Inspiration
At first,our idea was to detect intestinal bleeding in Marine animals and devote ourselves to the protection of Marine animals. Therefore, we first interviewed the Blue Ribbon Marine Conservation Society, which is a Chinese civil public welfare social organization focusing on Marine protection. We invited Pu Bingmei, their campaign promotion director, to interview and understand the current status of Marine protection. But after talking to them, we found that the feasibility was very low, so we shifted the project to the protection of the human gut.
Exchange with the Blue Ribbon Ocean Organization
We query data on intestinal diseases and found that intestinal bleeding is a precursor to many diseases. Among them, massive intestinal bleeding can be visually observed through feces, but if it occurs ,we can hardly observe micro-bleeding. Therefore, we decided to design a new micro-bleeding detector for human intestinal tract. Because we didn't know what the public knows about intestinal health and bleeding and whether they would accept a new testing device, we decided to send out questionnaires to understand relevant information.
A questionnaire survey on the degree of intestinal cognition
A total of 712 people participated in the questionnaire. According to the results of the questionnaire, we found that:
1.A significant number of people dono't pay attention to gut health in their daily lives :
2.There are many health problems with the gut.
3 .The vast majority of respondents thought colonoscopy was painful and 43% respondents thought the pain was unbearable .
4. At the same time, 89% of the population were willing to accept Engineered E. coli to detect intestinal bleeding.
All the above indicate that our project has a certain application prospect. At the same time, through our communication with family and friends, we know that most people do not pay much attention to their intestinal health, so it is difficult to notice if there is intestinal microbleeding. This made us plan to carry out a series of intestinal science knowledge push, emoticons and wechat games in the future. Click here to understand more information.
After getting feedback for the public to intestinal health, we combined relevant literature reviewed by the team,and gave the project its basic framework. But for the project feasibility, hardware requirements, product packaging, the public's demand and the public awareness of the project, there are still many questions.So with these problems, we began the following work.
Interview
1.Dr. Wang Qilong from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Xi 'an Medical University
Since our knowledge about intestinal diseases and the current situation and treatment methods is relatively limited on the Internet, we first interviewed Wang Qilong from the Third Affiliated Hospital of Xi 'an Medical University and introduced our project to him. In the interview with Dr. Wang, we learned that fecal occult blood test is the current detection method, but it has more or less defects;In addition, another detection method, colonoscopy, is invasive.It may cause many complications such as intestinal perforation and intestinal bleeding.These shows the application prospect and feasibility of our project.
Dr. Wang is answering our questions
2.Professor Dai Penggao,Baimei Gene Co.,LTD
Then we wanted to improve the hardware part of the project design and explore newthings , so we went to Baimei Gene Co., LTD. This company is a national high-tech enterprise focusing on the development and application of precision medical technology. We interviewed Professor Dai Penggao of the company. After Professor Dai listened to our project, Professor Dai put forward some questions and suggestions about our project, such as:
① You can take the way of vacuum to add a filtering device or stirring device to make the Engineered E. coli more smoothly from the filter membrane being filtered down.
② When doing the experiment, you should consider how much sensitivity the blue pigment is detected, and whether you need to add an amplification device.
③ As for the observation of blue pigment, you can consider using bacterial coating .
④ How much is the customer's acceptance of Engineered E. coli? You might consider mixing it with yogurt.
The conversation with Professor Dai gave us a new understanding of the project .And for the experimental hardware part of the project, we had a clear improvement direction .It also made us realize that we should contact yogurt probiotics and other companies for further understanding of the relevant situation.
Communication with Professor Dai
In addition to the communication with Professor Dai, during the 4th Northwestern China iGEM Meet up, we also received help from different aspects of the project for experiments and hardware.These opened our minds. Click here to understand all about the 4th Northwestern China iGEM Meet up.
3.Interview with Dean Lan Canhui
At the same time, we learned that Beijing Rexincheng Biotechnology institute Co.,Ltd. is an enterprise which devotes to connecting scholars, doctors, entrepreneurs, government and media in the field of intestinal tract, and it provide a variety of services to meet the needs of the intestinal industry for the audience. Meanwhile,it also initiate and set up large academic exchange platforms such as the Cube, China Intestinal Conference and China Intestinal Industry Conference, to promote the healthy development of China's intestinal industry.
It is our great honor to have an interview with Mr. Lan Canhui, President of this institute, who is also the founder and executive chairman of the China Intestinal Conference. Through online interviews, we learned about the current research direction and progress of gut microbes.And Dean Lan made suggestions and opinions for our project.At last we hoped that Mr. LAN could provide some suggestions for our subsequent science popularization activities.
Mr. Lan Canhui
Click here to learn the contact of the interview.
4.Xi'an Jinyu Medical inspection Office Co.,Ltd.
When we were about to start the hardware experiment, in order to have a better guidance on this aspect, we went to the Xi'an Jinyu Medical inspection Office Co.,Ltd. This is a company specializing in health examinations and forensic exminations.
We conducted an offline interview and have a deeper understanding of the current detection methods of gastrointestinal bleeding and their drawbacks, and we consult the packaging design of the detection device. Tian Yanfei, manager of Golden Domain Medical Laboratory Co., LTD, provided us with some new ideas for hardware packaging, such as:
① The outer packaging can be considered to make a simple box, which is equipped with detection device.
② Prepare a manual for easy use.
③ The user manual can list relevant matters needing attention, such as how to deal with some special circumstances, some special circumstances belong to the normal phenomenon, etc.
These suggestions are of great help to our subsequent manual.
the visit with Xi'an Jinyu Medical inspection Office Co.,Ltd.
In addition, it is the same as what Dr. Wang consulted before. Manager Tian also mentioned the test paper of fecal occult blood test. She suggested that we consult with professionals about the advantages and disadvantages of the fecal occult blood test device, and then compare it with our detection device to explore the advantages of the product.
5.Dr.Zhang from Xi'an Chest Hospital
So we interviewed Dr. Zhang Shaobo from the Laboratory Department of Xi'an Chest Hospital. Dr.Zhang introduced the fecal occult blood test in detail, as well as the experimental precautions, and put forward several feasible suggestions for exploring the advantages of our products.
Dr. Zhang
In the communication with Dr. Zhang, we learned that the fecal occult blood test has the following defects: the reagent used in the test is unstable and carcinogenic, the test sensitivity is low, and the test results are may be false positive or false negative, which provides a direction for us to improve the hardware. Therefore, Dr. Zhang gave us several suggestions:
① Whether the detection can reduce the false negative probability?
② For the unstable and carcinogenic reagents in fecal occult blood test, it can be considered to replace them with non-toxic and environmentally friendly reagents.
③ Try to improve detection sensitivity.
④Can you overcome the difficulty of fasting before the experiment.
The communication with Dr. Zhang gave us a clearer understanding of the hardware needs, and also gave us a clear direction to explore the advantages of hardware in the future.
6.Guangzhou Yakult factory
At the same time, we interviewed Guangzhou Yakult factory with the team of SZPT-CHINA through online communication . During the visit,we also asked questions about the failure of Engineered E. coli to grow normally in the experimental group.After obtaining the solution, we adjusted the experimental part and got good results. Click here to understand more information.
the interview with Yakult company
Questionnaire survey on the demand for testing devices
In the later stage of the experiment, we want to explore the hardware, so it is crucial to understand the public's demand for our hardware smell, price, purchase channels, etc. So we released a new questionnaire, with 141 people participating.
The survey results show that:
1.77% of the people said they would like to add a deodorizer.
2.The price that most people can accept is within ￥ 50.
3.People pay more attention to the problems of good quality, safety, simplicity, portability and environmental friendliness.
4. Nearly 80% of the public want to buy our products through online shopping and pharmacies.
After receiving feedback, we also have a basic idea of the hardware part. You can click here to learn about our hardware design part.
National policy
In terms of national policy, we learned from HZAU-China that currently, genetically modified probiotics cannot be used in health food in China. In this regard, we will continue to improve the safety of our products and look forward to the relevant products being available in China.
Communication with HZAU-China
In the whole process, hp tried to keep the dry and wet experiment in close contact with the public, stakeholders and national policies, and timely improved and adjusted our projects according to feedback. You can continue to browse other page.
Inspiration
1.Dr. Wang Qilong from...