We found in human practice that the public's awareness of synthetic biology is not high. In order to promote the concepts of IGEM and synthetic biology and publicize the corresponding biological knowledge, we decided to start the activity of popular science relay. Our team will go to junior high school to conduct biological science popularization, and junior high school students will go to elementary school to popularize science based on the knowledge they have learned from us. The idea behind this campaign is to reflect the transferability of knowledge and the evolution of synthetic biology from generation to generation, and to better communicate it in this way.

Since March 2022, we have conducted a series of 16-class-hour education lectures on synthetic biology to 8th graders at Dachen Yuejiawan experimental school (a Junior High School in Hangzhou). These lectures cover topics such as how genetic material works, transgenic technique and its bioethics, the current development of gene therapy, how genetics related with aging, the causes & current research of cancer, the basics of gene editing technology, etc. Given the evolving epidemic situation in Hangzhou, most of the lectures were delivered online.

Our popular science class focuses on the perspective of genes, involving the introduction of genetic material, transgenic and gene editing, etc. In the first class, we talked about the working principle of genetic material, starting from the most basic comparison between protein and DNA, and explained The transformation experiment of pneumococcus and the structure and characteristics of DNA molecules, and then explained the replication of DNA and the transcription and translation of RNA, which laid the foundation of biological knowledge for the students. Immediately after the second class, we introduced the development and application of contemporary genetic engineering through Mendel's pea experiment, bringing students into modern biotechnology. In the third class, we started to introduce gene editing technology, explained the DNA repair mechanism, the third-generation gene editing technology, and the function and application of CRISPR/Cas9, and discussed the ethical issues of gene editing. In the subsequent courses, we also discussed the relationship between genes and aging and introduced the development of gene therapy, leading students to understand the charm of biotechnology from different perspectives. At the end of our series of popular science lessons, we introduced them to the principles and applications of transgenics, explained to them the two sides of biotechnology from an ethical point of view, and urged them to use modern biotechnology reasonably. In the last class, we introduced our project design concepts and principles to them. Under the foreshadowing of the previous sections on popular science, the last class went very smoothly. We show our project vividly in front of them in the form of animation, they can quickly understand and understand, and truly feel the unique charm of synthetic biology.

In the class, the students showed great enthusiasm. Every time a question is thrown, the children will rush to answer, which also brings us great encouragement. From their feedback after class, we saw that they really absorbed the knowledge we passed on. Not only that, but they also draw their own conclusions and opinions from it, turning the knowledge we pass on into their own. What moved us even more was that they sent us postcards after class, which made us even more convinced that our activities were meaningful.

In this round of popular science activities, we will pass the originally profound biological knowledge to future biologists in simple and easy-to-understand language, and then they will pass it on to younger biologists. We think this is a very meaningful thing. Maybe the seeds of popular science will be buried in their hearts and will germinate with dazzling vitality in the future.

We currently have in-depth cooperation with the SZU-China team in education. After interviewing researchers from the China Tea Research Institute, we realized the importance of popularizing science with farmers. Due to the impact of policies and the epidemic in Hangzhou, many of our plans could not be carried out on time, so we plan to cooperate with the SZU-China team. We cooperate online and behind the scenes to promote biological science to farmers in Huizhou, Guangdong. . Currently this event is in the preparatory stage and we will implement our plan in the near future.