New Prospects for Future iGEM Teams

Choosing the right topic is crucial when starting a project. It should be based on the team's strengths and the unique features of the university's platform. For our project, which focuses on biosynthesizing folate, we had several options: direct synthesis in plants, enzyme engineering, or fermentation engineering. After many discussions and advice from experts, we decided to focus on biosynthesis in soybeans. This choice fits with our agricultural university's academic background and the support available from the university. It also aligns with China's current push to strengthen and develop agriculture, along with the growing trends in food toward more variety, specialization, and customization. All these factors help our project move forward smoothly.

Secondly, it is very important for team members to work together efficiently and complement each other's skills. For example, in our team, science popularization and public education are carried out by both human practice and wet lab members; improvements to experimental procedures and protocols are supported by human practice members through active communication with relevant experts to offer suggestions; and experimental literature searches and social survey questionnaires are backed by dry lab members. These cross-team collaborations have effectively advanced both the progress and quality of our project.

New Part Collections

Our project has generated new biosynthetic elements, including the construction of 4 transgenic expression vectors. These elements have been proven to function in soybeans and can be directly applied to subsequent research. All the new parts had been submitted to The iGEM Parts Registry following the BioBricks assembly standard.

New Creation of High-folate Soybeans

Our project has created a series of soybean transgenic genetic materials, including soybean materials that have been confirmed to have high folate addition, and the content of 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate has been significantly enhanced. These materials will be further utilized by scientists and transformed into soybean varieties that can truly be produced and processed in actual practice.

New Model

In the early stage of the project, an "Industrial Folic Acid Synthesis Differential Equation Model" based on chemical reaction equations was constructed, with neural networks used for auxiliary solving. This was done to understand the pollution and waste generated in industrial folic acid synthesis pathways, highlight the unique advantages of plant-based folate synthesis, and address the relative lack of research on pollution and waste issues in industrial folic acid production.

During the middle stage of the project, two models were developed to support practical implementation: an "AI-guided Gene Selection Model Based on Structure-Adaptability Prediction" and a "Fine-tuned Qwen3 Vertical Model Based on SFT and RAG". These models specifically target two key challenges: selecting appropriate target genes and enhancing the quality of information retrieval.

In the later stage of the project, understanding the folate content and distribution after soybeans are converted into soy products was considered crucial, since high-folate soybeans are often provided to consumers in the form of soy products. To simulate this process, a thermal stability model based on the structure of folate was constructed. These models have significantly supported the project's progress at various stages and proven to be of great practical value. Additionally, the concepts and techniques used in these models are believed to benefit other projects as well.

HP Experience and Suggestions

Extensive human practice and education efforts were carried out throughout the early, middle, and late stages of the project. This aspect serves as a defining feature of our initiative, encompassing feasibility research to evaluate project viability, interviews to assess its value, training sessions to establish experimental protocols, science popularization activities to spread professional knowledge, programs to introduce the project to society, and collaborative exchanges to enhance project quality. Valuable experience has been accumulated in this process. It is our belief that thorough early preparation and clear definition of each activity's purpose are crucial.

Additionally, maintaining active communication with top-performing iGEM teams from previous years and current-year participants helps ensure each activity has unique characteristics and meaningful impact. Finally, timely communication with other members in the group is essential to identify the highlights of each activity, ensuring that human practice truly serves as a strong support for both the internal development and external influence of the entire project.