Team:iBowu-China/Partnership
Partnerships
Partnership with Team KEYSTONE_iGEM:
Our partnership began on the 15th of August, 2020, during the Virtual Meetup we hosted. After Team KEYSTONE_iGEM's presentation, there were ongoing discussions regarding the maintenance of their plastic degrading trash cans, reliability and suitability of their energy sources, pros and cons of their energy source in comparison to simple and mundane ones, and the potential risks of hosting bacteria within a mostly unguarded trash bin in a potentially chaotic environment (beaches and other tourist attractions). These conversations informed Team KEYSTONE_iGEM of their key safety and ethical considerations and allowed adjustments to their project design. Furthermore, one of their Public Engagement and Education Slides showed pictures of their team merchandise, including a variety of keychains, t-shirts, and shoulder bags.
The creativity of their designs and their purpose of donating the profit to charity organizations inspired us to do the same; charity was a way to show teenagers' genuine care for others – the sky is the limit. Therefore, we integrated a charity project into our Public Engagement and Education Section and had a brainstorming session with the team artists to settle on a few ideas for our designs. Our design team then worked tirelessly to create the fancy merchandise, including, but not limited to, keychains, bookmarks, stickers, and doodling books. Orders were made on Taobao, the biggest e-commerce website in China, as recommended by Team KEYSTONE_iGEM.
Then, it was time for real action. Our sales were planned for three venues and four time slots, one of which being Keystone Academy - we were invited to sell our merchandise at KEYSTONE_iGEM's school on the 19th of September, 2020. Through mass advertisement before the event, both teams were able to gain a greater audience on the day, which added to sales volume. In addition to that, we got the chance to introduce students of our age to synthetic biology and, specifically, lung carcinoma through the presentation prepared by our team member, Matthew Tang.
We are extremely grateful for our partnership. Both teams received more opportunities to communicate the project to a broader and more diverse audience, which achieved the goal of teaching science to the world.
Partnership with Team MSP-Maastricht:
Our partnership began early June when we responded to MSP's outreach for a team that could offer Chinese Translations. We translated episode 1 - 5 of their YouTube Geneducation videos on the topics of (1) iGEM and the World of Synthetic Biology, (2) Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells, (3) DNA and chromosomes, (4) Central Dogma, genetic information flow, and (5) Bacterial Transformation. This lasted until the end of July. Chinese subtitles allowed easy access by people from other cultures; it also provided clarity of any complicated scientific terminology. English may not be the native language to many participating in iGEM or people worldwide. If they speak Chinese, the subtitles would help them learn English quicker, if that is their goal, and provide them a better watching experience as they can dismiss the need to constantly rewind and repeat watching a segment to find out what it said.
At the same time, our team was finalizing our nanoparticle carrier for our magnetic protein crystals. After reading Team MSP-Maastricht's project report and realizing that our projects are related to nanoparticle delivery, we thought we should set up a discussion zoom meeting and see if it sparks any new ideas. In the meeting, we shared some of the information we found during our thorough literature review. Team MSP-Maastricht was not sure whether or not nanoparticle was the best choice to deliver siRNA. From our research, we knew that nanoparticles would play a substantial role in RNA interference therapeutics in the future, and liposomes were especially popular in this regard. We shared the following advantages of liposomes: Liposome can protect the siRNA that is intrinsically vulnerable to degradation; RNA is a polyanion and cannot freely permeate through the plasma membrane. But because liposomes are composed of an aqueous core surrounded by a lipid bilayer, it can fuse with membranes to deliver the siRNA into the cell; liposomes are also versatile with respect to outer membrane modification. PEGlation and ligand attachment can improve the stability, biocompatibility, and half-life of the liposome, making it more convenient for use. In addition, there was back and forth discussion on the opposing requirements of the liposome from the standpoint of material design. On the one hand, the liposome must be extremely stable to protect and secure the RNA on the inside, as the particle must pass through a highly packed and charged environment. On the other hand, the siRNA must be in an active form when it enters the cell. This was not a concern for our team because our cargo does not have to be released from the liposome; it can act within it. Overall, considering the many steps required to complete a nanoparticle experiment and the heightening uncertainty regarding when the University of Maastricht would allow them to enter the lab, they abandoned the idea of using nanoparticle deliver, and instead decided to directly expose a sample of Oak Processionary Caterpillars to the shRNA expressing E.coli bacteria.
Furthermore, we also partnered on the promotional video, creating multilingual subtitles to improve inclusivity within iGEM. We translated and narrated the Chinese script for Team MSP-Maastricht, and they did the same for German and Dutch for us. This resulted in seven different language narrations and subtitles for our promotional video – English, Chinese, German, Dutch, French, Japanese, and Korean. We have also translated each other’s’ final presentation video. This was significant in reaching out to many communities and celebrating each other's work while demonstrating the iGEM Core Value of Cooperation.
Moreover, As part of our team merchandise, we created a science-related doodling book aimed at children age 4-10. Team MSP-Maastricht contributed by sending us line sketches in representation of their project or some exciting concept within the realm of synthetic biology. The doodling book has been published and sold at our fundraiser sale at Shine City on the 11th of October, 2020.
Last but not least, we also uploaded a few broadcasts scripted and narrated by Team MSP-Maastricht. This is a further display of the different culture inherent within the iGEM community. The issue of caterpillar-induced allergy reaction is rarely heard of in China, so this is a way to share our fascinating projects. There are also very few fully English narrated podcasts on Ximalaya, so this is another way to diversify Ximalaya users' experience while sharing science that will inspire awe and interest. It also introduces a new perspective from the Netherlands and can expand the scope of our thinking as world citizens.
Our partnership has been crucial to our team's success. It has enriched our public engagement and education work and contributed to promoting diversity and inclusivity within the community. Thank you, Team MSP-Maastricht! We had a great time working with you all!
