Overview
In the process of designing and advancing the project, we have always hoped that it would not merely be a scientific research exploration, but rather closely resonate with broader social goals. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide us with a clear coordinate system, helping us continuously reflect on: What long-term value can our work bring to education, industry, society, and the environment? Based on this reflection, our project has made direct contributions to SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), while also demonstrating potential contributions in SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).
In iHP, we have presented in detail how to connect education, scientific research, responsible consumption, and partnerships into a sustainable development path. In this section, we will further clarify this path from the perspective of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and explain it in conjunction with the target indicators.
SDG 4: Quality Education 
Ensure inclusive, equitable, and quality education, and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
SDG 4: Quality Education aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Its core connotations include: Accessibility: Ensure that all children and adolescents have access to basic education, without being deprived of learning opportunities due to geographical location, gender, or economic conditions. Fairness: Pay special attention to disadvantaged groups and regions with limited resources, and strive to narrow the education gap. Quality and Relevance: Not only impart knowledge, but also cultivate critical thinking, innovation capabilities, and values of sustainable development. Lifelong Learning: Education should not be confined to campus, but should become a right that everyone can access and enjoy throughout their lives.
Why We Choose
During the preliminary research for HP's education work design, we realized that most people's attitude towards cutting-edge technologies such as synthetic biology and AI technology is "abstract" and "only for professionals". Moreover, although they vaguely perceive the pollution problem, they still lack a profound understanding of the severity of plastic pollution and the motivation to change this situation. Therefore, through our education work, we hope not only to help more people cross this knowledge threshold and translate cutting-edge scientific research into language that everyone can understand, but also to enable more people to understand that the plastic pollution problem is closely related to themselves, thereby stimulating their initiative to protect the environment.
Stakeholder Dialogue and Feedback
Primary School: Teacher Feedback
After the first online class at Beijing Bozhi School in Beijing, China, the teaching assistant teacher admitted that the online format weakened the sense of interaction, causing children to get distracted quickly; moreover, the parts involving AI and projects were too abstract for them. In contrast, explanations like "the four characteristics of living organisms" that are close to life are most understandable and acceptable to children. The teacher's feedback reminds us that interest must start from experiences that children can perceive, rather than from complex concepts.
Primary School: Student Feedback
It is precisely based on this feedback that we strengthened the design of "hands-on" and "experiential" elements in the second primary school activity. During the "Bacteria Painting" activity at the Cold Spring Harbor Asia DNA Learning Center in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, children personally completed the experiment, their eyes shining as their works gradually took shape. Several children even voluntarily proposed after class that they wanted to learn more in-depth about laboratory procedures and biological knowledge.
Junior High School: The Call for Fair Education
At Cao Miao Middle School in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, China, we were facing a group of students about to take the high school entrance examination. Before class, the teacher told us that many children in the class might not be able to continue their studies. So, we not only shared the basic knowledge of synthetic biology but also encouraged them to explore the fun of learning and conveyed the mindset of "never give up learning no matter the circumstances." After class, a boy came up to us and gave feedback that he really liked the class and hoped to hear more from us in the future.
High School: Teacher Support
After a class at Huamai Middle School in Chengmai County, Hainan Province, China, local biology teachers said that if students are interested, they are willing to provide further support and even jointly design relevant activities. The teachers' feedback made us realize that when education truly stimulates students' interest, it will naturally extend into continuous actions by schools and teachers.
Impact and Coverage
In terms of specific coverage, our educational activities have reached 1 primary school, 1 junior high school, 1 senior high school, and all classes of 1 educational institution and its summer school. This coverage has enabled us to implement continuous educational practices from younger to older age groups, while also ensuring the multi-level nature and representativeness of the activities.
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 
Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation
SDG9 aims to "build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation." It emphasizes that many challenges faced by modern society, such as environmental pollution, resource shortages, and economic transformation, need to be addressed through industrial upgrading and innovative scientific research.
Why Choose
Plastic pollution is a typical interdisciplinary and cross-industry issue. Academic exploration alone cannot form a closed loop; it must collaborate with the industry to truly promote the entry of degradable materials into market applications. In our communication with Guangdong Zhongsu, we deeply felt that the significance of scientific research lies not only in proposing new tools but also in whether it can address industrial pain points.
Stakeholder Feedback
After an online conversation, representatives from Guangdong Zhongsu reminded us that if the model does not take into account the complexity of the natural environment, it will be difficult to meet the actual needs of the industry. They also suggested that our platform be positioned as a scientific research service tool, embedded in the front end of the industrial chain to help enterprises and research institutions collaborate.
Quantitative Impact Assessment
Taking enzyme engineering R&D as an example, traditional methods often require high-throughput screening of large-scale libraries. Assuming that a typical cycle requires approximately 10,000 mutants, with a screening cost of about 10USD per mutant, the direct investment in the experimental phase alone amounts to as much as 100,000USD. In contrast, the Plaszyme model significantly reduces the number of actual validations through intelligent prediction: by comparing the model results, we only need to experimentally test approximately 100 candidates, plus a small amount of computational cost (about 1,000USD), and the expenditure for the entire cycle can be effectively controlled, which means that the direct R&D cost is expected to be reduced by approximately 90 percent.
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production 
Promote efficient use of resources, reduce waste and pollution, and achieve sustainable production and consumption patterns
SDG 12 aims to "ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns". It emphasizes that by reducing resource waste, promoting the circular economy, and advocating green production methods, social consumption and production can be made more efficient and environmentally friendly, thus avoiding adding to the environmental burden.
Why Choose
As a team researching plastic degradation, our work is inherently closely linked to SDG12: the essence of plastic pollution is precisely the result of unsustainable production and consumption patterns. Although our project focuses on scientific research, we also adhere to the practice of sustainable concepts in the project periphery and communication aspects. When designing team uniforms and peripherals, we proactively chose environmentally friendly materials made from plant residues or biodegradable materials.
Stakeholder Feedback
When we introduced the material selection of the surrounding products during the event, many participants expressed that such environmental protection practices in details made them feel the sincere attitude of the research team towards sustainable development, rather than just empty words in publicity. Some residents mentioned to us during a plastic recycling event that they rarely come into contact with daily necessities made of biodegradable materials, which made us realize that promoting an environmentally friendly consumption model requires not only production by enterprises but also joint efforts from scientific research and public education.
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals 
Strengthen global cooperation and partnerships, bringing together the forces of government, scientific research, industry, education, and the public
SDG 17 aims to "promote partnerships for the goals". It emphasizes that in the face of global challenges such as climate change, educational equity, and environmental protection, no single country, institution, or team can achieve them alone. Only through cooperation among governments, enterprises, scientific research institutions, communities, and the public, integrating resources, sharing knowledge, and complementing each other's strengths, can all sustainable development goals be truly implemented.
Why Choose
At the very beginning of Project Initiation, we realized that the issue of plastic pollution cannot be solved solely by laboratory research; rather, it is a systematic challenge that requires the joint participation of scientific research, industry, community, and education. SDG17 emphasizes "Partnerships for the Goals," which aligns perfectly with our team's philosophy.
Stakeholder Dialogue and Feedback
Community: Discover the Value of Connection through Actions Close to You
The plastic recycling activity launched on the shores of Jinji Lake in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, initially aimed only to collect creatives for the project. However, when we personally collected and sorted these plastic products and shared the significance of recycling with community residents, we truly felt for the first time that scientific research is not "starting from scratch" but should be based on social reality.
Enterprise: Industry feedback makes scientific research closer to reality
During our communication with Guangdong Zhongsu, we originally had no expectation of receiving useful feedback after introducing our research approach, but unexpectedly received a reminder from the other party: "If the prediction model does not take into account the complexity of the natural environment, it will be difficult to truly help the industry." This feedback made us deeply realize that partnerships are not passive, but rather a driving force that constantly pushes us to correct our direction.
Cross-team Collaboration: Inspiration and Co-creation from the Research Community
At an online sharing session held with five teams, namely BUCT, BUCT-China, ZJUT-China, JLU-NBBMS, and Tsinghua, we not only exchanged ideas on project challenges and explorations but also achieved four outcomes through cooperation: Chassis Bacteria Comic White Paper, Enzymatic Cycling: Synthetic Biology Roadmap and Action Initiative towards a Plastic Circular Economy, cross-team plastic recycling actions and joint course recordings. All outcomes have been compiled into downloadable PDFs or video links, which are placed on the Community page for easy reference and reuse by future teams.
Academic Stage: From Sharing to Mutual Learning
At the CCiC National Exchange Conference, we first presented our project on a larger stage, showcasing and discussing it with iGEM teams and experts from across the country. Different teams provided us with multi-dimensional feedback ranging from experimental design to educational activities.
Learning and Inheritance: Building on Previous iGEM Projects
Throughout the progression of our project, we have never moved forward in isolation. Instead, we consciously look back to learn from and build upon the footprints of our predecessors. The 2024 CAU-China team left a lasting impression on us. Their sustainable design not only aligned conceptually with the SDGs but, more importantly, was rooted in collaboration—sharing educational resources, co-developing public science materials, and creating open-access platforms that enabled future teams to continue and expand their work.
Inspired by this spirit of cooperative continuity, we began, in the course of our project, to build connections with several teams, including BUCT, BUCT-China, ZJUT-China, JLU-NBBMS, and Tsinghua. Our collaboration was not limited to idea exchange or superficial communication; instead, we worked together to produce tangible outcomes. Initiatives such as the “An Illustrated White Paper on Chassis”, Enzymatic Cycle: A Synthetic Biology Roadmap and Action Initiative towards a Plastic Closed Loop Economy, cross-team plastic recycling campaigns, and jointly recorded educational courses were all realized through these partnerships.
These results carry not only the efforts of each participating team but also our shared aspiration to make knowledge and experience flow across broader communities. Taking this further, we have sought to embed this collaborative spirit into our project framework itself—building bridges between education, research, industry, and community engagement. Through these connections, we hope to weave these seemingly separate modules into a cohesive, bottom-up pathway toward sustainable development.
Ultimately, we see this process not merely as a tribute to past achievements but as a continuation of them—a way to let the “seeds sown by previous teams” sprout in our hands, and to provide future iGEMers with a framework that continues to grow and evolve.
Conclusion
During the project implementation, we did not "attach SDGs to the outcomes" but instead regarded them as the steering wheel for our thinking: through the exploration of SDG4, SDG9, SDG12, and SDG17, we gradually constructed a complete path from educational enlightenment → scientific research and innovation → responsible consumption → collaborative co-construction. Education is not just a slogan; it is about entering classrooms in cities and villages to truly ignite children's curiosity with knowledge. Scientific research and innovation are not just laboratory concepts; they have achieved nearly 90 percent savings in experimental costs through the Plaszyme platform. Responsible consumption is not just an idea; it is about bringing environmental protection into daily life through cross-provincial recycling initiatives. And partnerships are not just verbal appeals; they are the implementation of four cross-team cooperation outcomes.
It is precisely through these solid actions that we have gradually come to realize that SDGs are not just distant goals but practical paths that can be implemented step by step. This path not only helps us see the connection between scientific research and society but also leads us to think: Can a young scientific research team respond to more ambitious global issues with continuous actions?
This path not only demonstrates how synthetic biology can contribute to solving social problems but also reflects how a young scientific research team responds to global issues through continuous action. We believe that sustainable development is not an abstract slogan but rather every bit of interaction in the classroom, every sincere exchange with enterprises, every choice in the surrounding details, and every joint creation across teams.
It is precisely through these "concrete and nuanced" actions that our project has established a strong connection with the SDGs, and also provided new imaginative space for the intersection of future scientific research and society. We hope that this effort can become a seed that, with the participation of more educators, researchers, industries, and the public, will take root, germinate, blossom, and bear fruit in the soil of global sustainable development.
Part of Project Contribution
- Open source resources (especially data resource sharing and database co-construction plan) plaszyme.org/plaszymedb (database online platform link)
- https://github.com/Tsutayaaa/PlaszymeDB