EDUCATION

“How can we encourage the public to participate in the realms of synthetic biology and understand the significance of our project? ”
Our education initiative is dedicated to democratizing knowledge in synthetic biology and food safety testing, aiming to reach a broad and diverse audience. Through a multifaceted approach, we engage the community via both online and offline channels to effectively disseminate information and gather valuable feedback for continuous product improvement. Key activities include hosting project introduction classes, maintaining an active presence on three major social media platforms (Rednote, Douyin, and Bilibili), developing team peripherals, integrating a dedicated science popularization section within our app, designing an interactive synthetic biology game, and utilizing handheld display boards for dynamic in-person outreach. This comprehensive strategy ensures we not only educate but also inspire and involve the public in the advancements of synthetic biology.
In addition, we focus on feedback from people involved these activities, reflecting on our project in the future. We have strong confidence for these experiences and believe they could bring us valuable suggestions and made profound impact on our lives.

1.1 Project Intruduction Class
On August 2, we hosted an online project presentation tailored for adults. Given their strong ability to comprehend and absorb information, our presentation thoroughly covered the project background, experimental design, and a series of dry and wet lab activities. Following the presentation, we also organized an interactive session to gather feedback from the participants. They acknowledged the social value of our project and offered suggestions, for instance, they felt that the current educational activities and materials could be further enriched and recommended that we leverage social media platforms to promote the project. In response to their input, we made subsequent improvements to our outreach efforts: we published articles and videos related to synthetic biology and our project on three social media platforms, aiming to help more people learn about synthetic biology, food safety issues, and the significance of our work. Overall, this adult-focused presentation was a mutual learning experience, allowing us to continuously refine our project through the process of educational engagement.
1.2 Operating three social media platforms
We created three accounts in different apps to record our IHP journey and promote science and biology knowledge. Our team hope to establish a two-way communication channel with readers through social media, so that public around the world can access knowledge related to synthetic biology, food safety and testing device. Since we haven't been operating for long, our social media accounts haven't accumulated a large number of followers or much attention yet. However, in the future, we plan to publish diverse and easy-to-understand articles and videos to attract more people to our project and spread the spark of synthetic biology to everyone.

2.1 Team Merchandise
Our team's merchandise includes badges, cards, spoons, and coasters. The overall design integrates nanoflower-based bacterial detection technology with smartphone-enabled rapid sensing, conveying the idea of “bacterial detection safeguarding food safety.” These items serve as event giveaways or promotional gifts to enhance the audience's engagement and identification with our project, sparking interest in innovative biosensing technologies and daily health protection.
The surfaces feature two main patterns. The first pattern centers on various types of food surrounded by bacterial and nanoflower elements, illustrating the application of our technology in detecting foodborne pathogens. The second pattern displays a smartphone interface showing real-time detection results, symbolizing the seamless integration of nanotechnology and mobile platforms for rapid diagnostics. All designs include our team logo and the name “BloomSensei” to strengthen brand identity and highlight the convenience and innovation of our detection system
2.2 The science popularization section of our APP
In our team's bacterial detection app, we have specifically established a science education section to introduce common bacteria and knowledge related to food safety. Through preliminary surveys and street interviews, we found that most people have limited understanding of bacteria; many have only heard their names but do not grasp their actual implications. At the same time, nearly all respondents expressed great concern about food safety issues but generally lacked knowledge about detection principles and methods. Based on these findings, we aim to enhance public awareness of bacteria and food testing through this science section, and further communicate the scientific and social significance of our project.
2.3 Synthetic Biology Game
In order to provide education for public, we devised an engaging topic aimed at fostering their interest in biology. Through collaboration with the HKust(GZ) in July 30th, we designed a fun game, which presented knowledge of synthetic biology and food safety through interactive games.Through this game, we promoted our project and synthetic biology, especially the importance of food safety. Meanwhile, they all loved for our activities. They actively participated by asking and playing games.
This game is based on the rules of Gobang. Each team sends two players to participate, and the order is determined by playing rock-paper-scissors. You have 2 minutes to memorize the answers, and then 1 minute to look at the questions. The team with the most correct answers wins. Q&A Game Questions and Answers (Click to view PDF)
We realized from their answers that they were unfamiliar with the potential of testing devices, because they didn't have strong confidence in the testing equipment, not only they are skeptical but also incomprehensible about the test results. According to their feedback and suggestions, we have a clear plan to design and improve our product.
2.4 Handheld Display Board
In order to further promote our topic and popular science synthetic biology, the team carried out a street science outreach activity on July 31. In this event, we not only popularized synthetic biology to the public, but also collected a lot of feedback related to the topic.
During this street science outreach event, we focused on project topic of "A Four-in-One Dual-Signal Amplification Nanoflower Combined with Smartphones for Ultra-Sensitive and Rapid Detection of Bacteria." We designed three thematic display boards, each addressing different aspects: public awareness of foodborne pathogens, acceptance and usage scenarios of portable bacterial detection devices, and public understanding and expectations of synthetic biology. Our goal was to understand public awareness and needs regarding food safety testing, explore the application potential of smartphone-assisted detection technologies, and encourage people to reflect on the innovative value of synthetic biology in the field of rapid detection. Through this interactive science communication, we not only enhanced public understanding of the prevention and control of foodborne illnesses but also connected our project to people’s daily lives.

Based on our comprehensive education and outreach initiatives, we have successfully engaged diverse audiences through a variety of online and offline channels. These include interactive classes, social media campaigns, creative merchandise, gamified learning, and street level science communication. These efforts have not only raised public awareness of synthetic biology and food safety but also provided invaluable feedback that directly informs the ongoing improvement of our project. We are committed to continuing this bidirectional exchange of knowledge, inspiring broader public participation in science, and demonstrating the real world impact of synthetic biology on everyday life.