Our wet lab contributions focus on developing sustainable and innovative biological solutions for the iGEM community.
As a fully bio-based short-chain PA, PA54 can be polymerized from bio-based monomer materials—cadaverine and succinate—and exhibits excellent mechanical and processing properties. Nevertheless, the traditional biosynthetic method requires two types of bacterial strains to produce the two monomer materials separately, and still faces problems such as complex processes, large consumption of acids and alkalis, and high output of waste salt. We aim to overcome this limitation and develop a more efficient and environmentally friendly process for producing cadaverine and succinate.
By leveraging synthetic biology, we offer a green and low-carbon synthesis method for iGEM community.
We add new documentation to several existing Parts, including CadA (BBa_K5479006) and TlpA39 (BBa_K2572000).
We obtained the gene sequence of CadA from BBa_K5479006 and first characterized the length of the gene, the molecular weight of CadA protein and the activity (under different pH) to consume lysine for future iGEM teams.
We obtained the gene sequence of TlpA39 from BBa_K2572000 and first characterized the length of its gene. Moreover, we verified the temperature response characteristic in wild-type E. coli NT1003.
This year, our team contributed 19 new Basic Parts and 13 new Composite Parts to the Part Registry.
It is worth mentioning that one of our new basic parts CadA(Y13C/P36C) (BBa_25488QFX) increased CadA enzymatic activity by 113.26%. Moreover,one of our new composite parts PJ23106-RBS1-TlpA39-PtlpA-U8-CadA-T1 (BBa_25BO6K0J) enables dual-level regulation of CadA expression—achieving control at both transcriptional and translational levels through temperature induction.
We hope these new parts will become valuable contributions to the iGEM community. For more details, please visit our Parts page.
Our hardware platform not only serves our own team's experiments but also provides reusable tool concepts for the entire iGEM community. This system integrates automatic sampling, automatic dilution, in-reactor concentration detection, and web-based result feedback, which can reduce errors introduced by manual operations and improve the automation of experimental processes and the real-time acquisition of data. Any team requiring liquid handling and concentration monitoring can adapt and extend our design to accelerate their experimental progress and enhance the reliability of their results. We believe this hardware framework can serve as a reference for more iGEM teams in the future to explore automation and intelligence in synthetic biology experiments.
For more details, please visit our Hardware page.
We collaborated with the LU-NBBMS team from Jilin University and some other teams to co-author and release the first illustrated edition of the "Synthetic Biology Host Strains White Paper" in China.
This white paper systematically compiles the core characteristics, application cases, and safety guidelines of more than ten typical host strains, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus subtilis, and others, through a combination of text and illustrations. It not only provides professional and easily understandable reference material for synthetic biology research, teaching, and public science communication, but also offers clear guidance for iGEM teams. This helps them quickly grasp essential knowledge about host strains, avoid safety risks, and lays the foundation for experimental design and implementation.
For more details, please visit our Education page.
To better carry out HP (Human Practices) activities, we developed a framework model composed of three phases: "Insight," "Initiate," and "Improve."
This model offers a complete practice loop, enabling teams to identify the core issues early in the project and reduce deviations in direction. It facilitates coordination and communication with various stakeholders, promoting a two-way interaction between the research team and society. At the same time, it guides iGEM teams to closely integrate scientific research with social responsibility. This ensures that the teams not only improve continuously at the experimental level but also make progress in areas like cultural exchange and science communication, promoting long-term, sustainable development.
For more details, please visit our Integrated Human Practices page.