HZ
Introduction
Since April, we have had several regular virtual meetings with Worldshaper-HZ to discuss experiments, difficulties, and human practices. Through this process, we have developed a strong, mutually helpful relationship and we are grateful for this amazing experience.
Figure 1. Timeline for Crispr/cas diagnostic
From early April to early May: preliminary agreement on the design of partnership
progress, we conducted several online meetings to discuss initial ideas for each other's projects, we presented our projects to Worldshaper-HZ and tried to find similarities and propose an overview design for a partnership. Together, we explored potential partnerships in the web lab and had in-depth discussions.
Figure 2. Preliminary Partnership Meeting
From mid May to mid June: communicate the project progress of both sides
The project has been underway for some time and we have been discussing with each other online based on the current state of affairs on issues related to the experiment and suggesting improvements. We decided to exchange our systems to verify the feasibility of ideas for different Cas systems. In terms of control group experiments, we decided to provide Worldshaper-HZ with experimental designs related to the Cas13/14 system.
Figure 3. Progress of the hardware setup
From the end of June to the end of July: HP cooperation with concrete design
After discovering the similarities between the two using the CRISPR-Cas system, we continued to conceptualize the design of future human practice collaborations in one online exchange, and discussed how to use the project's publicity tools to expand the impact of both parties, and tentatively established the details of subsequent human practice activities.
Figure 4. Discuss the work related to human practice
July 21st : Organize expert interviews
The difficulties we encountered in the part part were gradually solved and Worldshaper-HZ interviewed the instructor we introduced for them. in this meeting, we mainly discussed the CRISPR-Cas system and looked at its future. In the interview, the expert from Hainan University shared with them how the CRISPR-Cas system can be applied to different aspects of marine resources in the future, and helped Worldshaper-HZ to answer some questions about Cas12 bootstrap sequence length and system activation.
Examples of meeting issues
Q: Based on your experience, what are the future prospects of CRISPR-CAS technology?In what fields might its use be applied?
A: In view of the curent development trend, CRISPR-Cas system has and will have a wide range of applications. The future of it is bright, and our mission is just to make the technology more mature. There are two main techniqucs used in CRISPR CAS system: gene editing utilizing homo-path splicing, and nucleic acid detection using the ability of the cas protein to splice anti-path. For gene editing, based on different documents, it can be used in different fields such as improving crops, curing discases, and developing new drugs.
As for detection of nuclie acid, it is mostly applied into the field of food health and public health.
Figure 5. Interview of the advisor of HainanU-China team
August 6 to August 8: our offline party
We were invited by Worldshaper-HZ to its IGEM Hangzhou offline party, where we presented our project progress to the participating guests and had a deeper conversation with Worldshaper-HZ. We discussed our partnership in detail face to face, free from the limitations of online communication, and there is no doubt that the offline party was a great experience.
Figure 6. Meetup Booklet between HainanU-China and Worldshaper-HZ
Figure 7. Our Photo in front of the Signature Wall
Mid August to early September: improve project progress
Later in the project, we found out that they were looking for a more professional instructor, while we were having some difficulties with parts. The two teams discussed the current difficulties encountered by each other's teams and further defined future plans regarding partnership cooperation. In terms of proof of concept and parts writing and registration, Worldshaper-HZ provided us with ideas and advice in preparing these documents.
1 October: Talking about the pros and cons of hardware
Both HainanU-China and Worldshaper-HZ have built hardware designs and monitoring platforms. We each shared the strengths and weaknesses of the hardware our teams currently have, and analysed possible ways to improve it, with the intention of actually implementing it and transforming the scientific and technological achievements into beneficial applications for society.Attached is the draft hardware design of Worldshaper-HZ (Draft hardware design for Worldshaper-HZ)
Brief description of the hardware
Worldshaper-HZ: Their team designed a testing kit for biomarkers of breast cancer. The kit contains all the materials needed for CRISPR-Cas system to work, and when there is circRNA biomarker in the tester’s sample, the kit can give a fluorescence signal.
HainanU-China: Aiming to study drug resistant microorganisms in the ocean, they have designed a portable marine drug resistant microbial detector for this field. A hardware system has been developed specifically to suit the requirements, taking into account several aspects such as cost, portability and ease of operation. The system has three main modules, mainly divided into a temperature regulation module, a light path detection module and an Android screen display module, which is relatively small and enables fast detection and a friendly human-machine interface for easy operation.
Figure 8. Both teams exchange ideas for hardware improvements
UESTC
Introduction
In the middle of the project, we met by chance, and based on the interoperability of the experimental techniques used, we followed up with further exchanges, discussing with each other the improvement plans for both projects in terms of human practices, wiki building, and artwork layout, etc. We continued to improve our respective projects during the exchanges, and at the same time reached a good partnership, which was, no doubt, a wonderful and happy experience.
Figure 1. Team logos of HainanU-China and UESTC-BioTech
From early April to early May: preliminary agreement on the design of partnership
progress, we conducted several online meetings to discuss initial ideas for each other's projects, we presented our projects to Worldshaper-HZ and tried to find similarities and propose an overview design for a partnership. Together, we explored potential partnerships in the web lab and had in-depth discussions.
Figure 2. Preliminary Partnership Meeting
Mid-project: Meet UESTC-BioTech
During an online meeting, we learned that UESTC-BioTech plans to use the CRISPR-Cas9 system to tune the lipid metabolism-related pathways in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to achieve a breakthrough in synthetic biology for oil production and energy, which is very relevant to the technology used in our project. Based on the aspect of CRISPR technology, we reached a preliminary collaboration with UESTC-BioTech.
Figure 3. reached a preliminary collaboration with UESTC-BioTech
Early August: Preparation for CRISPR meetup
After a series of exchanges, we started to organize CRISPR meetup in order to seek a wider common cooperation. in the process of preparation, we invited CPU_China, SCU-China, BIT DUT_China, HiZJU-China, NWU-CHINA-A, SCAU_China, and SJTU-software and other teams to share their projects, and invited a senior from Southern University of Science and Technology who is familiar with CRISPR technology, and an ambassador from iGEM to be our guests, in addition, we also made beautiful invitations for each team.
Figure 4. Online meetings and questionnaires in preparation for the process
August 14: CRISPR meetup in progress
After careful preparation, we hosted this meetup on August 14, where we discussed the difficulties encountered in experimental and human practice, actively faced and sought solutions, and built strong friendships with many teams. During the meeting, many teams raised their current problems, which were answered by our invited guests and other teams. These questions and answers, as well as the presentations of each team's project, were finally integrated into a manual for future review and promotion of IGEM's synthetic biology concept. In addition, our WeChat public meeting tweets were also officially retweeted by the 9th CCIC conference.
Figure 5. CRISPR conference brochure and screenshots of the meeting
Later stage of the project: giving advice and continuous improvement
In the later stage of the project, we both encountered many difficulties from the aspects of the project for public presentation, such as the construction of the wiki, the aesthetic layout of the presentation content, etc. The relevant persons in charge of both projects started specific communication on this issue, and we exchanged ideas to achieve the best results. For example, when we encountered difficulties in writing the iGEM brochure, they provided us with precious samples of previous iGEMers and participated in the preparation of our brochure in order to share their experience.
Figure 6. UESTC-BioTech was involved in the development of our brochure