In November 2024, we participated in the post-iGEM experience exchange meeting led by Tongji University. Through communication with various teams, we learned how to better carry out human practices and how to better present the projects on the wiki. Moreover, we also made many connections with teams from other universities, which laid a solid foundation for future human practices.

Fig 1. Experience Sharing of Online Meetings

In 2025, in collaboration with the Department of Biophysics of the Naval Medical University, we continued the tradition from last year and held the second Naval Medical University Synthetic Biology Competition. Through the development of this event, we hope to achieve the following goals:

(1) Promoting interdisciplinary integration and learning: The competition projects encourage students to directly apply the knowledge they have acquired from courses such as "Molecular Biology" to solve a specific problem that they themselves have proposed. We expect to see students from different majors form teams and jointly complete the design of genetic circuits and model construction. Through this process, they will deeply understand the necessity and charm of interdisciplinary integration and achieve the integration of the knowledge system.

(2) Creating an academic atmosphere and selecting and nurturing innovation seeds within the institute. We aim to foster a strong atmosphere of innovation and entrepreneurship within the institute through organizing competitions, and stimulate students' interest in research. Eventually, we will select a group of students who have a strong interest in synthetic biology and outstanding capabilities as "seed" contestants. We will provide them with further guidance and support to help them refine their projects and lay a solid foundation for their participation in higher-level competitions or further studies in the laboratory in the future.

Fig 2. Competition promotional poster

Fig 3. Project Promotion for 2024

Fig 4. Highlights of the school competition

Throughout the entire competition, we provided guidance and assistance, which not only facilitated the participants but also enhanced our understanding of synthetic biology. The competition attracted a wide range of students to participate, and ultimately 49 teams submitted web pages and posters, which was three times the number of last year. Additionally, for the winning projects, we also conducted website announcements.

Fig 5. Publicity webpage for the on-campus synthetic biology competition

We plan to continue holding the school-level synthetic biology competition next year, in order to further enhance students' understanding of synthetic biology and make the competition a landmark event.

After the successful conclusion of the competition within the Synthetic Biology School, the poster display session of the outstanding winning teams became the highlight of the event. These posters comprehensively showcased the innovative ideas and practical achievements of the students in the cutting-edge fields such as bio-element design and gene circuit construction, fully demonstrating the comprehensive ability of interdisciplinary learning. This display not only provided a communication platform for the participating teams but also ignited the exploration enthusiasm of all students in synthetic biology, effectively creating a profound atmosphere of scientific research and innovation.

Fig 6. Electronic poster

Furthermore, we have also made it available for public display! This will enable all of you to continue introducing your projects and sharing experiences with the public after the event.

Fig 7. Offline poster display

In the field of education, our team has independently created a book titled "Plasmid Writing Manual". We started from scratch, using vivid language and illustrations to transform the complex knowledge of plasmids into an "assembly manual" that everyone can understand. From the explanation of the most basic components to the advanced plasmid construction techniques, we teach you step by step how to design life components like building with Lego! Through this approach, we hope this manual will not only become a practical tool for competitions and research among everyone, but also ignite more students' curiosity and love for life science

In June this year, we participated in the iGEM exchange event in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region, where we had offline communication with eighteen iGEM teams from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. This exchange event will be themed "GO for GOLD", integrating project presentations, experience exchanges, project market and lucky draws. It provides us with a relaxed, professional and efficient offline communication platform. Our project and cultural and creative items received unanimous praise from everyone, and the exchanges with other teams also greatly promoted the progress of our project.

Fig 8. Introduction to the exchange meeting and the offline exchange session

The Synbio Challenge (SC) is a high-level academic competition organized under the guidance and support of the Synthetic Biology Branch of the Chinese Society for Biotechnology. Its aim is to provide a platform for young students to have a face-to-face dialogue with leading experts in the field and showcase their research capabilities. In this event, our team actively participated and engaged in in-depth exchanges with synthetic biology teams from multiple schools across the country. We also received valuable guidance and targeted suggestions from many experts.

SC encourages students to apply what they have learned in class to develop practical solutions, and independently design and advance innovative synthetic biology projects. These projects mostly focus on addressing real-world social issues, such as sustainable development directions for environmental governance, health care, and food safety. This fully demonstrates the extensive application prospects of synthetic biology technology in promoting social progress and enhancing human well-being. The achievements obtained through practice further enhance students' confidence and intrinsic motivation in scientific research, and inspire their continuous enthusiasm for scientific exploration.

Furthermore, SC has also significantly promoted collaboration and resource sharing among schools and teams. Through mutual learning and exchange, students not only forged deep friendships but also jointly contributed to the continuous optimization of the synthetic biology education ecosystem. This cross-school and cross-disciplinary interaction model effectively breaks down disciplinary barriers, accelerates the integration of interdisciplinary knowledge, and lays a solid foundation for the future cultivation of synthetic biology talents with a global perspective and comprehensive capabilities.

Thanks to the platform provided by this competition, we had the opportunity to communicate with many judges and experts. During the communication, we also continuously received suggestions for improving this project, and our academic level was also enhanced. It was truly a fruitful experience!

Fig 9. The on-site team of the Synbio competition

After conducting a background investigation, we realized that the public's understanding of microplastics was very limited. To further raise public awareness, our team has released the educational video "Decoding Microplastics" officially! This video, from a scientific perspective, explains in an easy-to-understand manner how microplastics enter the human body through the food chain, air, and water sources, and gradually affect our health. You will directly understand the problems such as inflammatory reactions, metabolic disorders, and even cell damage that may be caused by the accumulation of microplastics in organs. The video not only presents the previous research results but also provides practical protection suggestions to help everyone effectively reduce the intake of microplastics in daily life. We hope to arouse more people's attention to the issue of microplastic pollution through vivid and imaginative animations, advocate green living, reduce plastic use, and jointly protect health and the environment. Click to watch and see the truth behind microplastics together!

Fig 10. Decoding of Microplastics

Furthermore, we also wrote a popular science article - "Have Microplastics Invaded the Human Body? The Engineering Bacteria 'Special Attack Team' Is Now in Place", and published it in the popular science section of Synbio Challenges. This article deeply reveals the invisible health threat posed by microplastics. They are widely present in bottled water, daily chemicals, and even the air, and can invade organs through the bloodstream, causing inflammation, affecting fertility, and even carrying carcinogens.

In the face of the challenge that the human immune system is unable to eliminate microplastics, our team, based on synthetic biology technology, innovatively designed a yeast-bacteria symbiotic system as the "engineering bacterial assault force". This system can actively adsorb and degrade microplastics in the intestines, convert them into harmless substances, and simultaneously repair mucosal damage, ultimately safely excreting them out of the body. The article combines an anthropomorphic narrative and scientific interpretation, not only vividly presenting the invasion path of microplastics, but also looking forward to the application prospects of the biological degradation solution, striving to provide a new perspective for the public to understand and respond to the threat of microplastics.

Fig 11. Popular Science article

While writing the popular science articles, our graphic design team also created a series of illustrations to further promote our project and the design concepts of synthetic biology:

At Shenzhen University of Technology, our team also participated in the poster presentation session organized by the organizers. We and other teams learned many new things on the posters and how to better visualize our projects! We also applied this idea to our future work.

Fig 13. Scene of the poster exchange meeting

In China, the field of synthetic biology has not received widespread publicity, resulting in limited opportunities for teachers and students to understand and practice this cutting-edge discipline. To break this situation, we invited two outstanding students from Wenzhou Medical University to fully integrate into our project. Our aim is to inject new vitality and unique perspectives into the project through their energy and innovative thinking.

It is worth noting that although synthetic biology is not yet widely recognized as a subject in their alma mater, these two students, driven by their enthusiasm and efforts, not only quickly integrated into the project but also demonstrated their understanding and unique insights of synthetic biology, contributing to the progress of the project.

We firmly believe that through such cross-university cooperation and talent exchange, we can sow the seeds of synthetic biology knowledge in more universities, gradually expand its influence range, and raise the awareness of teachers, students, and society of the importance of synthetic biology. In the long run, this will help promote the rapid development of synthetic biology, drive technological innovation and social progress, and contribute to building a better future.

Fig 13. The members from other schools in our team