Overview

Education is an important part of our program, in other words, how to get more people involved in synthetic biology is a central consideration for our team. We have organized educational events for all university students(some specific activities for biology students), primary school students, and people over the world that we think are most appropriate to get them into the educational part of our program, to learn about our program, and to get involved in synthetic biology.

All university students

We believe that college students are the most enthusiastic and receptive to knowledge and college students of any major are likely to be interested in synthetic biology. A large proportion of non-biology college students are curious about synthetic biology. As the integration of disciplines continues to develop, the need for college students to understand multiple fields of knowledge is gradually increasing. In summary, we have organized the following educational events to promote synthetic biology among college students.

Microbial Painting Contest

Considering that some students are exposed to synthetic biology for the first time, we have designed many interesting projects to avoid them from feeling bored, one of which is the microbial drawing competition. Similar to last year's project, we held the second Microbial Painting Competition, using bacterial colonies growing on the culture medium to form various patterns, allowing students to experience the beauty of life while getting familiar with biological experiments.

Members of our team explained the principles of microbial painting and the synthetic biology contained in it to the participants and demonstrated the experimental procedures. The project had a large number of applicants and left many outstanding works. In this project, we were able to combine theory and practice while having fun. It had an excellent educational effect and allowed the students to appreciate the interesting aspects of biology.

The participating students said that this combination of biology and art greatly changed the boring image of biology in their minds, and they were more willing to learn about biology.

Essay Contest on the Theme of "Love and Life“

We hope to leave students with the impression that synthetic biology is a living, breathing, warm subject, not just dry theoretical knowledge. The flowers on the roadside, the birds on the trees, everything contains the theory of biology. For this reason, we held an essay contest with the college's literary club, inviting students to express their feelings about life. The first prize we finally chose was a beautiful Chinese contemporary poem.

Synthetic Biology Salon

We held two types of synthetic biology salons. The first one is to choose a related topic a week in advance to discuss. Because most of the students are non-biology majors, we choose simple questions, such as the prospect of synthetic biology in a certain area. Then we sit around a table to discuss our opinions on this topic, with a few biology students who know more about synthetic biology to answer questions.

Another format is for biology students to share and explain a more specialized paper to students who are interested in synthetic biology, and to discuss the content afterward. Since many students from other majors were involved, we chose many interesting cross-disciplinary papers, such as Deep Learning-based RNA Secondary Structure Prediction Methods

At the end of the salon series, we asked each participating student using a questionnaire. More than 80 percent of the students thought our salons were very useful or useful and gave us many interesting suggestions.

iGEM Competition Presentation

The iGEM competition is the top event in the field of synthetic biology, and we believe that by promoting this competition we can stimulate students' interest in synthetic biology. In addition to information about the iGEM competition, we have focused on the basic concepts related to synthetic biology and the knowledge and abilities needed to participate in this competition during the presentation. We thought that integrating education into such a presentation would both attract more participants and create a deeper impression of synthetic biology. The students are very interested in this competition and more than 40 people have already contacted us, not only because they want to join our team, but also because they are enthusiastic about synthetic biology at the same time.

Biology students

We also prepared specific educational programs for biology majors to expand their knowledge in more professional fields of synthetic biology. They have a basic knowledge of biology, so for these students, we prepare activities that are more specialized and require mastering basic knowledge of biology.

Bioethics Debate

Emerging biotechnology raises many social and ethical issues, such as cloning, genetic modification, etc. This project focuses on some hot ethical issues in the field of biology. We encourage students to express their views on these issues through a debate format. We also hope that the debates will enable the biology students to think deeper and have their own views on a field like bioethics, which is full of heated discussions, for their future exploration and development.

We divided the registered contestants into groups of four and drew a debate topic and their attitude (agree or disagree) on that topic. The contestants have a week to prepare, and on the day of the competition, both sides will deliver a speech, presenting their point of view and evidence, and asking questions or giving rebuttals to the other side's point of view. Unlike a regular debate tournament, we do not judge winners and losers. We prefer to make this event a big discussion, with no winners or losers.

During this event, we gathered a lot of valuable opinions. For example, some students believe that current technologies such as cloning and genetic modification are against the laws of nature and do not conform to the laws of human reproduction. Some students believed that resurrecting extinct species would greatly threaten the current ecology. In addition, there are many interesting points of view.

As the saying goes, "the more you debate, the more you understand", the contestants generally reflected that they gained a lot from the debate and acquired knowledge about cloning, transgenic and other technologies. And at last, we come to an agreement: these emerging technologies have produced great benefits to society, but we should strictly observe the experimental safety and ethical bottom line when applying them.

Biology Knowledge Contest

For students who have some basic knowledge, we hope to educate them through a competition, which is more demanding and also more exciting. We prepared competition questions, invited students to participate in the competition, and awarded prizes and gifts to students who performed well. We interviewed several winning students after the awards were given, and they all said that this form of competition could deepen their understanding and increase their thirst for knowledge. We also hope to use this form as a push to increase their interest in the field of synthetic biology. The following shows our winning students.

Primary School Students

We often say that "children are the future of our country", and we believe that introducing them to synthetic biology at a young age is a good way to get them involved in synthetic biology. That's why we conducted this activity for elementary school students.

Contacted the school

There is an elementary school near our campus (Huao Elementary School in Shijingshan District, Beijing), where most of the children are not local but are forced to study in Beijing because their parents work there. We contacted the director of this school to organize an educational event at this elementary school. They thought that this kind of educational activity could open the children's eyes and welcomed our arrival.

What we taught

We wanted to educate the children about synthetic biology, but boring lectures were too much for the children to accept. After discussion, our team decided to use an origami game to guide the children to learn through the game. Comparing restriction enzymes to scissors and ligases to glue, we showed the children the basic process of gene cutting and splicing and invited them to make their own creations.

Our class was very successful, the children were immersed in the process and learned the basic concepts of synthetic biology. At the end of the class, many kids gathered around us and wished we could stay for another class.

What they learned

We also asked the whole class and a large percentage of the children said they had experienced biology, felt that synthetic biology was interesting, and wanted to learn more about it in the future. We also hoped that this seed belonging to synthetic biology could plant deeply in these kids' hearts and will one day take root and motivate them to learn more about synthetic biology.

People All Over the world

We wanted to come up with a way to quickly popularize our project and make synthetic biology available to people all over the world. The Internet gave us a chance to do so.

We designed a science breakout game (Oh My Gut) that allows players to learn the science of the human digestive system in an enjoyable gaming experience. It contains multiple ways to play, with maze-like puzzle levels and a Super Mario-like adventure section. People of all ages and types can have fun with our game. In addition, the design of each level is based on the characteristics of the corresponding digestive organs, and the attributes of each character are set with a fully scientific basis in mind.

Visit our game page for more information about our game Oh My Gut!

We hope that the excellent design of the game and our scientifically based levels and characters can attract more people to experience the fun of biology in an entertaining way, and allow people around the world to participate in our educational programs. Shown below is the second level of this game.