Contribution

Bronze Criteria

• We successfully complete the following Competition Deliverables: Wiki, Presentation Video, Safety Form, Attributions Form, Judging Form and in-person Judging Session at Paris.
• We carefully describe what work our team members did and what other people did for our project at Attributions.
• We describe how and why we chose our iGEM project on our Description page.
• We document our Contribution for future iGEM teams, including two novel composite parts: BBa_259XCZWX (a reverse-trigger suicide switch) and BBa_25WCSXND (a pH-inducible genetic switch).

Silver Criteria

• We showcase our engineering achievements within a segment of our project by undergoing multiple iterations of the engineering design cycle, which can be found on our Engineering page.
• We elucidate how our efforts are deemed responsible and beneficial for the world on our Integrated Human Practices page.

Gold Criteria

We have decided to compete for three special awards: New Basic Part, New Composite Part and Integrated Human Practices.

New Basic Parts

We have engineered a series of novel basic parts to address the specific requirements of our project while providing inspiration for future initiatives. The functional complex formed by BBa_25TLZ7K5, BBa_256VH953, and BBa_25OTZVL1 demonstrates enhanced clearance efficiency for pigments such as melanin and carotenoids compared to individual enzymes. Additionally, BBa_25XI83ND and BBa_259HIEMB, validated as effective antimicrobial peptides, exhibit robust inhibitory effects against Bacillus, Aspergillus, and other microorganisms both in culture media and on simulated mural surfaces.

New Composite Parts

We further developed the composite part BBa_259XCZWX, a novel "reverse-trigger" suicide switch that restricts engineered bacterial survival exclusively to arabinose-containing environments. This design offers a strategic solution and conceptual inspiration for teams aiming to prevent engineered bacterial leakage into external environments without introducing additional exogenous substances. Another composite part, BBa_25WCSXND, functions as a pH-inducible genetic switch capable of initiating transcription of distinct products under varying pH conditions. We propose this mechanism as a valuable paradigm for teams seeking to implement functional switching in engineered bacterial systems.

Integrated Human Practices

Through our Integrated Human Practices efforts, we conducted extensive case studies and consultations with domain experts to elucidate the extent and mechanisms of global climate change impact on cultural heritage. Using conservation frameworks from representative regions such as Dunhuang as models, we synthesized a new paradigm for heritage preservation under emerging challenges. Building upon this foundation, we aim to propose a forward-looking safety framework and global initiative for cultural heritage protection, alongside a discussion on the strategic integration of synthetic biology solutions within this context.