The purpose of the meeting with CUHK professionals was to seek expert guidance on our proposed ideas, hoping to have feedback inspiring us to improve on our project and for a potential future workshop with them due to the lack of equipment in our own laboratory.

We sincerely appreciate the invaluable support and expertise provided by the professionals at CUHK and were deeply impressed and inspired by their successful product demonstration during our meeting, which serves as a key reference for our own development efforts.

With their guidance, we narrowed down the three proposed proteins—FLG, HSP70, and fish collagen—to FLG alone, as the other two presented challenges: HSP70 is widely studied in other laboratories, and fish collagen proved too complex for our current capabilities. Additionally, they suggested that a skin model, transwell assay, and scratch assay could serve as pivotal methodologies for our experiments. This greatly enhances our project's development potential.

HKU visit

The primary objective of our meeting with HKU professionals was to present our project concept, engage in meaningful discussions, and gather expert feedback to refine our approach and establish a clear direction for our experimental design. Through presentations and discussions, we aimed to strengthen our project's scientific foundation and practical applications.

We are deeply grateful for the invaluable insights and guidance provided by the HKU team. Thanks to this collaboration, we were able to to refine our project ideas, including creating disease models in cells by using inflammatory-inducing genes (eg LPS, IL4, IL13) to trigger inflammatory response, instead of our original plan of using FLG knocked out cells, which we found out is not only difficult to execute, but also how it doesn’t really equate to AD cells. Furthermore, they also enriched our knowledge on FLG, NMF and experiment procedures, which enabled us to carry on this project with more direction and certainty.

Their input not only validated our core ideas but also provided actionable steps to enhance our work. They have also offered for us to work in their lab and to provide us with some human lung fibroblast cell lines, allowing us to work with mammalian cells in their lab with a higher biosafety level. This meeting greatly enhances our project development potential.

We sincerely appreciate Dr. Luk’s time and willingness to share his expertise, as his answers addressed our questions in a clear and informative manner. His explanations helped demystify complex aspects of eczema, making the subject more accessible to our team.

Thanks to this interview, we were able to clarify uncertainties and gain a stronger foundation in eczema research. The discussion has not only reinforced our confidence in the project’s direction but also identified potential areas for further exploration.

Meeting with Dr. Luk was an invaluable opportunity to deepen our knowledge and understanding of eczema, which will greatly assist in refining our project direction. His expertise provided clarity on key aspects of the condition, from its underlying causes to current treatment approaches. The insights he shared have not only expanded our perspective but also highlighted important considerations for our work.

To gather more information on our project's effect on society, an online survey was created. We distributed this survey to people while doing interviews, and also posted it on our Instagram account. Around 90 people completed our survey.

From the survey, we learned that most patients who had eczema thought current products in the market were not helpful in curing their eczema. For those who did not have eczema but had friends or family with eczema, they also pointed out that their friends and family did not find current products helpful.

A large majority of the surveyees also preferred products to be creams. This insight helped us decide on what texture our treatment should be.

To step out the framework of the science literature, we interviewed a long term eczema patient, Hilary, to gain insight from the human perspective. While we focus on the science of the FLG gene in our project, the patient’s real life vivid experience made a crucial message: current treatments only offer short-term skin repair but fail to stop the debilitating urge to scratch, ruining sleep and social life.

The patient preferred non-greasy creams over oils and simple, actionable monitoring, which provided insights to improve our future design. With the connection with real patients, we further understood the importance of the intertwined objectives of seeking patients’ actual needs and promoting daily life improvement for patients while proposing new treatments in iGEM.

The primary goals of the online meeting with the HTS Canada iGEM Team were to build connections with another team, gain and give valuable feedback on each other’s projects, and discuss potential collaborations.

This meeting enabled us to exchange ideas and strategies that could enhance both our projects and team dynamics. During our discussions, we shared insights on effective team management practices as well as the challenges and successes each team has faced. The potential for collaboration between our teams is also exciting. We explored ideas for joint initiatives that could leverage our respective strengths, such as shared workshops or promotional opportunities.

Overall, the online meeting was a significant step toward building a supportive network within the iGEM community. We are deeply thankful for the chance to connect with their team, and look forward to collaborating with them in the future.