Education

The camp's significance lies not only in transferring knowledge but in creating a joyful and barrier-free learning environment that transforms scientific ideas into relatable experiences.

Through board games, picture books, and hands-on experiments, participants were introduced to concepts in biology, programming, and artificial intelligence in ways that were both playful and intuitive.

Seeing young students' reactions reminded us why outreach matters. Many participants expressed that they had never connected biology with coding or data analysis before. Their excitement pushed our team to think deeper about how to design interdisciplinary, story-driven education that resonates with different learning styles.

Their curiosity inspired us to:

• Re-evaluate how we explain synthetic biology in simple yet meaningful terms.
• Develop more visual, gamified, and problem-oriented teaching materials.
• Expand our mentor program—allowing high-school interns to grow into future educators themselves.

This camp reaffirmed that education is not a one-way transfer of knowledge, but a cycle of inspiration. The students' questions and creativity encouraged us to refine our communication and made our own research purpose clearer.

We chose to visit kindergartens because we believe that the best time to spark curiosity is when children are at their most innocent and impressionable stage. For young kids, textbook knowledge can be too abstract and complex, so we transformed science into playful experiences through storytelling with picture books and interactive board games. By "learning through play," children could naturally ask questions and explore possible answers in a relaxed environment. We believe that such experiences help them discover the joy of learning, planting seeds of curiosity that will grow into a lifelong interest in science and discovery.

We do not expect children to immediately grasp complex scientific theories. Instead, our goal is to introduce them to the joy of learning through simple and engaging activities. For example, in our picture book Panda's Treasure Hunt, the children join Panda and Captain Pipi on an adventure to find a magical necklace that can control time. While they may not fully understand the professional idea of "shortening drug development timelines," the story helps them form a conceptual link between imagination and real-world science. By connecting play with purpose, we aim to leave them with a lasting impression that science is not only fun but also meaningful in solving real-life challenges.

Our goal was not to teach theories, but to build curiosity and connection through simple, enjoyable activities.

We aimed to:

1. Simplify scientific ideas through storytelling.
2. Engage children with interactive gameplay and creative drawing.
3. Connect imagination to real-world science in an age-appropriate way.
4. Encourage questions that open pathways for future exploration.

Through these experiences, children began to associate science with joy rather than difficulty—a key step in shaping open, curious learners.

During storytelling and gameplay, the children's reactions were far more enthusiastic than we expected. Their eyes lit up with curiosity, and they eagerly engaged with every detail—asking questions, offering opinions, and showing genuine excitement. This deeply moved us, because as university students, we sometimes forget the pure joy of learning after years of structured education. The children's passion reminded us of our original motivation to learn: curiosity and wonder. Their enthusiasm not only gave us a sense of accomplishment but also provided valuable insights into how young minds perceive and interpret the world around them.

The children's enthusiasm exceeded all expectations. Their excitement, laughter, and endless questions reminded us of the pure joy of learning—something often lost in higher education.

Through this experience, we rediscovered why we love science: it begins with curiosity, not complexity.

Looking ahead, we hope to expand this approach of storytelling and play-based learning to more schools and communities, enabling more children to experience science as something enjoyable and approachable. We also plan to adapt our materials for different age groups, adding more challenges for older students so they can gradually explore deeper scientific concepts. Furthermore, we aspire to collaborate with educational institutions and foundations to develop a sustainable model of science education. Our vision is to make science not only a subject taught in classrooms but also an exciting part of everyday life—something that children can play with, question, and explore at any stage of their learning journey.

We plan to expand this model of playful learning to more schools and age groups, refining our materials to suit different developmental stages.

Future steps include:

• Adapting our storybook and board game for various age levels.
• Collaborating with educational partners to distribute teaching kits.
• Building a sustainable learning network, where older students mentor younger ones.

Our long-term goal is to create a continuum of science learning—from early curiosity to confident exploration.

NTHU Kindergarten Event (Chinese)

The importance of this activity lies in bringing rare moments of joy to children undergoing long-term hospitalization. Their daily lives are often filled with treatments and discomfort, and through storytelling, we hoped to give them a temporary escape—immersing them in adventure, curiosity, and fun.

Although Panda's Treasure Hunt is a simple children's story, its elements of exploration, questioning, and problem-solving symbolize the essence of science. This experience not only allowed the children to rediscover the joy of learning but also reminded us of the powerful role that education can play within healthcare environments.

Through this event, our goal was to provide children not just with a story but with a first step into the joy of learning. With Panda's Treasure Hunt, we included interactive question-and-answer moments that encouraged children to use their imagination—thinking about how to solve puzzles and how to combine pieces.

These activities not only sparked their curiosity but also nurtured their courage to ask questions and share ideas. For us, this was an opportunity to translate science education into the form of a story. Our aim was not to teach technical knowledge, but to plant the seed that "learning can be fun."

The children's attentive eyes and joyful laughter during the storytelling session left the deepest impression on us. Their innocence reminded us that the true value of scientific research is not only in data and results but also in its ability to bring real impact and hope.

The simple yet thoughtful questions they asked encouraged us to reflect on how to explain complex science in a more accessible way. The encouragement we received from healthcare staff and parents further strengthened our determination to continue science outreach.

Altogether, this experience showed us that science should be a bridge—connecting knowledge with the human spirit.

Inspired by this experience, we plan to expand storytelling-based science outreach to more hospitals, therapy centers, and special education settings.

Our next steps include:

• Developing story-based science education kits for hospital educators and volunteers.
• Partnering with nonprofit foundations and medical staff to design activities suitable for different ages and conditions.
• Establishing a long-term "Science for Healing" initiative, integrating empathy-driven education into patient programs.

Our goal is for science to become a source of hope and empowerment, reminding children that curiosity and imagination can thrive anywhere—even in hospital rooms.

Hsinchu mackay Hospital Event (English)

Celebration · Communication · Collaboration · Comprehension.

Our 10th anniversary was more than a celebration — it was a reflection on how science education can connect diverse communities.

By illustrating the real-world challenges of drug development, we aimed to deepen public appreciation for biomedical innovation, a field that often remains distant from everyday understanding.

Through storytelling, interactive displays, and game-based learning, we translated the complexity of scientific research into experiences that children, parents, and professionals could relate to.

The event fostered scientific literacy, strengthened public trust, and reminded us that knowledge becomes most powerful when shared across boundaries of age and expertise.

Our goal was to transform a decade-long milestone into a living educational platform accessible to everyone.

We designed the event around four learning objectives:

1. Democratize Knowledge – Simplify complex processes into interactive formats.
2. Promote Dialogue – Connect scientists, students, and the public in mutual exchange.
3. Highlight Research Value – Showcase the years of dedication behind scientific discovery.
4. Inspire Curiosity – Help participants see science as a collective human endeavor.

Interactive booths guided participants through four stages — drug discovery, preclinical studies, clinical trials, and regulatory approval — using visual infographics and game-based tasks.

Each activity emphasized teamwork and curiosity, echoing iGEM's mission to make science approachable and participatory.

Audiences from different venues inspired us in unique ways. Kindergarten children, through storybooks and board games, displayed boundless imagination. At the hospital, young patients and their parents reminded us that the outcomes of drug development directly translate into hope for families. Among university students, in-depth discussions challenged us to reflect on the broader societal impact of our research.

These diverse interactions reinforced the idea that science is not confined to laboratories—it is a universal language that connects people across ages and backgrounds.

Their participation and feedback gave us greater confidence and motivation to continue expanding our educational initiatives.

Moving forward, we hope to expand this cross-venue model, ensuring that iGEM's impact extends beyond competition into communities and everyday life.

We plan to digitize our drug development educational materials, creating interactive online platforms that allow anyone to learn anytime, anywhere.

Additionally, we aim to collaborate with other iGEM teams, healthcare institutions, and educational organizations to build a sustainable ecosystem for pharmaceutical education.

With these efforts, we envision the next decade bringing even more cross-disciplinary collaborations and meaningful societal impact.

Figure 2. TurBiohacks instagram page and post

TGEM matters because it is more than a pre-Jamboree rehearsal. It provides a shared learning platform where participants can connect research with real-world implications—bridging academia, industry, and education.

Through structured peer review and mentorship, TGEM helps teams:

• Receive constructive feedback on experiment design, data transparency, and model validation.
• Practice science communication with academic rigor yet accessible clarity.
• Cultivate a collaborative and ethical research culture that extends beyond competition.

The continuity from 2023 to 2025 signals the rise of a domestic peer-review ecosystem in Taiwan's iGEM network. This culture of sharing and reflection enhances both scientific reliability and public engagement literacy—demonstrating that learning in science is iterative, community-driven, and socially responsible.

We aimed for three verifiable deliverables. Dry Lab: a reproducible sequence-to-structure-to-function pipeline: generative sampling (ProteinMPNN/RFdiffusion), AF3 predictions, MD checks, conditional scoring, and latent/Bayesian optimization; decisions are routed through an active-learning loop that proposes the next wet-lab batch under data scarcity. Wet Lab: directed evolution in E. coli with split-reporter complementation as an affinity proxy across pH (e.g., 5/7/9), selecting top variants for Sanger/NGS and feeding sequences back to the model—closing the data loop where public datasets are thin. Human Practices: a communication map of drug-development timelines, risks, and stakeholders; technical content is reframed into stories, visuals, and hands-on mini-activities validated with secondary-school audiences. Post-TGEM we compile checklists, SOPs, and lesson templates and share them with the community.

Judging Room Presentation

Feedback at TGEM was catalytic. Reviewers flagged gaps in observability between model outputs and experimental readouts, prompting the dry-lab team to add measurable variables, error bounds, and pH-conditioned learning to avoid single-condition overfitting. Wet-lab mentors emphasized calibration and positive/negative controls under different pH to reduce split-reporter artifacts. For Human Practices, the key message was that HP is duty-of-care communication, not marketing—narratives and evidence must be versioned for distinct audiences.

We revised our model notes, adjusted sample planning and SOPs, and tiered education scripts (intro/advanced). Crucially, we turned reflection into practice: at the 2025 NTSEC Summer Camp our interns used the updated scripts and manipulatives to explain why modeling and validation matter, converting TGEM insights into observable learning outcomes.

We will continue turning TGEM insights into open-access educational resources through:

• Standardized Templates – Shared dry-lab & wet-lab reproducibility checklists.
• Open Validation Toolkit – Cross-team use for teaching and benchmarking.
• Bilingual HP Modules – Adaptable for camps, hospitals, and classrooms.
• Continuous Impact Loop – Annual pre-tests and post-tests to measure growth.

In collaboration with NTSEC, local universities, and global iGEM teams, we aim to institutionalize TGEM as a sustainable learning pipeline that continuously connects research, reflection, and public education.

High-school curricula rarely provide authentic project context or cross-disciplinary integration. This internship addresses both. In Wet Lab, interns do not learn techniques in isolation; they see why SDS-PAGE/Western blot/fluorescence and enzyme assays matter, how to interpret results, and how to iterate hypotheses and designs in coordination with Dry Lab and HP so experiments are verifiable and purposeful from day one. In Dry Lab, models become decision tools: sensitivity analyses and parameter sweeps define feasible operating regions, narrowing wet-lab design space and reducing trial-and-error.

We will institutionalize the program: (1) publish track-wise competency maps and rubrics aligned to tangible outputs; (2) expand the Dry-Lab toolchain (versioned model repos and a cross-track PR workflow so WL/HP can directly pull models and insights); (3) open-source HP lesson plans and media to build a reusable outreach module library; and (4) co-run semester-length micro-internships and facilitator workshops with campus and external partners to sustain a long-term community.