Collaboration Plan
Collaboration is an essential part of iGEM projects. Through collaboration, we can receive various ideas, learn from other teams, and improve our project. Collaborative projects improve the way our team works together and solves problems. They can lead to more innovation, efficient processes, increased success, and improved communication. By listening to and learning from other teams, the participating teams and we can ultimately reach our goals. With that said, we have designed and implemented two collaboration projects, which are listed in detail below:
Collaborative Event 1: SOAP (Sustainability On A Plate) Online Campaign
One of the primary goals of our project is to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations, especially Zero Hunger, and Responsible Consumption and Production. To reflect on the relationship between sustainable agriculture and different communities worldwide, we invited teams to showcase their national dishes prepared with crops grown in one of three ways: hydroponically, self-grown, or in other eco-friendly methods. In the submission Google form, we also included numerous survey questions about hydroponics to evaluate the public’s awareness of this novel form of agriculture.
In the event, we have received a total of 50 submissions from the public and 3 other 2022 iGEM teams, including UChicago, Bilket_UNAM, and UBC_Vanvouver. The submissions came from various places from Macau to Ankara and British Columbia. In the survey questions, it was shown that hydroponics has made its way into people’s daily lives, mainly through methods like education, online platforms, and other publications. However, it was also displayed that vegetables grown in hydroponic systems are uncommon in their regions.
From the pictures we received, it is clear that people from around the world can cooperate with producers of green agriculture in their own food culture, creating delicious-looking dishes. We hope that we can host similar activities in the future soon and introduce hydroponics to more people.
Collaborative Event 2: Webinar of HydroAqua Simulator
On the 11th of September, we organised a webinar with UM_Macau. The participants are Tec CEM from Mexico, W&M from the USA, and NNU_China from China. All participants shared their group projects and solutions on the HydroAqua system.
We aimed to provide a platform for the iGEM teams to share their projects and provide their ideas on the betterment of the aquaponic system, in which the participating teams could exchange their insights on ecosystem sustainability and enhance communication and cooperation among the iGEM community. All suggestions for the aquaponic system delivered during the webinar were condensed and published on social media as a collaborative proposal.
The setting of our webinar is to optimise a “Simulator”, a reference to the game “Life Simulator”, about utilising aquaponic systems on a large scale. Through the webinar, we hoped to integrate their views and build up a simulator that focuses on hydroponics and aquaponics.
As an iGEM team whose project is heavily based on these kinds of agriculture, we have received a vast amount of valuable and useful information for improving our project. Team TecCEM suggested that we apply a biofilter to the system. Through so, we can diminish the bad effects of unfavourable irrigation water conditions on laccase stability, which subsequently enhances the degradation efficiency of EDCs (endocrine disrupting chemicals). Team NNU-China, on the other hand, advised adding EMs (effective microorganisms), a mixed culture of lactic acid bacteria, photosynthetic bacteria, and yeast. These microorganisms can control pathogens and reduce the plight of plant diseases. Team UM_Macau introduced their project, Acid Oceanus, to us. Using their pH adjusting system, we can adjust lake water to an optimum pH level for the specific plants we would like to culture.
With the support of our co-host, team UM_Macau, the webinar was a great success.
Other Collaborative Events We Participated in:
1. IISER-Pune-India’s Take A Step Challenge & World Environment Day Event:
On the occasion of World Environment Day and to keep the theme of “Only One Earth”, we were invited by the IISER-Pune-India iGEM team to contribute to making our Earth a better place to live in. We emailed our photo of us engaging in hydroponics. We were grateful to join such a meaningful event and are currently looking for more possibilities to collaborate.
2. MSP-Maastricht’s iGEM Puzzle Book:
Earlier this year, the iGEM team MSP-Maastricht invited us to a collaboration event named iGEM Puzzle Book, in which we submitted a short description of our project alongside its keywords with reasons. In return, we received a puzzle book composed of information and puzzles from other participating teams. It was extremely fun to take a break from our project and get along with others in the iGEM community.
3. NTHU_Taiwan’s survey:
This year, we also submitted numerous surveys to support information transfer among the community, One of which is team NTHU_Taiwan’s survey on synthetic biology. We hope our submission could help with NTHU_Taiwan’s data collection.
