Algae Issue– WeChat

In order to educate people on the issue of microcystins and algae pollution we are tackling, we produced articles on the topics. We used combined fun descriptions and vivid pictures to provide the background issues for our research. In particular, our knowledge-based articles are in English and Chinese versions for best adaptability for diverse readers.

Here are some of our materials:

We believed a WeChat account was the best platform for us to publish the our materials and reach a broad “popular science” audience in China. In addition, we publicized our survey, cooperative alliance and online workshops with our official account.

Algae Issue @ World Environment Day

On world environment day, we participated in an event hosted by CHINA-FAFU aiming to raise awareness on water environment protection. Together with CHINA-FAFU, NPU-CHINA, and BUCT-CHINA, we introduced the problems each team is tackling. Researchers from FAFU, Minjiang University and Tsinghua University shared novel researches and proposals of water protection methods such as utilizing QS gene cluster, which were of great educational value to all the participants.

Participants of the session range from primary school students to graduate students who major in a variety of fields. We were most glad that our information could reach a wide audience.

“I never knew there were so many kinds of pollutants around our precious environment! This session raised my interest in learning biological solutions to tackle freshwater problems.” said a Grade 7 student from Nanjing Foreign Language School.

Total Environment Webinar

We joined Nanjing Hydraulics Research Institute (NHRI) in the Total Environment Webinar for the public. Researchers on NHRI aimed to inform the public on the their work for environmental protection, in freshwater, oceans, soils, and air. The part we took on was algae issues in our region, namely in Taihu Lake and Dianchi Lake. Our webinar had a striking 300 people audience, and we were honored to be a part of NHRI’s education efforts.

Moreover, we were allowed to retrieve a small sample of 10 mL to measure the environmental conditions to replicate in experiments, including pH and temperature. (Due to the river protection office’s regulations, our team was not allowed to retrieve large quantities for experimental use without qualifications.)

Water Environment @ Middle School

This educational event was co-organized by Freshwater Bioremediation Alliance with CHINA-FAFU, NPU-CHINA, XJTLU-CHINA, UM_Macau, and Nanjing-China. CHINA-FAFU kindly contacted the Experimental Middle School at Laibin City, Guangxi Province to host this event. Each collegiate team took on a topic about water environment protection:

Nanjing-China: water contamination

UM_Macau: water acidification

XJTLU-CHINA: water treatment techniques

CHINA-FAFU and NPU-CHINA: waste sorting

Teachers from the middle school asked that our event include some tips on studying middle school biology. As the only high school team in this alliance, we were happy to undertake this task. Not only did we talk about general methods in absorbing an information-heavy biology course, we also shared our experience with biology and how we were inspired to study advanced topics under it. The students then asked us some questions about note-taking or experiments, and we gladly answered those. Hopefully, some future iGEMers will be from this class!

Biosafety Infographics with FBA

The Freshwater Bioremediation Alliance hosted a biosafety panel, in which each team shared safety methods employed in their engineering and experiments. We also discussed what safety goals should be achieved in an iGEM season.

Our main objectives are:

• demonstrate that our experimental measures
• comply with safety rules, prove that our GM bacteria will not cause leakage;
• establish that our project will not cause harm to the environment or human health.

From the survey we conducted, we concluded that many people still have huge concern for using GM bacteria for bioremediation. By creating the biosafety handbook, we aim to help people understand biosafety measures that scientists are using, so that they feel more comfortable with the implementation of synthetic biology products. We hope it can provide reference for future teams and the whole society.

Our Alliance is grateful to XJTLU-CHINA for initiating this panel and organizing materials into this handbook!

SynBio Outreach @ WSHZ Meetup

We participated in a meetup hosted by Worldshaper-HZ (both onsite and virtual; we were in the online section), in which eams from all over the country introduced their project. We were particularly intrigued by the Worldshaper group’s outreach activities related to synthetic biology. They produced engaging materials with illustrations and explanations for standard biology procedures, from basic pipetting to PCR. They inspired us to polish our educational materials and suit the less professional audience.

Our main objectives are:

• demonstrate that our experimental measures
• comply with safety rules, prove that our GM bacteria will not cause leakage;
• establish that our project will not cause harm to the environment or human health.

From the survey we conducted, we concluded that many people still have huge concern for using GM bacteria for bioremediation. By creating the biosafety handbook, we aim to help people understand biosafety measures that scientists are using, so that they feel more comfortable with the implementation of synthetic biology products. We hope it can provide reference for future teams and the whole society.

Our Alliance is grateful to XJTLU-CHINA for initiating this panel and organizing materials into this handbook!

Synbio for Public @ Community

In order to promote synthetic biology and the concept of genetically modified bacteria in the society, we organized a session in Lanyuan Community near our school. For this event, we cooperated with Nanjing_China, NFLS_Nanjing, Worldshaper-Nanjing and Worldshaper-NJBIOX. Each team’s presentation covered a topic about synthetic biology’s applications in real life:

Nanjing_China: What is synthetic biology?

Worldshaper-Nanjing and Worldshaper-NJBIOX: Fermentation with synthetic biology

Nanjing_NFLS: Environment protection with synthetic biology

NFLS_Nanjing: Outlook of synthetic biology commercial market

With the support from Lanyuan Community, we were able to reach a wide audience including students, non-academia workers, and the elderly. We tried to make our content as approachable as possible and asked for feedback from the listeners.

“This new technology is beyond imaginations. It’s wonderful to see today’s students not only innovate but also think deep about their applications, limitations, and future.” Said an elder lady living in Lanyuan.

“Synthetic biology is something oddly new to me – it’s not something textbooks cover, but everything links back to what I have learned. I’m excited to see how knowledge can be adapted to such scenarios with synbio.” Said a middle school student.

New iGEMer’s Handbook

HainanU-China and JLU-China first initiated the project to create an introductory handbook for new iGEMers. It is intended to cover key topics including brainstorming, teamwork, experiment and human practice. The effort was joined by many other teams, including FAFU-China, BNU-China, DKU-China, DUT, GXU, BUCT and UESTC-BioTech, and LZU-HS-Pro-A.

We learned about this project at a rather late stage, and wished to contribute our advice as a high school team with little prior experience. Due to logistic and time issues, our part was not added into the handbook in time – it would be included in the next version, which is expected to be produced later in October!

Our part and the current version of the handbook are attached below:

Project Promotion - Bilibili videos

We opened our Bilibili channel Nanjing_NFLS to promote our project. The contents that are more suitable to be conveyed by video format such as lab tour, presentations, promotion video are presented here. Through clear verbal illustration and detailed powerpoint, the background and purpose of our project is better outlined. Some audience commented under our video to show their appreciation at the instruments used in laboratories, since they seldom got the chance to take a close look at them. Our educational purpose is further achieved by our Bilibili videos.