Lychee is one of China's most beloved fruits, celebrated for its exceptional flavor yet notorious for its rapid decay. Against this backdrop, our primary goal is to enhance public understanding of lychee deterioration and extend this knowledge to other fruits. Additionally, synthetic biology education has experienced significant growth in recent years. Therefore, our activities also focus on teaching relevant knowledge and promoting synthetic biology awareness, aiming to introduce young people to the innovative and promising world of synthetic biology while inspiring future scientists.
To maximize the diversity of our audience, our educational activities encompass a broad demographic range, from children aged 4-6 to adults up to 60 years old, including both students and general consumers.
Kindergarten Children
Little Swan Kindergarten
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
We collaborated with Little Swan Kindergarten which is located in our university, engaging children aged 4–6 (middle and senior classes) to spark early interest in science. This age group is naturally curious, highly receptive to visual and hands-on learning, and at a critical stage for forming basic concepts of health, nature, and cause-effect relationships. By introducing them to the idea of “why lychees spoil” and “how good microbes can help”, we aimed to nurture their curiosity, improve scientific literacy from an early age, and sow the seed of synthetic biology awareness in a playful, age-appropriate way.
What did we do?
We designed and delivered a 35-minute interactive session combining observation, storytelling, and hands-on activities:
Introduction – Children compared fresh and spoiled lychees, noticing differences in color, smell, and appearance, and were encouraged to think about “how to help lychees not get sick.”
Storytelling – Through the illustrated e-book The Magical Adventure of Lychee Qiqi, children learned about “good microbes,” protective membranes, and freshness preservation, with guided discussion and predictions.
Hands-on Modules – Three small-group activities: clay modeling of “good microbes”, sequencing picture cards to show the protection process, and drawing lychees with or without “protective coats.”
Sharing & Wrap-up – Children introduced their creations and shared what they learned.
What's our feedback?
Direct feedback from the children came through their enthusiastic participation in the drawing, clay modeling, and sequencing card activities. Many of them eagerly shared answers to guiding questions and showed creativity by naming their “microbe friends” and describing their protective roles for lychees. These responses demonstrated that the children were able to grasp the basic idea of “good microbes” and link it to freshness preservation. However, as this was our first education activity, we also identified areas for improvement. The session relied heavily on storytelling and imagination, but lacked more scientific and tangible materials for children to observe directly. For example, while the spoiled lychee samples captured their attention, additional hands-on science demonstrations could have made the learning experience more concrete. To address this, we plan to include simple, visualized experiments in the next session—such as observing microbial effects through safe, visible analogies—so that children can better connect abstract biological concepts with real-life phenomena.
Conversation with the Kindergarten Principal In follow-up discussions with the kindergarten principal and secretary, we received constructive suggestions for designing future sessions for young children. They emphasized that activities should rely more on visual and pictorial elements to attract attention, with bright colors in the storybook design and sufficient physical objects to engage children’s senses. They also reminded us to carefully control session duration to match children’s concentration spans. These insights will guide our adjustments for the upcoming September session, where we aim to create a more visually engaging, interactive, and scientifically tangible experience.
Further Impact
Building on this experience, the materials, PPT storybook, and activity kits were designed for easy reuse by teachers without external facilitation. We plan to develop a downloadable resource pack (including the e-book, card templates, and facilitator guide) for wider kindergarten-level outreach, ensuring the concept of microbial preservation can continue to reach young learners beyond this single session.
Educational Handbook - The Magical Adventure of Lychee Qiqi
Language Selection
📖 中文版 (Chinese Version - Original)
📖 English Version
📖 النسخة العربية (Arabic Version)
📖 Nederlandse Versie (Dutch Version)
📖 日本語版 (Japanese Version)
📖 한국어판 (Korean Version)
📖 Versão em Português (Portuguese Version)
📖 Русская Версия (Russian Version)
📖 Versión en Español (Spanish Version)
📖 Phiên Bản Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese Version)
Secondary School Students
Qihui School
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
Our another target participants are 18 special teenagers from Grade 1 and Grade 2 of the vocational high school at Qihui School in Nansha District, Guangzhou. Most of them suffer from autism, and some are also accompanied by mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, which brings certain particularities in their cognitive understanding and knowledge reception. Due to the lack of relevant content in the existing curriculum system, these children have hardly been exposed to synthetic biology knowledge before, nor have they had a systematic understanding of the principles and importance of food preservation in daily life. This is one of the core original intentions for us to plan this popular science course.
What did we do?
Supported by the Youth League Committee of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) and Qihui School, the iGEM team launched a three-day science enlightenment course integrating lychees and synthetic biology at Qihui School, the first social practice base of the "Bay Area Red Bird Innovation Team".
The course followed the cognitive path of "phenomenon observation → method verification → principle association," skillfully integrating scientific knowledge with engaging experiences. Craft difficulty increased progressively (coloring → puzzles → creation), while multi-sensory stimulation kept the children focused throughout. Notably, the course fostered problem-oriented thinking — core to iGEM — by moving from understanding that spoiled food is inedible, to learning traditional freshness methods, and finally to a basic grasp of synthetic biology. It planted seeds of curiosity, helping the children better understand the world. Safety details were prioritized: spoiled lychees were always displayed in sealed containers, and experimental materials were carefully selected. Flexible time was reserved each day to adjust the course based on the children’s state.
- Day 1: Unlocking the "Freshness Code" of Lychees
On the afternoon of June 26, the course "The 'Freshness Code' of Lychees — Understanding Food Spoilage" kicked off. The lead teacher and three teaching assistants guided the children on an exploratory journey. Sealed containers holding fresh and spoiled lychees served as the perfect teaching tool: through observing the browned peels of spoiled lychees and smelling their sour, rotten odor, the children intuitively experienced food spoilage through both sight and smell.
During the explanation of basic scientific experiments, the pH test initially confused the children. However, the surprising discovery — "Fresh lychee juice has a pH of about 4, but spoiled juice rises to 6!" — prompted them to carefully record their findings in their Science Observation Forms. The shared reading of the original picture book The Wonderful Adventure of Lychee Qiqi added even more fun: as the teacher told the story of lychees spoiling, they guided the children to wonder, "Why do lychees go bad?"
On the afternoon of July 1, the course "Verifying Freshness Technologies — Strengthening Traditional Methods and Basic Experiments" arrived as scheduled. During the pre-test data review, bar charts and line graphs visually illustrated the relationship between temperature and lychee spoilage rate. When the teacher asked, "Why do we use refrigerators to store lychees?" the children pointed to the charts and replied, "Because lychees in the low-temperature group spoil the slowest!"
 The experimental session drew all attention: a comparative test of three freshness-preserving methods — refrigeration (simulated with ice packs), sealing, and sterilization (via alcohol wiping). Lychees in containers labeled "untreated," "refrigerated," and "sealed" became the "experimental stars," as the children carefully observed the simple operations and recorded the lychees’ conditions. In the introduction to synthetic biology, the teacher used the picture book and simple diagrams to help the children gain a basic understanding of this fascinating field.
 The interactive game "Little Train Line-Up Fun" brought the class to a climax. Puzzle pieces depicting "two paths" with illustrations were quickly assembled by the children, and the little train was arranged in the correct order, ready to "depart!" During the discussion on optimizing solutions, students wrote advantages on green paper and disadvantages on pink paper, concluding that "the refrigeration group preserves freshness best but consumes a lot of energy." The children left with new knowledge and small gifts, looking forward to making "freshness guardians" in the next class.
 - Day 3: The Magical Moment of Synthetic Biology
On the afternoon of July 3, the course "Little Scientists — The Magic of Synthetic Biology" reached its exciting conclusion. In the "question-and-answer relay," the children answered questions like "Why do lychees spoil?" and "How can we keep lychees fresh?" In the knowledge connection session, a "problem tree" helped them clearly see the logical chain: "lychee spoilage → freshness methods → biological protection with engineered bacteria."
 During the simplified explanation of synthetic biology, metaphors like "cell factories" and "building blocks" made abstract concepts vivid. "Scientists place orders with beneficial bacteria, asking them to produce freshness-preserving substances," the teacher explained, using exaggerated gestures to mimic a "busy production workshop."
In the advanced craft session "Making Freshness Guardian Models," the children drew "beneficial bacteria" and "protective shields." "My beneficial bacteria have smiling faces — they’re protecting the lychees!" one child shared. Another said, "I dressed my lychee in protective clothing, so it’s strong now!"
What's our feedback: The Sprouting of Scientific Seeds
After the course, interviews yielded heartwarming feedback. A teacher shared, "The children learned to observe and think through experiments, developed hygiene awareness, and gained a better understanding of the world."
The students’ responses were full of childlike wonder and reflection: "Lychees spoil because bacteria eat them," "Beneficial bacteria are like little guardians protecting lychees," and "I loved the drawing session most — it helped me understand the lessons better."
This lychee freshness science course not only taught the children about food spoilage and preservation but also sowed seeds of scientific exploration in their hearts, helping them better appreciate the world’s richness. When the children ordered the "little train" or expressed their imagination of synthetic biology through drawings, we saw autistic teenagers engaging with the world at their best — understanding, feeling, and discovering.
After discussions with Qihui School teachers, the iGEMers gained new ideas for course design. They hope such science enlightenment courses will guide more autistic children into the magical world of science, letting curiosity and thirst for knowledge lead them to explore the unknown as little "science explorers!"
Junior High and High School Students in Shandong Province
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
To expand the geographical reach and age coverage of our science popularization activities on synthetic biology, we traveled to Yantai, Shandong Province, where we conducted two separate educational lectures for junior high and high school students. As a northern Chinese city located far from the lychee’s place of origin, Yantai provides a setting where our project demonstrates significant potential application value.
For junior and senior high school students in mainland China, both synthetic biology and iGEM are relatively unfamiliar and novel concepts, while the Lingnan cultural heritage embodied by the lychee is also little known to people in northern China. Therefore, the aim of this science popularization lecture was not only to present our research achievements in the field of intelligent preservation—such as the application of melatonin and wax coating technologies—but also to enable young audiences to appreciate the vast development prospects of synthetic biology and to understand how science can address practical challenges while preserving cultural values.
What did we do?
For approximately 40 junior high school students, we employed analogies and other interactive methods to introduce the fundamental concepts of synthetic biology, explain the core ideas of our project, and encourage students to record the lecture content in the form of illustrated hand-written posters.
What's our feedback?
During the lectures, we observed an interesting phenomenon: when asked whether they would be willing to purchase products preserved using synthetic biology techniques, junior high school students initially showed stronger resistance compared with their high school counterparts. However, after our introduction to iGEM and synthetic biology, most students showed great interest in both synthetic biology and the event itself, and exhibited a marked increase in acceptance of the technology. This finding highlights that enhancing both the depth and breadth of synthetic biology education among students remains a challenging yet crucial task for all iGEMers.
Synthetic Biology Lecture to Shimen High School Students
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
Shimen High School is one of the best high schools in Guangdong Province, in the neighboring city to our school. During the summer break, they had the opportunity to visit our university, and we took this chance to introduce our iGEM project and popularize synthetic biology. Many of them were biology competition students, and we hoped to use this opportunity to spark their interest in biology, broaden their horizons, and help them discover their own passions and pursuits, while also deepening their understanding of lychee preservation—and, by extension, the preservation of more fruits.
What did we do?
We held the “Introduction to Lychee Guardians, Synthetic Biology and iGEM” lecture on August18th , with approximately 150 newly graduated junior high school students in attendance. The lecture was conducted in Chinese and English to ensure inclusive learning and clear explanation of synthetic biology content.
- Q: Why not modify the lychee itself?
- A: First, we have been avoiding direct lychee modification, cause modifying food plants faces legal restrictions and low public acceptance; Second, genetically modified soybeans, for example, only optimize traits in traditional organisms without new functions—this is not synthetic biology. Our bacteria, however, gain new abilities via gene incorporation, which is true synthetic biology.
Apart from the questions related to the knowledge about the lychee preservation, there are also students caring about the iGEM competition which they have never heard about. For example, a student asked the questions related to the career planning “Why participate in the iGEM competition?” After the answer, they shown great interest in this new subject and popular competition. After the lecture, we distributed the keychains and stickers of lychee image to every student, promoting the “Lychee Guardians” project and our iGEM experience in their families and peer circles.
bu  In biology education at high schools in mainland China, topics like genetic engineering are incorporated, but synthetic biology is not taught as a systematic subject. Moreover, knowledge acquisition mostly relies on textbooks and exercise problems. We aimed to help these students gain a more systematic and comprehensive understanding of synthetic biology and its application in lychee preservation through our lectures.
For the lecture to Grade 12 students, we took into account that they were from Shimen Middle School’s competition classes: many had participated in Olympiads of various subjects and possessed a solid academic foundation. Therefore, we explained the design details and principles of our wet lab and dry lab in greater depth. During the lecture, we had engaging interactions with the students, who showed great interest in our presentation and carefully noted down their thoughts and understandings.
What's our feedback?
In the Q&A session, students in both grades actively raised their hands to ask questions; many of these questions were either ones we had never been asked before or issues we had not previously considered, which made us very happy and surprised. Examples include:
- Will the waxy coating affect the flavor of lychees?
- Will the uneven distribution of the sprayed bacteria lead to uneven preservation effects on individual litchi fruits?
- Without a concentration detection mechanism for product synthesis, how do you ensure no overproduction?
Kazakhstani Students’ Visit to HKUST (GZ) iGEM Lab
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
In August,our iGEM team recently welcomed a group of students from Kazakhstan to our laboratory. During the visit, we introduced our 2025 project on lychee preservation through melatonin treatment, wax coating, and pH sensor technology. The students toured our wet lab, observed demonstrations, and engaged in lively discussions about the applications and ethical aspects of synthetic biology. 
What did we do?
- Laboratory Tour
The students were guided through our wet lab facilities.Our team members explained essential laboratory safety rules, instruments, and workflows.Demonstrations highlighted how synthetic biology experiments are carried out in practice. - Project Presentation
We presented our iGEM 2025 project, which focuses on lychee preservation using melatonin treatment, wax coating, and pH sensor technology .The students learned about the biological mechanisms behind our approach: Melatonin for reducing respiration and delaying browning. Wax coating as a physical barrier to retain moisture. pH sensor for freshness detection. Our dry lab work was also introduced, including BactaGenome, SynbioMCP, and drone-based precision agriculture . - Interactive Discussion
We held a Q&A session where the students asked about applications of synthetic biology in food safety and agriculture. The conversation also touched on broader ethical and safety considerations of genetic engineering. - Questionnaire Survey
• At the end of the activity, we conducted a short survey to assess the students’ learning outcomes.
• The questionnaire measured:
• Their understanding of basic synthetic biology concepts.
• Their level of interest in pursuing further knowledge in the field.
• Their feedback on the clarity and accessibility of our presentation.
• Results showed that most students gained a clearer understanding of synthetic biology and expressed increased interest in exploring the subject further.
Our Impact
• The visit fostered cross-border communication and mutual learning between students from different cultural and academic backgrounds.
• The Kazakhstani students gained hands-on exposure to cutting-edge synthetic biology research.
• The questionnaire confirmed that our activity was effective in raising awareness and sparking curiosity about synthetic biology.
• Our team benefited from engaging with an international audience, strengthening our science communication and outreach capacity.
HKUST-GZ Open Day
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
On June 15, 2025, immediately after the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) — a crucial exam for Chinese students transitioning from senior high school to university—seniors in Grade 12 were filled with both confusion and aspirations for their future. At this pivotal moment, our iGEM team set up a booth, tasked with explaining synthetic biology, iGEM, and knowledge related to our project to these students. Additionally, as senior students (from universities), we provided guidance on university and major selection.
What did we do?
During the booth activity, we prepared a lychee transportation mini-game. Participants could simulate fresh fruit transportation through fingertip operations, immersively experiencing the challenges of freshness preservation and the significant role of scientific and technological solutions. Many students gained a firsthand understanding of the difficulties in lychee preservation through this game, which heightened their interest in lychee preservation methods.
Meanwhile, we also introduced to them that synthetic biology approaches can be applied to extend the shelf life of lychees—a field far beyond the scope of their high school biology knowledge. The students also asked us questions about the discipline of synthetic biology and the iGEM competition. We hope our answers will be helpful and inspiring to them during this summer vacation, a period that is vital for their future choices.
What's our feedback?
This is actually our first time to do education activity, so whether it is the quantity of questionnaires or the professionalism of the questions in the questionnaires, they are relatively low, lacking effective and usable feedback. But our team highly appreciate that Human Practices are tightly bound with society impact and how iGEMers express and listen to society needs, so later in our education activities, we greatly improved those problems we met.
University Students
HKUST-GZ PLACE International Summer Camp Exhibition
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
To bridge science and culture, our team curated an exhibition titled “The Long Journey of A Lychee: A Dialogue Between Science and Culture” at the HKUST(GZ) 2025 PLACE International Summer Camp. This 14-day cultural program gathered nearly 150 international students from 31 countries and 400 newly enrolled undergraduates of HKUST(GZ). Our audience was highly diverse in nationality, academic background, and cultural experience. By designing an exhibition that intertwined ancient Chinese culture with modern biotechnology, we created an accessible dialogue between tradition and cutting-edge science. 
What did we do?
Our exhibition included three major components:
- Exhibition Panels
- The Long Journey of A Lychee: Showcasing historical transportation routes, ancient preservation methods (bamboo sealing, ice jar cooling, beeswax sealing), and the cultural significance of lychees in Chinese history.
- Synthetic Biology for Smart Preservation: Explaining the principles of synthetic biology and our iGEM project’s solutions for lychee preservation, including melatonin biosynthesis and wax membrane formation.
- Interactive Game: Lychee Road Monopoly –
- A large-scale board game recreating the ancient route of transporting lychees to Chang’an.
- Players experienced the logistical and preservation challenges faced in history, deepening their understanding through playful learning.
- Word Games about Synthetic Biology –
- Word-filling and word-search activities based on biological terms, enabling participants to engage with synthetic biology concepts in an enjoyable and memorable way.
What's our feedback?
To better understand participants’ reception of our exhibition and to improve our future outreach activities, we designed a feedback board as an interactive evaluation tool. The board consisted of two parts: a sticker section and a sticky-note section. Visitors who enjoyed the exhibition were invited to place a lychee-shaped sticker on the board, visually representing their appreciation. Meanwhile, those who wished to share more detailed thoughts could leave comments on sticky notes.
As shown in the feedback collected, participants left encouraging messages such as “This is great!”, “2025 iGEM Bravo!”, and drawings that expressed their enthusiasm. Some also offered constructive suggestions. For example, some participants asked about the advantages of our approach compared with traditional cold-chain preservation, while others raised concerns about whether synthetic biology-based preservation might affect the natural flavor of lychees. These questions encouraged us to engage in deeper reflection, and we subsequently integrated these perspectives into our later Human Practices activities. 
Synthetic Biology Workshop
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
After the exhibition, We independently organized an iGEM Synthetic Biology Workshop at HKUST (Guangzhou), inviting international students from countries including the United States, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, and Belarus to explore the fascinating world of synthetic biology together.
What did we do?
During the Lab Fun Fair, participants conducted hands-on experiments such as measuring the pH and sugar content of grapes, while also operating equipment like homogenizers and centrifuges. For many, it was their very first time stepping into a laboratory and experiencing scientific experiments firsthand. "I had only seen these instruments in textbooks before—being able to actually use them today was so exciting!" said several Chinese students. The activity not only made knowledge come alive but also further fueled everyone's passion for science.
In casual discussions, students even compared the price of lychees in their home countries, discovering that costs could vary dramatically—from Germany to Australia, reaching as high as 213 RMB per kilogram. These cross-cultural exchanges naturally underscored the international relevance of our project. At the end of the event, Edison from the U.S. remarked: "This experiment gave me a deeper understanding of synthetic biology—it was truly fascinating!" Meanwhile, Jakob Lessing from Germany praised the project's creativity and practical value with great enthusiasm.
Every participant also received a souvenir, which many international students said not only helped them better understand the iGEM competition but also inspired them to further engage with synthetic biology. This event showcased our team's strong organizational capacity and influence, while building a meaningful bridge for cross-cultural science education.
What's our feedback?
According to the survey results, the vast majority of participants found our experiment and synthetic biology quite engaging. 60% of participants found the experiment enjoyable and were willing to recommend it to others. Most participants showed a positive attitude towards trying more experiments, with 53 expressing interest in exploring further content. Additionally, both synthetic biology and the iGEM competition caught the attention of participants, with more than 30% expressing interest in learning more about synthetic biology and 15% showing strong interest in participating in iGEM. Regarding products to extend the freshness of fruits, 67 participants showed interest in purchasing, while 66 were willing to use an app to identify lychee varieties and assess their freshness.
Moreover, when asked whether they would use an AI assistant like ChatGPT to help with learning synthetic biology, 69 participants expressed interest, with most believing that such an AI tool would motivate them to learn more about the field. （DRY）These results indicate that participants are enthusiastic about exploring synthetic biology and recognize the potential of modern technological tools, especially AI assistants, in enhancing their learning experience and understanding of the field.
Public Education
Community Education/Communication
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
In order to make our educational activities cover as many age groups as possible and to promote knowledge of synthetic biology to all sectors of society, we carried out educational and exchange activities in the community around our school on July 5th. We chose a community called Xinghedongyuewan(星河 东悦湾), located in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, which has a dense population and a large flow of people. We selected the middle-aged and elderly as our main target audience, so we specifically scheduled the event at the morning, which basically coincides with the activity time of these people in China.
What did we do?
Initially, we hoped to hold this event in the form of a community lecture, but through practice, we found that using a lecture could not efficiently cover the entire community with our educational activities. Therefore, we promptly adjusted our approach and conducted educational activities for the middle-aged and elderly in the community in the form of interview and face-to-face discussion, which greatly utilized the characteristic of the community's large flow of people.
During this community education activity, we have fully conducted educational initiatives targeting the middle-aged and elderly group, filling the gap in their knowledge of synthetic biology. Meanwhile, following our suggestions, they will also promote relevant synthetic biology knowledge within their own families, enabling synthetic biology to truly enter households.
What's our feedback?
This educational activity still revealed some problems, especially in the dissemination of synthetic biology knowledge.
- First, the threshold for understanding synthetic biology is high. It is difficult for some of the middle-aged and elderly in the community who have not received higher education to understand synthetic biology, which has created some obstacles for our promotion of synthetic biology.
- Second, influenced by some outdated ideas, there is resistance to synthetic biology among the middle-aged and elderly. This kind of thought is difficult to reverse through verbal education alone. However, through this education activity ,we also learned a lot, especially about conducting educational activities and promoting synthetic biology for middle-aged and elderly people.
Through analyzing and finding the solutions to these difficulties, we made many targeted adjustments, considering that science has no age limits: we lowered the cognitive barrier by explaining synthetic biology in more relatable, easy words instead of complex technical jargon. Secondly, we designed interesting educational formats and prepared some small gifts to fully motivate the public's initiative, encouraging them to proactively learn about synthetic biology. These improvements and methods have also greatly assisted the implementation of our following educational activities.
Brochure on Lychee Preservation
Focusing on the preservation needs of small-scale lychee distributors and leveraging our independently developed innovative technologies, our team has designed this lychee preservation brochure. It aims to provide distributors with practical preservation guidelines while showcasing the great potential of synthetic biology in addressing this challenge.
The brochure conducts an in-depth analysis of the root causes of lychee spoilage from three key dimensions: the fruit's inherent spoilage characteristics, microbial infection, and environmental factors. This helps distributors gain a clear understanding of the essence of the problem. In the section on practical preservation methods, four simple, easy-to-implement, and low-cost preservation techniques—low-temperature refrigeration, ice water soaking, breathable packaging, and timely sorting and handling—are provided, tailored to the operational conditions and scenarios of small-scale businesses. Each method includes clear operating steps and precautions, ensuring that distributors can quickly master them and effectively reduce the loss of lychees.
The core highlight of the promotional leaflet lies in the dual-path biological preservation solution developed by our team. Rooted in the characteristics of Lingnan and integrated with cutting-edge synthetic biology technologies, this solution targets the Bacillus subtilis naturally present on the lychee surface to create a new safe and efficient preservation path. First, it enables engineered bacteria to synthesize plant-derived wax on the lychee surface, forming a micro-protective layer. Another strain of engineered bacteria is used to secrete a small amount of melatonin on the lychee surface. This melatonin can scavenge reactive oxygen species inside the fruit, thereby delaying lychee senescence and decay from within.
What is more noteworthy is that the entire preservation system features safety and environmental friendliness. It avoids potential residue issues caused by chemical preservatives, aligns with the current trend of green consumption, and at the same time provides a brand-new solution for lychee preservation at room temperature. We are committed to promoting the in-depth integration of synthetic biology and local agriculture through this technology.
📄 Lychee Preservation Brochure
Search Webiste
In order to enable more people to learn synthetic biology systematically and conveniently, we have created an online knowledge retrieval platform to make learning synthetic biology faster and easier. All users can access structured iGEM resources in one place, including experimental methods, past projects, evaluation criteria, and official documents, without relying on scattered search results. This platform is designed specifically for iGEM teams, students, and educators, supporting multilingual search, topic browsing, and basic filtering to help users quickly locate the content they need.
The audience not only includes iGEM teams and researchers from around the world, but also targets students, teachers, and the general public who wish to get started or gain a deeper understanding of synthetic biology. The platform supports functions such as multilingual keyword search, browsing by topic, filtering by date or source, and saving useful results, enabling efficient learning and research. Internal testing has found that the platform has significantly improved efficiency in helping users find experimental plans and learn from previous project experiences.
In the future, we will continuously update content, optimize filtering functions, and explore visual knowledge graphs to help learners establish a systematic knowledge network. At the same time, we will promote through the iGEM community and educational activities, encouraging users to work together to improve the resource library and make the platform a sustainable center for learning and exchanging synthetic biology.
Science Presentation Competition
Who did we choose and why did we reach out to them?
To further expand the reach of our educational activities, Jane Jingen GUO from our team participated in the 2025 Guangzhou Regional Science Presentation Competition held at the Guangdong Science Center from July 30 to 31.
Co-hosted by the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology and the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Education, the competition attracted participants from across the city, including science popularization practitioners, researchers from universities and research institutes, technical backbones of high-tech enterprises, and science communication enthusiasts from all walks of life. In the preliminary round, 678 contestants competed fiercely, and finally, 164 contestants from 29 teams qualified for the finals.
In addition to on-site audiences, the competition was broadcast live both via video streaming and photo streaming. The video live stream garnered over 80,000 views, while the photo live stream received more than 10,000 views.
What did we do?
During her 4-minute speech in the final round, Jane introduced our team's project and the development history of lychee preservation to the audience. She emphasized the significant value of technological advancement in lychee preservation, and further elaborated on synthetic biology, the iGEM competition, and their significance for college students to turn their ideas into reality. Her vivid and engaging interpretation won high praise from the judges and the audience. She ultimately scored 90.38 points, ranking 26th in the competition, and also obtained over 3,000 votes in the online voting segment.
What's our feedback?
Wanfeng PENG, one of the judges of the competition, who holds the position of Grade IV Staff Member and Senior Engineer at the Guangzhou Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated: "Many contestants focused their interpretations on cutting-edge scientific and technological achievements, especially those local to Guangzhou. This is a vivid practice of popularizing outstanding sci-tech achievements."
An audience named Siyi LIANG said: "The interpretations this time were very interesting. They helped me gain a better understanding of the causes of lychee spoilage and how synthetic biology can be applied to solve related problems. Before this, I didn't even know what synthetic biology was, but after listening to the interpretations, I have a much clearer understanding of it."
Our reflection
We are delighted to have had the opportunity to make our voice heard by more people through this competition. Meanwhile, we also learned a great deal about presentation techniques from other outstanding speakers, which we will apply to our future educational activities.
SynBio Themed Debate
Background and Purpose
This debate was conceived as part of our Human Practices initiatives, with the intention of pushing conversations about synthetic biology beyond the laboratory and into the public sphere. By staging arguments around real-world controversies, the event not only sharpened the skills of debate teams but also created an accessible platform where law, biology, and social concerns intersect. In doing so, we hoped to cultivate three things at once: the ability of students to navigate science-driven arguments, greater public awareness of synthetic biology in everyday products, and a more sustained dialogue across different disciplines.
What did we do?
We organised an online debate focusing on the controversial ethics and biosafety concerns in synthetic biology. We invited four university debate teams from all over China. Meanwhile, we conduct livestreaming through an Internet platform. We wish such activities could help the relevant stakeholders enhance their understanding of synthetic biology and make the public reflect on their previous concerns and understandings of synthetic biology. And we expect that during the fierce debate, we can receive some informative and inspiring insights from those who are not synthetic biology majors.
Debate Topics
The motions were deliberately chosen to touch on urgent and often disputed questions.
On consumer products: Should governments require prominent labeling on all goods produced through synthetic biology? This motion focused on issues of consumer rights, transparency, and the proportionality of regulation.
On academic publishing: Should journals restrict publications on research that enables the recreation of highly pathogenic organisms, limiting them to conclusions rather than full methods? This motion was inspired by the 2018 case of horsepox virus synthesis and highlighted the tension between scientific openness and biosecurity.
Event Design and Format
The competition unfolded at two levels. The first was an internal training round within our university debate society. It adopted compact 3v3 debates in short cycles, designed to test the motions and give participants a first encounter with the complexity of science based arguments. The second was an inter university tournament, carried out in collaboration with other Greater Bay Area institutions. This stage blended flash debates, which were concentrated sessions using a common motion in one afternoon, with long cycle debates that stretched over two weeks with new motions introduced at each round. Every match was livestreamed, and adjudication was entrusted to a balanced panel of debate specialists, legal scholars, and biotechnology experts.
What Did We Get?
The teams assumed they were policymakers and argued why they thought some policies would be rational. Even though we haven't invited true policymakers, the participants are law major students, whom understood their will to some extend. This would help us to promote synbio and diminish public concerns about safety.
Our Stream Media and Instagram
We have used TikTok and Instagram as the platforms for public to gain a better understanding of our work, HP members took the opportunity of filming our team’s promotion video, to document one day of an iGEMer in our team from a third-person perspective. The footage was then edited into a vlog and released on TikTok. Through this engaging format, we not only promoted synthetic biology and the iGEM competition, but also enhanced our team’s presence on streaming platforms, thereby increasing the public visibility of our project.