Communication

1. Introduction

As high school students participating in the iGEM competition, we are fortunate. To expose more people to synthetic biology and publicize iGEM, we started from around us and gradually expanded. We held some Education activities to expand the influence of synthetic biology and radiate to more people.

2. Biology Camp Training Program

For the average high school student, fundamental biology is their cognitive limit. Therefore, we want to exploit the strengths of a school team. The high-end biology laboratory of the school is only open to students who participate in the biology competition, so we applied for the right to use the high-end biology laboratory for one week, and led the students to contact with the knowledge of synthetic biology and related experimental operations. We recruited participants through online questionnaires and conducted a 5-day laboratory training. This decision was welcomed by the students, and the number of students exceeded our expectations in one day, reaching 50. To ensure better dissemination of synthetic biology, we selected 20 of them as participants with a relatively little biological basis.

Before the project started, to ensure the effectiveness of our teaching, we designed a short pop quiz to analyze the participants' knowledge of synthetic biology and related laboratory operations. The following is the original file of our pop-quiz.

The following picture is the result of the pop-quiz

To teach synthetic biology as much as possible in five days, we planned the content of each day in detail. Due to the limited capacity of the laboratory, we had to divide the 20 students into two groups, A and B, to design the content respectively. The following is our teaching plan:

We are well aware of the importance of laboratory safety. Therefore, on the first day of the project, we devoted the entire period to emphasizing laboratory safety rules to ensure that students could carry out experiments in a safe situation. In addition, to make the students not only familiar with the operation, we also explained the principle of the experiment in detail before the experiment, and showed it to the students through slides and animations, to ensure that the students understood the significance of each step while completing the experiment. The following is our teaching material:

Since the vice-captain of CAU_China graduated from The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China (the school of RDFZ_CHINA), we had in-depth communication with CAU_China and invited them to join our training camp. The instruments used in the university laboratory are different from those used in high school. They are more advanced and convenient to operate, which is conducive to students' understanding. Therefore, we invited them to introduce the experimental equipment, such as UV spectrophotometers, not available in the high school laboratory to us by recording videos. In addition, college students are more knowledgeable and have a deeper understanding of the idea of biological experiments and synthetic biology projects. We also invited them to record a video sharing the designing process of biological experiments. In the project, because the participating students did not have enough basic knowledge to fully understand, we adopted the method of playing as well as annotating and received good feedback from the students.

In the lab, we led the students to get familiar with the basic synthetic biology experimental instruments, such as the pipette, centrifuge, biosafety cabinet, PCR instrument, and so on. Starting from the most basic operation, we taught the students to use the pipette correctly for pipetting operation, which ensured a solid operating basis for everyone. We designed the PCR experiment and gel electrophoresis as the final synthetic biology experiment, participants step-by-step configurated mixtures, amplified DNA, and injected them into the gel, completing the whole process gave them a great sense of satisfaction and achievement.

At the end of the training camp, we presented the participants with certificates signed by the biology administrator in charge of the school to praise their performance in the experiment and their passion for synthetic biology.

At the same time, we conducted follow-up visits to improve our project and facilitate the continuation of this activity. The following are the feedback and analysis of the participants:

3. Lectures to Elementary School Students and High School Students

In addition to our classmates, we also hope to spread our knowledge of synthetic biology to more students. Our team members actively contacted our partner schools and graduate schools to seek opportunities to hold online or offline lectures. Finally, we held two online lectures (due to epidemic factors) and one offline lecture on September 30, October 9, and October 10. In total, we have shared synthetic biology with more than 200 primary and high school students. Among them, due to the large age span of the participants, we made two lecture materials of different depths and difficulty, so that the participants could have a better experience. After the lecture, we also counted everyone's thoughts and satisfaction with the lecture, so that we could make better improvements in the following lecture. The following are our lecture materials and related group photos:

The following is the powerpoint we used in our lecture.

4. Wechat Media Outlet

We shared synthetic biology knowledge with RDFZ SanYa Branch school, in which, we explained our project and goal, introduces numerous biological experiments, and thoroughly explain the subject of synthetic biology through its definition, application, and future. We also educated lower grade students in our school with the harm of obesity. Knowing the safety issues being overweight, these lower grade students can keep fit at an early age and be healthy.

The relationship that we built with students in RDFZ and other iGEM teams can also benefit future RDFZ-China. We are a school iGEM team which has been participating in iGEM for several years, our dedication and contribution can necessarily benefit them in future iGEM competition.

5. Soccer League Promotion

Finally, we know that rather than passively treating patients with obesity, we have a more important responsibility to advocate for people to pay attention to the normal range of weight and improve their physical fitness by adjusting their diet and increasing their exercise. Therefore, RDFZ_CHINA actively provides support for the football league in the school and advocates for more students to participate in the sport.