Team:ZJUT China B/Education
In the course of the project, our team has conducted profound scientific exchanges with different purposes and levels with experts, professors, students with different learning experiences in synthetic biology, the general public, children, etc., and your suggestions have gradually improved our project. , And we have also narrowed the distance between science and ordinary people.
Interview experts in the company
Communication with GenScript
E-mail contact about fluorescent probe
After early information retrieval and awarding of our need for fluorescent probe design, we came up with the idea of consulting GenScript company.
After sorting out the content of the interview questions and adjusting the document format many times, the team members in charge of probe design even polish every word. We also solicited opinions from members who were not participating in the design, and got good feedback. Finally, we got in touch with GenScript for the first time via email on July 27, 2020.
After half a month of communications and discussions with GenScript, over 20 emails and 4 major revisions,we completed the probe design.
First generation form:
Fifth generation form:
Detection experiments interview:
Before the interview, we prepared a discussion of the issues and sent them to GenScript in advance. Then we prepared a preview of the interview.
Finally,October 3rd we started an hour and a half of telephone communication through the cloud phone initiated by the company, discussing the design of the test experiment and recorded it with the consent of GenScript.
Finally, through sorting, we successfully solved the design problem of the test experiment, It is an essential exchange for the success of our experiment and project.
Interview with Leaders of BIOER company
We lack the knowledge of virus detection market and device design, so we decided to visit the company.Before our field research , we developed a reference plan for the interview, and then contacted a well-known domestic virus detection company called BIOER. After a half month negotiation with the marketing manager of the company, finally our team conducted an in-depth interview with the technical director, marketing manager and general manager within the company on August 4 this year.
This is our marketing research plan:
In the experiments, they provided us with effective advice on freeze-drying, one step plant direct PCR, and how to effectively avoid RNase in the environment. On the device, they not only provided us with a way to realize the device automation, but also funded us with the filter and other device components. All of these have played a huge role in promoting our project, making our project more mature.
Here are the interview details:
Interview professors in synthetic biology
We sorted out the problems we encountered, and the HP team members were responsible for finding experts who might be able to solve our problems. Through email and phone calls in advance, we finally solved the problems encountered in the process.
Teacher Sun Dongchang helped us solve the problem of how to remove the redundant His-tags and pointed out the problems in our experimental design.
Teacher Ge helped us solve the problem that we could not get the best emission wavelength due to the insufficient precision of the experimental instrument.
Teacher Liu helped us solve the problem of pipeline liquid transportation in the microfluidic device.
The process of accomplishing the project is like a treasure hunt which is full of difficulties and confusion, we are grateful for their patience and wise suggestions.
Communication with iGEMers
Eastern China iGEM Meetup
Eastern China iGEM Meeting is a grand meeting of iGEM teams in East China and an important platform for regional synthetic biology exchange.Our team had a project sharing and communication.It was the first presentation with the other iGEM teams.We summarized the research dilemma we encountered at the present stage，asked the teachers how to carry out international research.
At the meeting, our team found a lot of imaginative project principles and directions. We were very surprised and learned a lot, and became more interested in synthetic biology.
Three virus detection teams meeting
Our team got to know the project members of Northeast University and East China University of Science and Technology at the online communication conference in East China. The iGEM project theme of our three universities is virus detection.In order to further understand the differences between our programs and uphold the principle of helping each other and learning from each other, our team invited two universities to participate in the exchange meeting held by us.
1.Speech at NEU 2.Speech at ECUST 3.Speech at ZJUT
Through discussion, we found two common development directions, which also explained the problems that our project needs to solve in the future:
1.How to collect the test samples?
2.How is clinical waste treated?
We have also jointly conceived the preliminary elements of the applet.We proposed the idea of cooperation on small programs, HP data, and setting parallel controls in the experiment. By the end of iGEM, we had completed the exchange of HP data. The experimental cooperation needs to be completed by all parties, which is too difficult to be realized.platform.
In general, through this meeting, we reached a preliminary consensus on the cooperation among the three schools and carried out follow-up cooperation in the aspects of questionnaires and small procedures.At the same time, the three teams put forward reasonable questions and suggestions according to each other, which enriched and developed the project.
"virus Police-From scouting to arresting" Seminar
On September 6th, we received an invitation from SMMU to participate in a six-campus seminar.
In the process of participation, our team members raised questions about the dynamic design based on the "pulling whistle" principle of BIT, and believed that it might have problems such as unstable operation and leakage.The meeting will discuss applicable scenarios and understand the safety of sampling, sample preservation and sample processing.We propose that biological hazardous waste treatment companies can be considered as a direction of sample treatment.In the discussion of ideas for HP activities and how to get effective feedback, we shared our ideas and suggested that we could keep a close relationship with the enterprise.
The 7th Conference China iGEMer Community
The four-day CCIC conference, with online lectures by many renowned scholars, is a rare opportunity to learn about synthetic biology and related fields.
In order to better participate in this communication, we spent half a month to make the first poster and the first project presentation video. In addition, in order to ensure the integrity of the communication process and improve the harvest of participating in CCIC, we made targeted division of labor:
Some students are responsible for the order of our meeting:
1.A >> flash video << was prepared to attract students' eyes and pay attention to us.
2.Write the host draft and rehearse the poster presentation in advance, and invite faculty members to experience and improve before starting.
3.We will arrange a special person to welcome and bid farewell to the students and teachers who come to the venue and at the same time carry out systematic publicity for our project.
4. Arrange one person from each group to facilitate the in-depth exchange of specific content.
At the same time, we arranged another batch of HP students:
1. Be responsible for looking at different venues for cooperation and communication opportunities.
2. Record and organize teachers' lectures related to the project, and organize them.
During the formal communication, a total of 40 iGEMers came to our meeting to discuss various aspects of the project, including experimental design, mathematical modeling, and HP cooperation.In the poster phase, we showed the poster named "Little Grape " of our project and made a presentation video.The advisor gave us pertinent advice and helped us develop all aspects of our project.
After the meeting, we arranged team members to check the replay in detail, and cooperated with many people to collect and sort out the content of "what CCIC has learned" . In addition, we also received very high-level feedback and souvenirs from THE CCiC Committee, pointing out the problems that need to be solved in our project, which we also discussed in detail and revised the program.
Academic exchange with SJTU
We found that quite a few teams in the iGEM communication group had a need for the crRNA design which was also part of our project design, but we lacked the experience to build the virus database.On the CCIC, we found a team from SJTU that might be able to cooperate with us and complement each other. After a brief communication in the poster introduction, we got to know each other.After a period of project introduction and demand exchange, we realized the necessity of carrying out the exchange meeting and chose to hold it on October 15th.
We first introduced the basic knowledge of crRNA design that may be related to the algorithm, and the basic principle of the function of our project. We focused the discussion on the idea of our database, and organized the design into a document for their reference.After listening to our share, they came up with some Suggestions on how to build a database on the web and offered to help us build it.Finally, they wanted us to make suggestions about what the database could do after they had built it in general.
The main objects of our education and publicity are children, college students from various majors, and ordinary people who are interested in the field of science. We pay special attention to the interactivity during the activity and the feedback of the participants to our activities, and we have set up different feedback mechanisms when we hold these activities.
Classroom on cloud
Our team contacted Liujie Zheng, who is teaching in Sichuan Province.
Our idea of going to class in the cloud was approved by him. He played the video resources of our cloud class in his teaching class and shared them with other classes to let more children know about iGEM, synthetic biology and our projects.
The content of our >> cloud class video is divided into introducing simple synthetic biology concepts and basic knowledge of viruses, and also introducing the significance of our project to the students. In order to cultivate their interest in scientific research, we specially opened up a laboratory link on the cloud to photograph the process of our experiments, so that they could walk into the laboratory at close range and uncover the mystery of the laboratory.
The feedback video and letters they produced moved us very much and affirmed our activities, which made us more firmly believe in our belief in scientific communication and provided impetus for our subsequent activities.
Freshman Seminar
The seminar is a tradition of our iGEM team, aiming to inherit the spirit of scientific research. Introducing iGEM to freshmen is a way for them to know synthetic biology and lay a foundation for their future career planning.
In the early stage of the seminar, we made full preparations. And we sent the flash video and promotion push of iGEM seminar through the notification group chat and WeChat official account.We clearly know that iGEM is a comprehensive competition, which needs talents from all aspects, so we also designed the poster of the freshman seminar, and contacted students to widely forward and publicize it, actively encouraging everyone to participate.In the end, our seminar attracted people from all the colleges.
At the seminar, we first introduced the specific content of synthetic biology and what iGEM is, introduced our competition project this year, and discussed the specific composition and competition requirements of the team.We hope that through this lecture, more students can understand and participate in the international Synthetic Biology Competition.
At the end of the seminar, we collected the students' feedback on the seminar.The result of the feedback makes us feel a sense of achievement.We received a total of 164 effective feedback questionnaires from many different majors and grades.The data showed that most of the students learned what iGEM was and what synthetic biology was. At the same time, through our project explanation and popular science publicity, 31.1% of the students basically understood the working principle of Cas13 protein, and 59.76% had a preliminary understanding of it. 36.59% students have a basic understanding of the luminescence principle of fluorescent probe, and 55.49% have a preliminary concept of it. As many as 75% of students want to join the next iGEM.This feedback questionnaire tells us the necessity and effectiveness of the seminar, which not only brings knowledge to students, but also stimulates their inner love and passion for biology.
Summer social practice activity
Summer social practice activity is an annual activity in our school, aiming to get students out of the campus, contact the masses and understand the society. This activity is mainly aimed at the whole school of students. Most of the students from different colleges know nothing about the field of synthetic biology. Our team participated in the summer social practice held by the school this year to publicize the relevant knowledge of synthetic biology and the preliminary ideas of our project. The teachers gave high recognition to our project and provided suggestions for us to conduct social research during the epidemic.
Wechat official account and Bilibili
We plan to educate the public through social media platforms. This year, we synchronized the progress of our project on wechat official account. The articles introducing our project have been read by nearly 1,000 people and widely reprinted by everyone. At the same time, we are also committed to spreading scientific knowledge to the public. Our team and Chuangsheng company jointly launched a knowledge push series to introduce biological knowledge to everyone.
Bilibili station is a video broadcasting platform with high activity among young people, with a huge user group interested in science. Our team has opened the account number of Bilibili , on which we share behind-the-scenes trivia and simple project results when doing the project. Through the video, we can make a more intuitive introduction to everyone. We also wrote a column on Bilibili to expand the impact of our project.Yujie Liu from The Civil Aviation University of China learned about the iGEM competition through our video. She was very interested in synthetic biology and contacted us. After discussing with the instructor, we decided to invite her to participate in the iGEM.
Fun Games
Based on Crayon Physics Deluxe s game itself and using its own set of physical principles, we designed a level about our project-specific binding and probe-inspired physical manifestations. It is uploaded to the official website for everyone to play. This part is more of an attempt to express our project in another form. Our checkpoints can be downloaded at http: //pg.crayonphysics.com/to play)
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