Raising awareness of synthetic biology and environmental protection, while inspiring the next generation to actively contribute to a greener, more sustainable future.To achieve this, we carried out educational outreach activities in Guangdong Country Garden School and Guangzhou ZhongshanWhampoa School.

• Synthetic Biology Science Popularization Class

On June 19th, we conducted science popularization activities in three junior high school classes at Guangdong Country Garden School. We began by introducing the basic concept of DNA to help students build a scientific foundation and better understand the core ideas behind our project—specifically, how PHA microbeads can contribute to environmental improvement, along with a brief explanation of the underlying biological mechanism.

We then expanded the discussion to cover the environmental and health impacts of plastic microbeads pollution, explaining how our project offers a potential solution to these challenges. To make the topic more relatable, we connected these issues to students' daily lives and encouraged them to adopt simple, sustainable habits.

Figure 2-3 Introducte synthetic biology and our project

To assess the effectiveness of our outreach, we designed a questionnaire with both pre-education and post-education questions. This helped us evaluate how much the students' understanding had improved and the overall impact of our educational efforts. During the questionnaire, we discovered that 75% of students never heard of synthetic biology or heard of it but don’t understand, and after our promotion, 80% of student become somewhat understand synthetic biology and understand the concept of DNA. Additionally, they gave us some suggestions on how to improve our further promotion of our project, 53% of students think it is better to have some hands-on classes in the future. Based on their feedback, we subsequently conducted two hands-on DNA bracelet-making courses at two schools.

Figure 4 pre-education and post-education questions

• Hands-on Experiment

During preliminary educational activities, we learned that some students hope to deepen their understanding of synthetic biology through hands-on courses. To further engage students after our promotional session, On June 27th, we designed a hands-on experiment in Guangdong Country Garden School to spark students’ interest in DNA and encourage deeper attention to our project. Before this activity, we designed promotional posters inviting students to participate.

Figure 5-6 promotional poster

On the day of the activity, we first used a presentation to educate the students about genes and explained the process of making DNA bracelets. This process includes: extracting oral cells - lysing the cells - degrading proteins - precipitating DNA. Finally, transferring the white, fluffy precipitate into the bracelet results in a personalized DNA bracelet.

Figure 7-8 The First DNA bracelet-Making Activity

The first bracelet-making activity we hosted was well-received by the participants, with a high level of engagement. One student shared feedback after class, saying that the activity helped him discover the fun of biology. This made us realize that such hands-on, interesting practical courses can better stimulate students' interest in and understanding of synthetic biology. Therefore, to allow more students to experience the appeal of synthetic biology, we have extended this activity to other schools.

On July 21st, we visited Guangzhou Zhongshan Whampoa School and conducted another activity of making DNA bracelets. We guided the students through creating DNA bracelets and introduced simple laboratory techniques, such as using lysis buffer and protease to simulate DNA extraction. Similarly, this event attracted many interested students to participate. During the bracelet-making process, we promptly addressed their questions and explained the purpose and significance of each step, striving to ensure every student gained something valuable from the activity.

Figure 9-10 The Second DNA bracelet Making Activity

It is worth mentioning that the success rate of our gene bracelet experiment at Guangzhou Zhongshan Whampoa School has significantly improved compared to the previous one conducted at Guangdong Country Garden School. This is mainly because we learned from the experiences of the last activity and took greater care in overseeing each step of the students' operations this time.

A series of activities for middle school students received enthusiastic feedback—students found the experiment fun and accessible, and many expressed a growing interest in DNA, biology, and synthetic biology. Several students also showed curiosity about our project’s goals, indicating that the experiment successfully strengthened their understanding and motivation to explore the topic further. Additionally, we continuously improve our educational activities based on students' suggestions and our reflections after each event. For example, we added two hands-on experiment sessions after the theoretical science popularization class to enhance engagement. The success rate of the second experiment session significantly improved compared to the first, providing students with a better participation experience.

Our educational outreach had both immediate and long-term impacts. Immediately, it enhanced students’ understanding of fundamental biological concepts such as DNA and synthetic biology, as demonstrated by significant improvement in post-session questionnaire results. Many students expressed increased interest in environmental issues and biotechnology, showing that our session successfully sparked curiosity and engagement.

In the long term, we believe this experience planted the seeds for greater scientific literacy and environmental responsibility. By making complex topics accessible and actionable, we empowered students to recognize the relevance of synthetic biology in real-world challenges—such as plastic pollution—and to see themselves as potential contributors to future solutions.

Figure 11 Introducing our project to adults

Aiming to reach as many different groups as possible through our education initiatives, we hosted an online project presentation targeted at adults. Given that adults have relatively strong comprehension and knowledge-absorption capacities, our presentation comprehensively covered the project background, experimental design, and a series of dry-lab and wet-lab activities. After the presentation, we also arranged an interactive session to collect adults’ feedback on our project. They acknowledged the social value of our project and offered suggestions—for example, they felt that our current education activities and materials were not abundant enough, and advised we could use social media platforms to promote the project. Additionally, they suggested that the target audience of our education could be broader, spanning all age groups. Thus, based on their feedback, we refined our subsequent education activities: we published articles and videos related to synthetic biology and our project on three social media platforms, striving to help more people understand synthetic biology, marine pollution, and the significance of our project. In summary, this project presentation for adults was a mutual learning experience for us, and we can also continuously improve our project in the process of conducting education activities.

• Xiaohongshu (Rednote)

By September 10th, we had published 20 articles and videos on the Xiaohongshu platform. We mainly introduce the team, share educational activities during the project, and publish popular science graphics and animations about PHA microbeads to attract fans' attention to our environmental protection issues in a vivid and interesting form, and let more people understand the importance of replacing microplastics in skin care products with PHA microbeads.

Figure 12 Our Xiaohongshu Account

Through this platform, we gained a lot. By creating popular science graphics, animations and other content, we mastered the skill of transforming professional environmental knowledge like PHA microbeads into forms accessible to the public, significantly enhancing content communication power and fan appeal. Also, in the process of sharing team stories and interesting project anecdotes, we established a closer emotional bond with fans. It was no longer one-way communication, but an interactive discussion around environmental issues, which strengthened fans' recognition of the team and the project. What’s more, we successfully helped more people understand the importance of "replacing microplastics in skin care products with PHA microbeads", promoting the team's laboratory-based environmental research results to the public eye. This effectively advanced the popularization and practice of environmental concepts, extending the scientific research value of the team to the social level.

• WeChat

On the WeChat Official Account platform, our team primarily publishes expert interviews, site visits, and science popularization activities we participate in during the course of completing our research projects. This serves to showcase the progress of our work to the audience, enabling them to understand our environmental initiatives through various event formats, thereby attracting more supporters for our team and research topics.

Figure 13 Our Wechat Official Account

By writing expert interviews, on-site visits, and a series of activities related to our project, our team has mastered multi-dimensional narrative skills. We can transform professional content during scientific research into logical, engaging official account articles, improving the readability of the content. In addition, continuously showcasing the progress of our project allows the audience to intuitively understand the team's environmental initiatives through diverse event formats. This not only narrows the distance with the public but also builds a professional and reliable image of the team, enhancing the project's credibility.

• Douyin

On the Douyin platform, we primarily share entertaining videos documenting our team collaboration. Staying abreast of trends, we shoot lab transitions, release promotion videos, and stage mini-dramas to engage audiences with lively and dynamic content, thereby drawing attention to our research topics.

Figure 14 Our Dounyin Account

Through a series of videos, we turned complex research scenarios into engaging visual stories, making content easier to share. Behind-the-scenes videos showcased our team's dynamic and collaborative spirit, breaking down the perceived formality of science and building stronger audience connection. This lively format not only boosted interaction but also drew attention to our research topics, raising public awareness in an accessible and enjoyable way.

To help children understand the harm of marine pollution and the importance of PHA microbeads, we made an animation and a short comic in a vivid and interesting way.

• Role-playing science popularization animation

By role-playing as marine creatures and PHA microbeads, it tells the story of how PHA microbeads save the ocean and humanity. We have already published this video on social media platforms. After that, we plan to carry out educational science popularization activities for kindergarten and primary school students and show them this video. In this way, we can better help younger children understand the ocean's predicament and the importance of our project through easy-to-understand theater videos.

Figure 15 Role-playing animation

Video Script-English version

• Comic

We also produced a page story titled "I'm PHA!". Through personified microbead characters and simple, fun dialogues, the comic visually demonstrates the different environmental impacts of PHA biodegradable microbeads compared to conventional plastics, guiding children to recognize the issue of marine pollution.

Figure 16 Comic

Figure 17-18 commemorative coins and tote bags

Our team's merchandise includes commemorative coins and tote bags. The overall design integrates synthetic biology (PHA) with marine conservation, conveying the concept of "technology safeguarding the ocean." These items serve as event giveaways or promotional gifts to enhance the audience's sense of participation and identification with the iGEM project, sparking their interest in learning about synthetic biology and marine conservation.

Their surfaces are printed with two patterns. The first pattern features a sea turtle in a blue ocean as the core design, showcasing the beauty of marine ecosystems while hinting at the threats of marine pollution to wildlife. The second pattern uses PHA microbeads surrounding a central design to symbolize the role of PHA microbeads in purifying and protecting the ocean. Both designs display the team name "PHASco" to strengthen brand recognition.

We created relevant posters for the project, which we not only published on various social media platforms but also printed and put up in classrooms throughout our school. This initiative aims to raise awareness about our project and draw more attention to marine conservation.

Figure 19-20 poster