Our project begins with a deep understanding of food security and human health responsibility. The contamination of global food systems by ochratoxin A (OTA) and other mycotoxins not only causes huge economic losses, but also poses a long-term threat to human health. In this context, we use synthetic biology as a tool and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) as the criterion to start an exploration journey from enzymatic rational design to practical application. We firmly believe that the true meaning of science and technology lies not only in discovering the truth, but also in how to make the truth serve people.
In August 2024, we communicated with Teacher Hu Yumei to determine the project to be carried out by HUBU-China in 2025, Teacher Hu Yumei said that mycotoxins are widely present in all aspects of grain production, storage and processing, and the direct economic losses brought to human beings are immeasurable.
In early September 2024, with the initial ideas of Mr. Hu and our team members, we went to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to carry out a week-long Human Practices project. We visited the Wheat Research Center of the Crop Research Institute of the Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences and had in-depth exchanges with experts from the Granary Group of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Through this activity, we aim to understand the current situation of grain harvest in Xinjiang, the contamination of mycotoxins, and explore effective mycotoxin detoxification technologies, so as to provide a practical basis for the biological enzymatic hydrolysis detoxification program of our iGEM project.
In the exchange with experts from the Institute of Crops of the Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, we learned that Xinjiang has achieved remarkable results in grain production in recent years. In 2024, Xinjiang wheat and corn will set 9 national large-area yield records, and take the lead in building a million-mu corn "ton grain field" in the country. This achievement is due to the deep integration of "good land, good seeds, good methods, good opportunities, and good systems", as well as the promotion and application of advanced technologies such as water and fertilizer integration technology and green prevention and control.
Experts pointed out that Xinjiang, as an important grain production base in our country, has unique climatic conditions (dry and less rainy) that are conducive to reducing mycotoxin pollution, but storage and transportation still face challenges. In particular, crops such as corn are susceptible to mycotoxin contamination during storage, which not only affects food quality and safety, but also causes economic losses.
By consulting the information provided by the Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Corps Granary Group, we found that the contamination situation of mycotoxins in Northwest China is more complicated. According to the May 2025 feed raw material mycotoxin test report, the test results of 2,661 samples showed that:
| Types of raw materials | Exceedance rate | Degree of contamination | Major pollutants |
|---|---|---|---|
| corn | 14.4% | Heavy pollution | DON（11.8%） |
| corn by-products | 7.7% | Heavy pollution | DON(6.9%)、ZEN(6.5%) |
| DDGS | 2.3% | Moderate pollution | ZEN(2.3%) |
| wheat | 0.7% | Light pollution | DON（0.7%） |
| rice bran | 0.8% | Light pollution | AFB1(0.8%) |
Xinjiang is also actively promoting green grain storage technology, and the project seminar on "Research and Demonstration Application of Key Technologies for Green Grain Storage in Xinjiang" held in April 2025 is precisely to explore the integrated application of a variety of green grain storage technologies.
This trip to Xinjiang provided valuable guidance for our iGEM project. The cooperation with the Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Corps Granary Group provides us with real grain samples, allowing us to more intuitively understand that mycotoxins seriously pollute grain, and carrying out our project -- mycotoxin degrading enzymes are of great social value.
Thank you to the experts from the Wheat Research Center of the Crop Research Institute of the Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Granary Group of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for their careful guidance and valuable suggestions. We are also grateful to the iGEM Organizing Committee for its support of human practice activities, which gave us the opportunity to closely integrate synthetic biology research with real social needs. Through scientific and technological innovation, we believe that we can contribute to solving the problem of food security!
From August to the end of October 2024, we conducted a large number of social research activities in the early stage of the project, aiming to fully understand the situation of mycotoxin contamination, the disadvantages and shortcomings of current detoxification technology, and at the same time understand the public's awareness of mycotoxins.
We went to Shanggushan Village, Huanggang City, Hubei Province, Wangying Town, Lichuan City, Wuhan Community, Suizhou Luodian Guangshui Town, Baxu Village, Xinzhou District, Wuhan City, and Wulidui Community, Ziyang District, Yiyang City, etc. to conduct questionnaire surveys and background investigations.
From the perspective of the positive rate, the positive rate of aflatoxin AFs was the highest in North China and Northwest China at 50.00%, the highest in North China and Northwest China was 50.00%, the highest AFB2 positive rate was 16.67% in North and Northwest China, the highest AFG1 positive rate was 25.00% in coastal areas, and the highest AFG2 positive rate was 2.44% in Southwest China, of which aflatoxin was not detected in Central China. From the mean point of view, the average AFs was 3.10 μg/kg in North China, the highest was 2.08 μg/kg in North China, and the highest mean values of AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 were in the southwest region, with the average values of 0.19, 1.46 and 0.09 μg/kg, respectively. The concentration range in other regions was less than 15 μg/kg, and the excess samples were all in the southwest region.
Data source: Wang Yan, Hu Tao, Zhu Liwei, et al. Contamination evaluation of aflatoxin AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 in buckwheat food in some areas[J].Food Industry Science and Technology,2019,40( 12) : 211-217.
The average AFB1 content in wine, P50, P90 and P95 were calculated by replacing the data without AFB1 detection in wine by 0 (LB) and LOD (UB), respectively, and the results are shown in Table 2. Table 2 shows that the average content of AFB1 in 85 wines is 0.071~0.134 μg/kg (LB-UB), and the P95 contamination level is 0.266 μg/kg.
Investigation of contamination status of 16 mycotoxins in wine and risk assessment of aflatoxin B1 exposure[J]. China Brewing,2025,44(3):279-284.
Sources: [1] Yang Bolei, Geng Hairong, Wang Gang, Zhang Chenxi, Li Li, Nie Chengrong, Xing Fuguo, Liu Yang. our country Correlation between the distribution of Aspergillus flavus in peanut soil and postpartum aflatoxin pollution in peanuts[J].Journal of Nuclear Agriculture,2021,35(4):863-869
| year | Peanut contamination rate (%) | Corn pollution rate (%) | Rice pollution rate (%) | Data sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 12.5 | 8.2 | 3.1 | Guangdong Province Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Report |
| 2020 | 15.3 | 9.7 | 4.0 | |
| 2021 | 10.8 | 7.5 | 2.8 | |
| 2022 | 13.6 | 11.2 | 3.5 | |
| 2023 | 9.4 | 6.9 | 2.0 |
| Toxin type | Major pollutants | region | Exceedance rate (mean in Central China) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vomitoxin (DON) | Wheat, corn, bran | Henan and Hubei | 7.02% |
| Zearalenone (ZEA) | corn, cake meal | Henan and Hunan | 14.29% |
| aflatoxin B1(AFB1) | Corn, peanuts, cottonseed | Hubei and Henan | 6.8% |
ZEA is the most important polluting toxin in Central China, mainly due to the serious pollution of corn and its by-products. DON pollution has a wide range but the exceedance rate is relatively low, and AFB1 pollution is concentrated in corn and cake meal.
It can be seen that mycotoxins are widely present in grain production in various provinces, which also reflects the practical value of our project and stimulates our motivation to explore one enzyme with multiple effects, such as subsequent excavation of a multifunctional degrading enzyme that can degrade four mycotoxins (ochratoxin, aflatoxin, zearalenone, and deoxynivalenol).
At the end of February 2025, we determined the overall project, and this meeting convened the core members of each group to discuss the standards for subsequent development in various directions, formulate a schedule, and conduct a small test on the topics to be carried out, and the experimental results are considerable.
In mid-March 2025, the ADH3 project progressed smoothly, and the first half of the month mainly focused on ADH3 protein characterization and homogeneity analysis. The students of the experimental group reported on their recent work at the group meeting.
After listening to our report, Professor Hu Yumei gave suggestions that we can focus on bioinformatics analysis to find degrading enzymes with similar functions to ADH3 by analogy with ADH3 to form a richer mycotoxin degrading enzyme system.
According to Professor Hu Yumei's opinion, we simulated ADH3 based on the sequence analysis in the NCBI database to screen out the optimal gene sequence of interest (LlADH). Comprehensive analysis through bioinformatics tools. At the same time, it is planned to predict and compare the domain in the future. We have unearthed degrading enzymes with the same function as ADH3, which has further enriched our experimental part. That is, this discussion with Professor Hu Yumei has advanced the experimental part of our project.
In mid-April 2025, we discussed the project with Professor Yang Zhifan, an expert in synthetic biology, at which time our experiments progressed to the analysis and comparison of enzyme active substances. Professor Yang Zhifan suggested that we organically integrate modeling work into the experiment, so that modeling can assist the experiment, give multi-directional consideration paths, and speed up the experimental process.
According to Professor Yang Zhifan's suggestion, after discussing with the students in the modeling group, we decided to establish a single-factor control experiment first, analyze the principal component of the data, construct a multi-factor response surface model, and predict the theoretical optimal conditions. These predicted values (e.g., temperature 47.81°C, pH 8.39) were delivered directly to the experimental group for validation experiments.
At the end of April 2025, our project has determined that social background checks are required for the development of education, so we went to Baxu Village, Xinzhou District, Wuhan City, Wulidui Community, Ziyang District, Yiyang City, and other areas to distribute questionnaires to a total of 330 young children, middle school students, college students and related social personnel. The results show that most students and members of the community do not understand the dangers of mycotoxins, so we designed a comprehensive radiation education activity from primary school, middle school, university to society. Social research activities guide the fundamental purpose of all our subsequent educational activities, that is, extensive, comprehensive, systematic and basic.
Here are the detailed data from our questionnaire:
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| ABF1 | 110 | 33.33% |
| AFB1 | 140 | 42.42% |
| AFB2 | 40 | 12.12% |
| AFX1 | 40 | 12.12% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| cancer of the liver | 300 | 90.91% |
| carcinoma of the lungs | 20 | 6.06% |
| mammary cancer | 10 | 3.03% |
| cancer of the brain | 0 | 0% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| lungs | 40 | 12.12% |
| liver | 280 | 84.85% |
| stomach | 10 | 3.03% |
| kidney | 0 | 0% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| oxyhepatitis | 50 | 15.15% |
| Hepatic tissue hemorrhagic necrosis | 90 | 27.27% |
| Persistent diarrhoea | 160 | 48.48% |
| Fevers, vomiting | 30 | 9.09% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Inhalation of respiratory tract | 20 | 6.06% |
| skin exposure | 20 | 6.06% |
| Eating contaminated food | 290 | 87.88% |
| mosquito bite | 0 | 0% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Discard it all directly | 310 | 93.94% |
| Remove the mold and eat the rest | 10 | 3.03% |
| Continue to eat after heating | 10 | 3.03% |
| It depends on how bad it looks | 0 | 0% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Stainless steel spatula | 20 | 6.06% |
| Ceramic bowl | 10 | 3.03% |
| Bamboo chopsticks | 280 | 84.85% |
| Glass spice jar | 20 | 6.06% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Now grind the sesame paste | 210 | 63.64% |
| Freshly squeezed orange juice | 30 | 9.09% |
| Handmade bread | 70 | 21.21% |
| deep-frozen dumpling | 20 | 6.06% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Steamed bread with long green hair | 110 | 33.33% |
| Peanuts with black spots on the surface | 220 | 66.67% |
| Clumped milk powder | 0 | 0% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Swallow it out and gargle | 310 | 93.94% |
| Swallow it and dont care | 0 | 0% |
| Try a few more | 20 | 6.06% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Brush it clean with a steel ball and continue | 50 | 15.15% |
| Hot water bath | 70 | 21.21% |
| Direct replacement | 210 | 63.64% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Leave the rice overnight at room temperature | 270 | 81.82% |
| Store dried mushrooms in a sealed, cool and dry place | 30 | 9.09% |
| Store fresh dates in the refrigerator | 20 | 6.06% |
| Store bagged potato chips in a lightproof cupboard | 10 | 3.03% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Discard it all directly | 320 | 96.97% |
| Remove the mold and eat the rest | 10 | 3.03% |
| Continue to eat after heating | 0 | 0% |
| It depends on how much mold is visible | 0 | 0% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| corn | 250 | 75.76% |
| wheat | 200 | 60.61% |
| peanut | 290 | 87.88% |
| soybean | 170 | 51.52% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Rotten peanuts/nuts | 320 | 96.97% |
| Expiry cooking oil (such as peanut oil, corn oil) | 200 | 60.61% |
| Rotten grains (rice, corn) | 290 | 87.88% |
| Sour melon seeds/walnuts | 280 | 84.85% |
| Wooden cutting board or chopsticks (not changed for a long time) | 280 | 84.85% |
| None know | 10 | 3.03% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Discard moldy and spoiled food | 330 | 100% |
| Store food in a dry and ventilated place | 290 | 87.88% |
| Buy grain and oil products from regular channels | 320 | 96.97% |
| Not paying attention to such issues | 0 | 0% |
| other | 0 | 0% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Acute poisoning (e.g. vomiting, fever) | 300 | 90.91% |
| Long-term carcinogenic (e.g. liver cancer) | 310 | 93.94% |
| Damage to the liver or immune system | 290 | 87.88% |
| It has an impact on childrens development | 250 | 75.76% |
| The specific harm is unclear | 30 | 9.09% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| It mainly causes acute food poisoning with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea | 260 | 78.79% |
| Can destroy vitamins in food, leading to malnutrition | 160 | 48.48% |
| Is highly carcinogenic, especially likely to cause liver cancer | 300 | 90.91% |
| It can make the food taste bad and hard to eat | 170 | 51.52% |
| Long-term ingestion may lead to chronic allergies | 130 | 39.39% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Store peanuts, grains and other things in a low temperature, dry, ventilated place | 320 | 96.97% |
| Store food (especially grains and nuts) in the refrigerator | 240 | 72.73% |
| Keep food in open containers and keep it ventilated | 190 | 57.58% |
| Buy a lot of food and stock up, reduce the number of purchases | 130 | 39.39% |
| Found part of the food was moldy, removed the mold and continued to eat the rest | 80 | 24.24% |
| Not even clear | 10 | 3.03% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Very aware (can clearly state specific hazards such as cancer, liver damage, etc.) | 50 | 15.15% |
| Relatively aware (knowing that it is harmful, but unable to specify the specific harm) | 200 | 60.61% |
| Ive heard about it but I dont know | 60 | 18.18% |
| Ive never heard of it | 20 | 6.06% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
| option | subtotal | scale |
|---|---|---|
| Yes (please briefly state the source you know, such as news, popular science articles, etc.) | 260 | 78.79% |
| deny | 70 | 21.21% |
Number of valid entries for this question: 330
At the beginning of May 2025, WHU-iGEM, HUBU-WuHan, and HUBU-China conducted a preliminary project exchange, first the three teams gave an overview of the project, and then we had an in-depth exchange with the modeling team of WHU-iGEM. Then, the multi-response surface algorithm is used to calculate the optimal enzymatic reaction conditions.
In mid-May 2025, when the LlADH project was progressing smoothly, when we planned to use Pichia X-33 strain as the expression host of OTA degrading enzymes, Professor Zhang Haimou, an environmental toxicology expert, reminded us of its potential sporulation and release risks from a rigorous toxicological perspective. This led us to investigate the biological characteristics and culture conditions of this strain more deeply.
Based on our research and relevant international safety standards (Pichia yeast is generally classified as Biosafety Level 1, or BSL-1), we confirm:
Despite the low risk assessment results, we adopted Professor Zhang's warning as an opportunity to strengthen laboratory safety management and further standardize our operational processes:
We reported the progress of the experiment to Professor Zhang Haimou in a timely manner, and maintained close communication at all times, and we improved the standardization of the experimental design according to Professor Zhang Haimou's guidance, which not only ensured the safety of our experiments, but also reflected our prudent attitude and scientific rigor on biosecurity issues.
At the end of May 2025, when the project entered the pilot stage, in order to verify the applicability of our technology in real and complex environments, we went to Lushan for a ten-day field scientific investigation under the leadership of Professor Ke Wenshan, an expert in ecology and botany. As a senior botanist, Professor Ke knows the flora and ecological environment of the Lushan area well. During the inspection, he was not only our guide, but also our "living dictionary".
Professor Ke first led us deep into the tea plantations, pine forests and farmlands of Lushan. He taught on the spot and guided us to identify a variety of plants that are representative of the local ecosystem, especially those with high economic value and susceptibility to OTA contamination, such as tea trees, corn, and some medicinal plants. He explained in detail the growth habits of these plants, common pests and diseases, and environmental conditions where mold is prone to growth, such as high humidity and poor ventilation. This gives us a more intuitive understanding of the contamination routes and distribution of OTAs.
Our previous scope of OTA contamination only stayed at common food crops such as corn and wheat; This time, under the leadership of Professor Ke Wenshan, we recognized more plants and crops that are susceptible to OTA pollution, and also promoted the expansion of the audience of our educational activities, such as from education and science popularization for students to tea farmers and local people.
In early June 2025, the HUBU-China experimental group incubated *LlADH* with OTA before preparing frozen samples in order to obtain the complex structure of *LlADH* and OTA and elucidate the *substrate binding mode of* LlADH *In the* substrate pocket assumed by LlADH, no electron clouds of OTA were observed.
We consulted Dr. Dai Longhai, an expert in the field of enzyme structure analysis and rational modification, who speculated that because *LlADH* wild-type has high activity, OTA is quickly released by reaction.
After comparison, the members of the experimental group believed that residue D345 should be the *reaction catalytic site of LlADH*, and then inactivated this site to obtain mutant D345N, and incubated it with OTA to prevent OTA hydrolysis. *The LlADH/D345N* also failed to obtain a complex cryostructure with high resolution.
In mid-June 2025, after another failure, we continued to discuss with Professor Dai Longhai and Professor Hu Yumei. Finally, we decided to *superimpose the structure of LlADH* on the structure of ADH3/D344N/OTA, and through the cooperation of the modeling group and the experimental group, we found that the residue responsible for the formation of the substrate binding pocket can be identified, and the experiment was successful.
At the beginning of July 2025, when preparing for science popularization activities for primary and secondary school students, the suggestions of Professor Zhang Haimou, who is also an expert in education, made our science popularization work more in-depth and warm.
For primary school students: We originally planned to guide primary school students to use a microscope and select the organism they are interested in to use the microscope to observe. Professor Zhang suggested that we combine science education with aesthetic education. He points out that children should be guided to discover the beauty of the microscopic world and encourage them to record the microscopic images of interest they observe in the form of paintings.
Therefore, in August 2025, according to Professor Zhang Haimou's opinion, we redesigned the science education activities for primary school students, combined science education with aesthetic education, and added a "micro world painting" link to the popular science education activities, which greatly stimulated children's imagination and interest in science.
For junior high school students: Our initial plan was to teach junior high school students in the classroom to explain the theoretical concept of enzymes, popularize and strengthen their understanding of enzymes, and initially understand the phenomena related to enzymes in life. Professor Zhang emphasized the importance of combining theory and practice, and suggested that we design simple and interesting life-oriented experiments.
According to his suggestion, we designed the "Enzymes in Life" experimental class in the popular science education classroom, allowing students to operate milk layering experiments by themselves; coffee decolorization experiment; Pineapple assassination jelly experiment; These vivid experiments make abstract enzyme concepts intuitive and easy to understand, and significantly improve the effect of science popularization activities.
From August 6 to August 7, 2025, the 4th Synthetic Biology Innovation Competition hosted by the Chinese Society for Bioengineering was successfully held at Shenzhen University of Science and Technology. Our HUBU-China team also participated in this competition under the name EnsynStrat.
On the morning of August 7, the final defense officially began, and the two members of the team first briefly introduced the team's project in fluent English, and then answered the challenge questions from application scenarios, potential problems and expected synthetic biology solutions - "scenario ideas for landing, potential problems that may be encountered during actual landing, and solutions". Our team achieved good results in the regular season green track gold medal. With harvest and joy, we move on, and the story of HUBU-China continues.
In the questioning session, the judges put forward some constructive opinions on our project, and the judges said that the rational design of our LlADH enzyme is very successful, which greatly improves the enzyme activity, so we should use bioinformatics methods to compare the analytical methods used by this enzyme with the research of other enzymes, and expand one enzyme to degrade a mycotoxin, and expand to an enzyme that can degrade a variety of mycotoxins. Finally, it achieves the excellent characteristics of high enzyme activity and wide substrate.
The judges' suggestions gave us more in-depth thinking about the project and new ideas for further improvement and practical application of the project in the future. We proposed with August the idea of a multi-effect enzyme that can reduce aflatoxin, zearae enone and panthocyanin in addition to ochratoxin. Although the enzyme activity test shows that the enzyme activity of the enzyme is not high, it is still a manifestation of our experimental group's active exploration and active innovation.
In early August 2025, Professor Hu Yumei, PI of the team, gave a special report at the 2nd Academic Conference on Bioreactor Engineering and Biomanufacturing: "Structural Analysis and Rational Modification of Ochratoxin A Detoxamide Hydrolase".
At the same time, experts suggest that at this stage, the structure and mechanism of action have been analyzed, successfully transformed, and the enzyme activity has been greatly improved. What should be considered now is how to rationally transform the highly active protease into the factory and apply it in practice.
Teacher Hu Yumei convened the members of the experimental team to discuss the plan for subsequent industrial application. The first step we consider industrial application is to successfully express our protein of interest in the yeast system, and after continuous attempts by the experimental group, such as optimizing codons, we have successfully expressed our target protein in yeast.
The picture above shows Teacher Hu Yumei and Xu Jianhe, director of the State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, communicating and taking a group photo.
In early August 2025, HUBU-China members went to Beijing to participate in the 12th China Biogenetic Engineering Machine Exchange Conference and the 2nd Global Biodevelopers Conference. We presented our projects to teams in the same type of agricultural track and communicated with the modeling teams of some teams.
At the end of the meeting, HUBU-China received special sponsorship from the Yangtze River 3D Scientific Computing Center - 50 systems for molecular dynamics calculations.
At the same time, we participated in the report "Intelligent Design and Application of Biological Systems" by Associate Professor Zhang Shuyi of Tsinghua University, where he shared experimental plans and implementation paths in AI-assisted system design and reactor optimization. Inspired by the students in our modeling and experimental groups, we discussed whether we could use the mining and analysis system of ADH3 to compare it with LlADH, or even the development and application of a variety of mycotoxin degrading enzymes, that is, our complete process, combined with AI assistance, optimize the implementation pathway, and build a multifunctional multi-type mycotoxin degrading enzyme system. This is also reflected in the cycle of our experimental part.
At the end of August 2025, we visited Professor Ke Wenshan, an expert in ecology and botany, to guide us to greatly expand the application scenarios of our project and deepen our consideration of environmental protection.
Professor Ke Wenshan put forward key design suggestions from the perspective of environmental protection and biosecurity. He pointed out that the potential ecological risks of engineered bacteria must be considered when developing them for environmental testing and remediation. Based on this, he suggested that we design a key module for engineered bacteria: a suicide system.
The system automatically activates when bacteria accidentally leak into the natural environment, causing their death and preventing their potential impact on ecosystems. (It is another case if it is actively released into the environment). To this end, the students in the experimental group continued to communicate with Professor Ke Wenshan and chose a suitable suicide system for assembly and testing.
Professor Ke emphasized that this design reflects the environmental responsibility of synthetic biology research, and the suicide system is set up to protect the environment and ecological security (cause). His advice directly guided the construction of this safety system, ensuring the environmental friendliness of the project.
At the beginning of September 2025, we had many online and offline discussions with Mr. Xu, who has rich experience in iGEM competitions.
Therefore, we have enriched the data and content of the parts as much as possible, with the aim of improving the information of our parts and submitting them to the iGEM database for other students to use.
At the end of September 2025, all HUBU-China discussed and improved the project again.
Looking back on this journey, we are not only solving a scientific problem, but also practicing a responsibility - responsibility for food security, responsibility for public health, responsibility for the ecological environment. The essence of science and technology is the power for good, and our work is to transform this power into practical actions. In the future, we will continue to face nature with humility, science with awe, and give back to society with a sense of responsibility. Because we know that true innovation is never limited to technology, but also to people's hearts!