Time: 20/2/2025

We consulted Professor Wong Hung of CUHK, who found bed bug prevalence is high in low-income areas, but eradication is time-consuming, causing residents to avoid professional help. The key takeaway is the need to raise public awareness and stress community cooperation (regular cleaning) to prevent spread and recurrence.

Time: 12/2/2025

We consulted Professor Wong Desen, a synthetic biology expert, regarding the testing and use of lactic acid to validate our project's scientific approach. His feedback was crucial, informing our experimental design and ensuring the solution is scientifically viable.

Time: 1/3/2025

Consulting Mr Cheung (FEHD) revealed the government's minimal role in bed bug control. We identified domestic helpers and low-income residents as key targets and decided to use workshops and flyers to tackle the low public awareness.

Time: 12/4/2025

Interviewing Unle Chow confirmed that low-income residents underestimate bed bugs and find professional help too costly. His feedback—to consider the bed bug birth cycle in our design and his willingness to use the device if effective—made affordability key and prompted research into the local acceptance of chemical devices.

Time: 11/6/2025

Interviewing Mr. Francisco (ChinCheX) revealed traps are ineffective with people present, repellents are temporary, and the best method is professional 70°C heat. We decided to design our trap to prevent bed bugs from entering properties, as it's the most effective and cost-efficient strategy.

Time: 28/7/2025

Our second meeting with Mr. Francisco (ChinCheX) confirmed two key collaboration points: we will work on a case study regarding bed bug infestation, and he agreed to participate in a promotion video, which will involve filming footage and conducting a short interview at his company.

Time: 8/8/2025

A Cambridge Med graduate advised three safety precautions for our L-lactate kit: it must be childproof with detailed instructions, L-lactate concentration needs control to prevent throat damage from inhalation, and the lactate must be free of E. coli by-products (LPS).

Time: 8/8/2025

We collaborated with Mr. Francisco (ChinCheX) to produce a promotion video detailing the bed bug birth cycle and the stages of infestation. This video was uploaded to our Instagram account to maximize exposure and raise public awareness of the issue.

Time: 14/12/2024

During our school’s open day, we introduced iGEM and synthetic biology to our guests and visitors by presenting our project from last year. We also shared our thoughts about the different aspects of synthetic biology to the people who were unfamiliar with this term.

Time: 17/3/2025

Our school arranged an assembly for us to introduce iGEM and our former project to our schoolmates. We also included a brief introduction on our project this year and raised their awareness on bed bugs.

Time: 26/4/2025

We hosted a workshop with the iGEM team of HKSSC for secondary students. During the workshop, both of our teams introduced our project for this year. Our team included the current situation of bed bug infestation in Hong Kong during the presentation so as to let the participants be aware of the seriousness of bed bugs. Besides, we prepared several experiments, letting participants taste bio-tech and iGEM.

Time: 13/9/2025

We hosted a workshop, “Be an iGEMer” with the iGEM team from HKUST for secondary students. During the workshop, not only did we introduce iGEM and synthetic biology to the participants, we also taught the participating students on how to conduct several experiments, including picking colonies, cPCR and gel electrophoresis. Lastly, we provided a research and presentation session as a taste of a project initiation.

Time: 8/8/2025

We interviewed a Cambridge Medical graduate, to understand the symptoms after being bitten by a bed bug. We also learnt how to distinguish bed bug bites with other arthropod bites, which would be included in our leaflet for domestic helpers and the elderly, thus helping them raise their awareness of this issue.

According to the interview conducted before with professor Wong Hung and Mr Cheung who are working in government, domestic helpers and the elderly should be the targets that are educated as their homes might be easily infested by bed bugs owing to their low awareness and high spreading rate of bed bugs infestation between them. So we decided to distribute leaflets on the streets to them to raise awareness of this growing problem.

We wrote a comic book on the topic of bed bugs. By portraying a child’s experience in facing a bed bug infestation, we aim to introduce the seriousness of bed bugs to children. When the parents and their children read this comic book together, the awareness of this issue would thus be raised. Besides, to broaden the target audience of this comic book, we rewrote this comic book into an original drama, acting it out to primary students. Lastly, the comic book was uploaded to our social media and wiki page, maximising the exposure of it.

As comic books and preaching would be tedious for secondary students, we created an original card game related to bed bug infestation for secondary students. While enjoying the game, students can also learn about bed bugs and the harm they bring us, thus raising their understanding and the awareness of bed bug infestation.

Time: whole year

Biology Research Team, also known as BRT for short, acts as a bridge between the iGEM team and iGEM beginners at our school. The members of our iGEM team conduct regular experiments with the Research team’s members and also educate the iGEM beginners on different knowledge on synthetic biology.