Solidarity lies at the heart of iGEM‘s competition, and Tsinghua’s team is dedicated to empowering the next generation of participants. Through diverse contributions to the competition, we strive to share our experience and know-how by providing essential tools, knowledge, as well as resources.
A crucial point of syntheic biology is to create projects that are applicable to real-life scenarios, and Ducon’s most important contribution lies in its utilitairian features. By converting difficult carbon sources into high-end value products with diverse downstream applications, Ducon contributes to establishing responsible consumerism and protecting planetary health.
Exploring new genetic manipulation methods and new chassis organisms stand at synthetic biology’s forefront of innovation. In Ducon, we have successfully performed genetic engineering in a novel organism Trichoderma reesei, both making us the first iGEM team in at least 8 years to utilize it, and contributing gene manipulation methods to iGEM’s community, enabling future teams to explore and expand T. reesei’s potential. We have also modified the TCA cycle in Pseudomonas putida, achieving successful manipulation of crucial metabolic pathways as well as expanding our understanding of the capabilities of P. putida.
Supported by integrated, coherent part collections composed of nearly 60 parts, Ducon is divided into 4 sections that each perform a useful or specific function for the iGEM community.
We created complete documentation for every part within our 4 collections, informing future teams of not only what works, but also what doesn’t work and why. In addition, we rigorously demonstrated how our parts are related using charts and diagrams, showcasing holistic pictures of sets of parts that perform a function together. We sincerely wish that by presenting our part collections in visual, we contribute to the community not just parts ———— but also a philosophy on what it means to be a real collection.
Our dry lab work provides several reusable and open-access resources for the iGEM and synthetic biology community:
We have developed and validated a suite of complementary models that provide a blueprint for simulating complex metabolic and ecological interactions:
All model code, parameters, and comprehensive documentation are openly shared, providing ready-to-adapt templates for projects involving lignin valorization, TCA cycle engineering, or multi-strain fermentation.
Bridging the gap between simulation and application, we designed a detailed industrial-scale processing line for converting vinasse into crystalline succinate. This contribution goes beyond a conceptual flow chart by including:
This publicly available process design serves as a valuable case study for scaling microbial systems from the lab bench to pilot or industrial levels.
To address the universal challenge of optimizing gene expression, we built and deployed a user-friendly, web-based UTR optimization platform.
These contributions lower the barrier for future teams to conduct rational system design, metabolic modeling, and genetic part optimization, supporting more efficient and predictable engineering of biological systems.
A core mission of iGEM is to foster the growth of the synthetic biology community beyond the lab. Our primary contribution in Human Practices is the design, implementation, and validation of a comprehensive Four-Pillar Educational Ecosystem. This model provides a structured and scalable framework for future iGEM teams and institutions to systematically build awareness, collaboration, and inclusion in synthetic biology.
Recognizing that isolated outreach events have limited impact, we engineered an educational framework where four key perspectives—Youth Enlightenment, Intercollegiate Collaboration, Community Engagement, and International Expansion—interact synergistically to create a self-reinforcing cycle of knowledge and engagement.
Further information on our education for senior high school –>
Community Engagement: Achieving All-Age Inclusion We demonstrate how to break technological and generational barriers by bringing synthetic biology and AI workshops to senior communities. This pillar is the extension, showcasing how to transfer academic knowledge to the broader public, achieving true grassroots-level inclusion and science equity. > Further information on our education for the senior about AI –>
International Expansion: Globalizing and Sublimating Impact We contribute a proven strategy for integrating SDGs with science communication on a global stage, as exemplified by our activities in Bali, Indonesia. This pillar is the sublimation, providing a template for teams to amplify their influence internationally and feed diverse global perspectives back into their local efforts.
Further information on our education for international school –>
The Core Contribution: The Integrated Ecosystem Itself
Our most significant offering is not just the execution of these four pillars, but the demonstration of their cyclic interaction. This “education ecosystem rooted locally and radiating globally” is a replicable model. We provide future iGEM teams with a powerful blueprint to build their own multi-dimensional, sustainable education networks, ensuring their outreach efforts are not isolated events, but part of a coordinated strategy to grow the synthetic biology community worldwide.
While the world seeks sustainable solutions for major challenges, many overlooked opportunities lie in traditional industries. This year, our team is proud to pioneer a new frontier in iGEM: we are the first to direct the power of synthetic biology towards the global challenge of vinasse management.
Recognizing that millions of tons of this nutrient-rich waste from the baijiu and broader brewing industry represent both an environmental burden and an untapped resource, we embarked on a mission to redesign its fate. Our contribution to the iGEM and broader synthetic biology community is not just a set of parts, but a comprehensive toolkit and a novel framework for tackling lignocellulosic waste in alcoholic beverage production.
We did not confine ourselves to theoretical discussions but instead proactively engaged in in-depth and pragmatic two-way communications with key players in the industrial chain and regulatory authorities.
Engagement with Enterprises
We visited production areas such as Luzhou, engaging in dialogues with distilleries of various scales. Through these interactions, we precisely identified their real pain points, cost pressures, and technological needs in vinasse treatment, ensuring that our technological designs were firmly grounded in real-world conditions.
Further information on our communication with enterprises –>
Policy Alignment:
We conducted thematic discussions with local environmental protection departments, aligning our technological solutions with national top-level strategies such as “Synergistic Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions” and “Zero-Waste City” construction. This enabled us to grasp policy directions and regulatory challenges, paving the way for the compliant implementation and future promotion of our technologies (including succinate production from vinasse).
Further information on our communication with Luzhou Environmental Protection Bureau, China –>
Academic Collaboration & Knowledge Co-Creation
We engaged deeply with researchers from Tsinghua University and other institutions, integrating expert insights into the optimization of our dual-chassis system. These exchanges allowed us to refine critical parameters—from lignin degradation efficiency to succinate yield—ensuring that our platform is both scientifically rigorous and industrially relevant.
Entrepreneurial Roadmap for iGEMpreneurs
Going beyond technical and policy work, we developed a comprehensive open-source business framework—including a business model, a staged go-to-market strategy and so on. This provides future iGEM teams with a replicable template to bridge the gap between lab-scale innovation and real-world impact.
Further information on our efforts in sustainable development –>
In conclusion, Tsinghua iGEM’s contributions this year reflect a holistic and forward-looking approach to synthetic biology. Through Ducon, we have not only engineered novel organisms and pathways but also provided a robust, reusable toolkit of genetic parts, predictive models, and scalable process designs. Our integrated wet lab, dry lab, and hardware workflows offer future teams a clear, adaptable blueprint for tackling complex biological and industrial challenges.
Beyond the bench, our Four-Pillar Educational Ecosystem establishes a sustainable model for community building, while our deep engagement with industry and policy ensures that synthetic biology solutions remain grounded in real-world needs. By pioneering the valorization of vinasse and providing an open-source entrepreneurial roadmap, we empower the next generation of iGEMpreneurs to transform lab-scale innovation into tangible global impact.