Good inclusivity means enabling more groups that are underrepresented in science in the world to access and understand scientific knowledge. However, ordinary science popularization activities and books rarely cover this part of the population. After discussions among our team members, we decided to carry out our own science popularization efforts. Through the connections of our team members with people from all walks of life, we aim to enable more people to understand, learn, and apply science.

Our inclusive project is centered around the theme of our iGEM project, which is the treatment of colorectal cancer. Moreover, on this basis, it extends to synthetic biology, biology, and other broader aspects of science. We have broadened the channels of science popularization and expanded the scope of the target audience. All information dissemination channels we can think of, such as social media, offline lectures, and overseas connections, are the locations for our science popularization. Through our analysis, whether it is minors, people with disabilities, student groups, or middle-aged and elderly people, they all have areas where they are underrepresented in science, and they are all the targets of our science popularization.

Our philosophy is to broaden the channels of science popularization, be inclusive of all kinds of people, and enable everyone to enjoy the fun brought by science.

Why

Children at the kindergarten stage are in a critical period of cognitive development and are full of curiosity about basic scientific questions such as“What is life?”and“How does the body work?”However, children at this age generally lack early systematic natural science education. For example, the basic concept of“cell”in life science is rarely explained in an intuitive and vivid way during the early childhood stage. Most popular science materials and teaching resources currently available on the market are focused on primary school students in the middle and higher grades, lacking expressions and hands-on participation forms suitable for young children. This makes it difficult for many children to develop an interest in biological knowledge at an early age, which may in turn affect their way of thinking and willingness to explore in the field of science in the future. In order to stimulate children's interest in science and cultivate their scientific literacy, we hope to enter the kindergarten classroom and use the form of “lecture+ game+ handicraft” to guide children to understand the world of cells, satisfy their natural learning motivation of“wanting to know,”“wanting to touch,”and“wanting to participate,”and achieve the inclusive educational goal of“early science enlightenment.”

Who & Where

Our target audience is the middle and senior class students of a kindergarten in Nanjing (aged 4-6 years old). Most of these children have not yet been exposed to biological content. They have a relatively short attention span and prefer teaching methods such as games, pictures, stories, and handicrafts. Some children show a high interest in colors, models, and construction. There are differences in their language expression abilities, so the course design needs to consider visual support and physical guidance. The total number of participants is about 30.The venue for this popular science activity is a multi-functional classroom in a kindergarten in Nanjing.

How

Teaching Methods:

• Lecture + Video + Hands-on Activities: Combine lectures, videos, and handicrafts to attract the children's attention through various interactive forms.

• Language Strategy: Use vivid metaphors (such as "cells are like building blocks" and "mitochondria are batteries") and question-and-answer interactions to transform complex scientific concepts into language that children can easily understand.

• Material Design: Choose brightly colored, easily moldable air-dry clay to allow children to make plant cell models with their own hands, enhancing their hands-on skills and sense of participation.

• Course Structure: Break down the complex cell structure into simple elements such as "cell wall (clothes), nucleus (head), and cytoplasm (jelly)" to help children better understand and remember.

Assessment Methods:

• Graphical Interest Questionnaire: Use smiley face emojis to allow children to intuitively express their feelings and interests.

• Volunteer Observation Record: Record the frequency of children's interactions and their level of focus to assess the teaching effectiveness.

• Simple Self-report Questions: Through questions (such as "What do you remember is inside the cell?") to test the children's learning outcomes. Through these methods, we transform abstract scientific concepts into experiences that children can "see," "touch," and "remember," successfully stimulating their interest in and desire to explore science.

What

Self-introduction and Interest Stimulation:

• We first introduce ourselves and stimulate the children's interest in biology through questions such as “Do you know what a cell is?”

• Using PPT presentations with a large number of pictures, we transform abstruse biological knowledge into language that children can understand. For example, we use building blocks and couriers to explain the functions of organelles.

Making Plant Cell Models by Hand:

• We lead the children in making plant cell models by hand. The children work in groups to complete the model-making and take a group photo with us after finishing.

ReflectionStrong

Strengths：

• Content Tailored to Age Group: By using stories, colors, and shapes to explain complex structures, we effectively enhanced the children's comprehension.

• Highly Interactive: Each segment included questions and hands-on activities,fully engaging the children's attention and participation.

• Inclusive Assessment Methods: The graphical questionnaires we designed allowed even the youngest children to easily express their feelings and understanding.

Challenges：

• Limited Attention Span: The PPT lecture section needs to be more fragmented and rhythmic to better adapt to the children's attention characteristics.

• Limited Language Expression Ability: Some children need stronger guidance and encouragement to help them better express their thoughts.

• Differences in Coordination During Handcrafting: A few children have weaker coordination skills during the handcrafting process and need to be provided with more auxiliary tools, such as molds.

Follow-up Recommendations：

• Develop a "Cell Model Craft Kit "Teaching Aid: Create an easy-to-use craft kit that will facilitate kindergarten teachers in conducting similar science enlightenment courses in the future.

• Combine with Story Picture Books: Compile supplementary reading materials such as "The Great Adventure of Cell Town" to reinforce children's impressions of scientific concepts through vivid storytelling.

• Promote More "Early-age Science Popularization Projects": Not only impart scientific knowledge, but also cultivate children's scientific literacy and hands-on abilities, laying a solid foundation for their future scientific exploration.

Why

Children in the mountainous primary schools of Zhangjiajie,despite being surrounded by a rich natural environment full of biological resources,generally have a cognitive gap when it comes to microscopic life sciences such as gene editing.Due to the lack of laboratory equipment,the complexity of professional terminology,and limited opportunities to engage with cutting-edge technology,many children perceive biology as"inaccessible and complicated knowledge."They especially lack channels to express their scientific imagination.Painting,as a low-threshold and highly flexible visual language,can effectively break through the barriers of written language.It can stimulate children to use their intuition and creativity to understand abstract concepts and allows children with different language abilities and knowledge backgrounds to participate equally.This is the core demand of inclusive science education and the important reason why we have chosen this group and launched the project.

Who & Where

This event is aimed at students in grades 1-2 of Xujiafang Mingzhu Primary School in Zhangjiajie,as well as a few kindergarten students.The science courses for these children are primarily based on textbook theory,lacking practical expansion.We pay special attention to children who are interested in drawing but lack confidence in science.Through painting,we aim to build a platform for them to express their thoughts,ensuring that every child's voice can be"seen."

How

Story-based Guidance:

• Utilize localized metaphors and visual materials such as"the genetic map in a seed"to intuitively illustrate the role of genes through storytelling.

• Employ vivid stories and images to help children grasp the fundamental concepts of genes,reducing the abstract nature of scientific knowledge

Independent Drawing Session:

• Provide a variety of drawing materials and encourage children to engage in free drawing without a set topic or model,allowing them to freely depict their imagined"genes,""process of editing life,"or"future organisms."

• This design fully respects individual differences and freedom of expression,ensuring that children of different backgrounds and personalities can participate equally,stimulating their creativity and imagination.

Artwork Dialogue Session:

• Guide children to explain their creations and share their thoughts and feelings.

• Through this session,children's expressive abilities are enhanced,and peer interaction and communication are promoted.

What

During the activity,we observed that children actively engaged in understanding and imagining the concept of genes through independent drawing.Their creations generally included visual elements symbolizing genes(such as spirals and chains)and gene editing(such as scissors and tools).We also noticed that many introverted students became more willing to express themselves.These drawing outcomes themselves are a visual proof of children's understanding of science and their confident expression,strongly supporting the inclusive goals of this teaching support activity.As a"barrier-free language,"drawing truly realizes decentralized scientific participation—no need for complex equipment or a reserve of terminology.Every child can produce a narrative of life science from a unique perspective.The science enlightenment of children in mountainous areas does not necessarily begin in the laboratory,but can start with a paintbrush.When children's doodles are listened to with due respect,science can seek equality in diversity and achieve inclusion through creation.

Reflection

Strengths：red

Independent Drawing Session Design:

• The independent drawing session,free from set topics or models,effectively overcame multiple barriers such as professional terminology,lack of laboratory equipment,and limited language skills.This design allowed children with different knowledge backgrounds,language abilities,and personalities,especially those who lacked confidence in science but were interested in drawing,to participate equally and express their unique scientific imagination confidently.This was fully confirmed by the increased willingness of introverted students to express themselves and the widespread presence of gene-related symbolic elements(such as spirals and scissors)in their drawings.

Significant Effect of Story-based Guidance:

• By using localized metaphors and visual materials,children were able to intuitively understand the role of genes,reducing the abstract nature of scientific knowledge and enhancing their interest and participation in learning.

• Artwork Dialogue Promotes Communication:

• By guiding children to explain their creations,not only was their expressive ability enhanced,but also communication and interaction among peers were promoted,further improving their scientific understanding and self-confidence.

Challenges：

• Insufficient Breadth of Coverage:

The activity primarily focused on children with an interest in drawing,and there was inadequate coverage for children with low interest in drawing or those with special difficulties.In the future,it may be worth considering the introduction of a more diverse range of expressive media,such as colored clay modeling,to provide more entry points for participation for children with different interests and abilities.

• Need for Optimized Age Appropriateness:

The suitability of the activity content for different age groups needs to be improved.In the future,it would be beneficial to design activities with a greater sense of hierarchy,allowing the difficulty level to increase with age,in order to better meet the needs of children across various age groups.

Why

In remote mountainous areas such as Daliang Mountain in Sichuan,the shortage of educational resources is extremely severe.The school libraries have few and outdated books,and there is a serious lack of teaching aids.The children even have to share a set of stationery.This resource scarcity not only limits their learning opportunities but also results in their almost zero knowledge of health,especially major diseases like cancer.Due to the lack of relevant popular science education,these children find it difficult to develop a basic health awareness and may face higher health risks in the future.Therefore,we hope to provide them with necessary learning resources and health knowledge through educational assistance,help them broaden their horizons,enhance their understanding of disease prevention,and thus achieve fair distribution of educational resources and the popularization of health knowledge.

Who & Where

This donation activity was initiated by all members of ZQT-Nanjing under the leadership of the person in charge,Shen Zinan,and in collaboration with Teacher Ma from Daliang Mountain in Sichuan.Our goal is to provide students of a primary school in Daliang Mountain with learning resources and health knowledge to help improve their learning conditions and enhance their health awareness.

How

We carried out this activity through targeted assistance,with the following specific steps:

Needs Assessment:

• Established contact with the local school and conducted detailed surveys through questionnaires and phone interviews to understand the actual needs of the school,including specific requirements for books,teaching aids,and health knowledge.

• Communicated with local teachers and student representatives to ensure that the donated materials and content meet their actual needs.

Material Preparation:

• Based on the results of the needs assessment,we carefully selected and prepared the donated materials.We chose over a dozen age-appropriate books,including literary stories,popular science picture books,and health knowledge books,with a particular focus on including some simple and easy-to-understand content on cancer.

• Ensured that all donated materials were carefully selected to meet the actual needs and cognitive levels of the children in the mountainous areas.

Material Delivery:

• Sent the materials and funds directly to the school through mail and bank transfers.We maintained close communication with the local school to ensure that the donated materials arrived in a timely and accurate manner.

• Throughout the process,we emphasized practicality and feasibility to ensure that every act of kindness was effectively implemented.

What

In this activity,we carefully selected and donated more than a dozen age-appropriate books,including literary stories,popular science picture books,and health knowledge books,with a particular focus on including some simple and easy-to-understand content on cancer.At the same time,we also donated 1,000 yuan to support the school in purchasing urgently needed teaching supplies.All donated materials were carefully selected to ensure that they meet the actual needs and cognitive levels of the children in the mountainous areas.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this activity, we deeply realized that even a small amount of help can bring changes to children in mountainous areas, and continuous attention and support are the keys to truly promoting educational equity. In the future, we will continue to work hard to provide better educational resources and health knowledge for more children in remote mountainous areas.

Why

We choose to popularize knowledge about bacteria among first-grade primary school students. This is because children's understanding of bacteria is often single-sided and limited. Many only know the harmful effects of bacteria, but are unaware of the benefits bacteria bring to humans and their wide applications in various scientific fields. Although bacteria are tiny, they are closely related to health, the environment, and technology. Understanding bacteria can help children establish basic scientific thinking and cultivate their curiosity about nature. More importantly, inclusive science popularization enables children from different backgrounds to have equal access to science. Regardless of gender, ability, or cognitive differences, every child deserves to have the tools to explore the world. We break the prejudice of science being "high-threshold" through fun interactions, sowing the seeds of inclusiveness and innovation in children's hearts: Science is not the privilege of a few, but the future jointly written by everyone.

Who & Where

Our target group is the first-grade students of the primary school department of Nanjing Foreign Language School Xianlin Campus. These children are at a crucial stage of cognitive development. They are full of curiosity about science but lack systematic science enlightenment education. Our popular science venue is located in the primary school department of Nanjing Foreign Language School Xianlin Campus.

How

During the implementation of the biological enlightenment course in Nanjing Foreign Language School Xianlin Primary School this time, our team made full preparations. The specific steps are as follows:

Course Design:

- Carefully create teaching PPTs suitable for the cognitive level of first-grade students. After multiple discussions and revisions, continuously optimize the content presentation method to ensure that scientific knowledge combines accuracy and entertainment.

- Incorporate a large number of vivid pictures of bacteria and cartoon animations into the PPT, making abstract scientific concepts intuitive and easy to understand.

Classroom Teaching:

- Use simple and easy-to-understand language to explain the basic knowledge of bacteria and maintain interaction with students through methods such as asking questions and having discussions.

- Design a fun Q&A session. Give small prizes to students who actively participate as encouragement to liven up the classroom atmosphere.

Creative Handicrafts:

- Organize a creative handicraft session where children use clay to mold the shapes of bacteria in their imagination, give them names, and introduce them on stage.

- Through hands-on practice, children learn in joy and further deepen their understanding of bacteria knowledge.

What

In this year's iGEM HP activity, we designed a vivid and interesting bacteria science popularization class for first-grade primary school students. The specific activity content is as follows:

Interactive Q&A:

- We livened up the atmosphere through interactive Q&A, scenario games, etc., and prepared small gifts for the children who actively participated.

- Many students who answered questions actively and participated got small gifts, which motivated them to think actively in class.

Creative handicrafts:

- Based on the knowledge learned in class and a basic understanding of the structure of bacteria, the children used clay to mold many creative bacteria shapes.

- Finally, according to the feedback, almost all students changed their views on bacteria after this class. They changed their previous view that bacteria are harmful to humans and instead had a better understanding of the role of bacteria and their help to humans.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

• In-depth Explanation:In future activities,time will be reasonably allocated to provide more in-depth explanations of some important biological concepts to ensure that children can fully understand them.

• Optimize Organization:Further optimize the organization of the handicraft segment to ensure that every child can fully participate in the activity and experience the fun of science.

• Continuous Interaction:Establish a long-term interaction mechanism,such as regular follow-ups or online interactions,to continuously monitor the children's learning progress and ensure the long-term effectiveness of the popular science activities.

Through this primary school popular science activity,we have profoundly realized the importance of teaching according to students'aptitude in the dissemination of science.This activity not only conveyed knowledge but also provided us with valuable experience in popular science-true popular science should be like bacteria,capable of adapting to various environments and taking root and growing in everyone's heart.

Why

Junior high school students generally have insufficient awareness of colorectal cancer. Many students simply regard cancer as an "old people's disease" that has nothing to do with themselves. This cognitive bias stems from the lack of health education, resulting in teenagers' lack of scientific understanding of the relationship between daily life habits such as diet and exercise and the risk of cancer. In response to this situation, the ZQT-Nanjing team designed the "From Nature, For Nurture" health popularization project. The aim is to convey knowledge about the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer to junior high school students in a vivid and interesting way, help them establish a scientific health awareness, and cultivate healthy living habits.

Who & Where

This event was planned and implemented by the ZQT-Nanjing team. The team members include professionals in content design, PPT production, and online presentation. The event was carried out in a purely online format, targeting teenagers who are interested in health popularization, especially junior high school students. Through the online platform, we can break through geographical limitations and reach a wider audience.

How

The team carried out the activity in the form of an online interactive classroom. The specific steps are as follows:

Content Design:

- Translate complex medical knowledge into vivid metaphors suitable for teenagers to understand. For example, explain the role of probiotics with "intestinal little guardians" and the characteristics of cancer cells with "cell troublemakers".

- Ensure that the content is both scientifically accurate and easy to understand, and can attract the attention of teenagers.

Interactive Classroom:

- Through a 40-minute online live broadcast, systematically introduce the basic knowledge, pathogenic factors, and prevention methods of colorectal cancer in combination with case explanations, Q&A interactions and other forms.

- Set up interactive sessions such as "Healthy Habit Mini-tests" to enhance students' sense of participation and learning interest.

Practical Tools:

- Distribute an electronic version of the Healthy Habit Checklist after class to encourage students to apply the knowledge they have learned to their daily lives.

- Prepare online prizes such as e-certificates of merit to motivate students to actively participate in the interactive sessions.

What

In this event, the team prepared vivid PPTs and explanatory videos, and explained professional concepts in plain language. The specific event content is as follows:

Vivid Explanation:

- Explain professional concepts in popular terms such as "cell troublemakers" to ensure that students can understand.

- Focus on explaining the importance of dietary fiber, the harms of fried foods and other content closely related to daily life to help students establish a scientific health awareness.

Interactive Sessions:

- Set up interactive sessions such as the "Healthy Habits Quiz" to enhance students' sense of participation through question-and-answer forms.

- Prepared online prizes such as e-certificates to encourage students to actively participate in the interaction.

Post-class Feedback:

- Post-class feedback shows that students not only mastered the knowledge but also said they would change their bad eating habits.

- Some students took the initiative to act as "Family Health Little Guards" and passed on the knowledge they had learned to their families.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this activity, we have deeply realized the importance of transforming professional medical knowledge into content that is easy for teenagers to understand. This practice shows that health popularization for teenagers needs to balance scientificity and entertainment. Only by transmitting accurate knowledge and stimulating learning interest can we truly achieve the educational purpose. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide high-quality health popularization education for more teenagers.

Why

At Jinling Middle School, the biology class hours for senior one students are limited. There is only one class hour per week, and the content is relatively simple, which cannot meet the in-depth pursuit and exploration of biological knowledge by some students. Synthetic biology, as an emerging and popular discipline today, plays an important role in many scientific research fields. However, junior high school students do not have the opportunity to come into contact with the knowledge of synthetic biology in class. In order to meet the students' eagerness for biological knowledge and fill this knowledge gap, we took advantage of the opportunity of iGEM to carry out the teaching of synthetic biology knowledge in the school.

Who & Where

Our target group is the first-year and second-year students of Jinling Middle School. These students have a strong interest in biology, but lack the opportunity to understand synthetic biology in depth. Our activities are mainly planned and implemented by the members of the Life Science Club. The purpose is to share topics that students are interested in and stimulate their interest in synthetic biology.

How

We selected the knowledge point of protein synthesis, which is generally of great curiosity to students, and adopted the teaching methods of lecturing and Q&A. The specific steps are as follows:

Content Design:

- We chose the knowledge point of protein synthesis and designed detailed course content by integrating the basic concepts of the genetic part in molecular biology.

- The course content includes the regulatory mechanisms of gene expression, especially the transcriptional and translational regulations in prokaryotic cells (bacteria).

Teaching Form:

- We adopted a combination of lecturing and interactive Q&A. Through explanations and interactive Q&A sessions, we enhanced students' sense of participation and comprehension.

- During the explanation process, vivid metaphors and real-life examples were used to help students better understand complex scientific concepts.

Post-class Expansion:

- We provided post-class expansion materials to guide students to further explore the gene expression regulatory mechanisms in eukaryotes.

- We encouraged students to engage in independent learning after class to expand their knowledge.

What

In this event, we designed a popular science course on synthetic biology for students in Grade 10 and Grade 11. The specific activity content is as follows:

Basic knowledge explanation:

- First, the basic processes of DNA transcription and translation were introduced, and then the regulatory mechanisms of transcription and translation were introduced.

- The regulation of gene expression in prokaryotic cells (bacteria) was explained in detail, including the activation and inhibition mechanisms of genes.

Key knowledge points:

- Genes can be activated by inducer molecules and can also be inhibited by repressors when interacting with regulatory proteins or sequences.

- Regulatory genes are DNA sequences that encode regulatory proteins (such as repressor proteins).

- How the components of an operon regulate gene expression in repressible and inducible operons.

- The roles of positive and negative control expressions in gene expression.

Illustrations with examples:

- Two different metabolic pathways were introduced, and two types of operons, the repressible operon and the inducible operon, were explained in detail, with one example for each to illustrate.

- Finally, the most important knowledge points of this lesson were summarized to help students strengthen their memory.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this activity, we have deeply realized the importance of transforming complex scientific knowledge into content that is easy for students to understand. This practice shows that popular science for senior high school students needs to balance scientificity and funniness. It is necessary to convey accurate knowledge and stimulate learning interest to truly achieve the educational purpose. In the future, we will continue to work hard to provide high-quality popular science education for more students.

Why

- Insufficient equipment: Through preliminary interviews, it was found that there is a common problem of insufficient equipment and few practical opportunities in high school biology experiment teaching. In particular, high-tech threshold experiments in molecular biology, such as PCR, restriction enzyme digestion, and electrophoresis, are difficult to carry out.

- Lack of interest: Students only learn abstract principles from textbooks and lack intuitive experience, resulting in insufficient interest and shallow understanding.

- Limitations of school conditions: Laboratories in ordinary middle schools lack professional instruments (such as PCR machines and electrophoresis tanks), making it difficult to carry out experiments with high-tech thresholds.

Who & Where

• Target group: Students in the high school department of Jurong Country Garden School (select 5 students who are interested in biology but lack practical opportunities).

• Implementation location: Professional laboratory of Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (relying on its scientific research-level equipment and technical team)

How

- Combine theory with practice: First, explain the principle (for example, compare PCR to a "DNA copier"), and then conduct group operations to ensure a seamless connection for students from theory to practice.

- Provide phased guidance: Demonstration by doctoral students → Students' hands-on operation → Result analysis → Laboratory visit, forming a complete 2. 2. learning chain.

- Ensure safety and pay attention to details: The whole process is supervised by scientific researchers to ensure standardized operation and guarantee the safety of students.

- Deepen knowledge understanding: Students shift from "rote memorization" to understanding the principle through practical operation, enhancing the learning effect.

- Expand scientific research awareness: By visiting high-end equipment (such as fluorescence microscopes), students realize the wide application of biotechnology and have their scientific research interests stimulated.

What

Experimental operations:

• DNA extraction: Extract DNA from plant or animal tissues.

• PCR amplification: Use the PCR technique to amplify specific DNA fragments.

• Enzyme digestion: Cut the DNA with restriction enzymes.

• Electrophoresis analysis: Analyze the DNA fragments after enzyme digestion by electrophoresis to verify the effectiveness of the experiment.

Visualization of results:

• Successfully obtaining clear electrophoretic bands: This verifies the effectiveness of the experiment and enhances the sense of accomplishment of students.

Reflection

Strengths：

• Professional resources are decentralized: The scientific research-level equipment and technical teams in the laboratories of Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences effectively make up for the deficiencies in middle school conditions.

• Professional guidance for learning: The "one-on-one" guidance provided by doctoral students enhances students' sense of participation and learning effectiveness.

Follow-up Recommendations：

• Expand coverage: In the future, we can collaborate with more schools and adopt a rotation system to benefit more students.

• Extend the practice time: Add an experimental design session (for example, let students independently optimize PCR conditions) to further enhance students' scientific research capabilities.

• Follow-up tracking: Establish an online Q&A platform to continuously answer students' questions and ensure the continuity of learning effects.

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that are overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

We have identified a crucial gap in science popularization: visually impaired students are excluded due to the reliance on visual materials. They do not have access to standard printed content, which has become an obstacle to their participation and learning. This project directly addresses their need for accessible information and their equal opportunity to participate in synthetic biology and iGEM.

Who & Where

Who: Middle school and high school students with visual impairments.

Where: Specifically designed for face-to-face science popularization activities and can also be used as educational materials to take home to ensure continuous accessibility.

How

Professional Braille Translation:

• Collaborate with certified braille services to ensure the accuracy and usability of translations.

Dual-format Design:

• Add printed text beside the braille to facilitate communication among visually impaired students, their peers, and educators.

Expected Impact:

• Enable independent learning through tactile reading.

• Promote inclusive participation during lectures and Q&A sessions.

• Foster a sense of belonging and identity within the scientific community.

What

Process:

Results:

• A tangible and accessible resource that embodies the concept of inclusive science communication.

• Visually impaired students can learn independently by reading through touch, enhancing their autonomy and sense of participation.

• During lectures and Q&A sessions, visually impaired students can communicate effectively with their peers and educators, promoting inclusivity in science learning.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to consider the needs of different users, especially those groups that are overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more visually impaired students through innovation and cooperation.

Links

Middle aged and elderly handbook braille version

Why

In science communication and public education, people with hearing impairments are often invisibly overlooked. Most life science videos, public lectures, and educational materials rely on voice or subtitles, lacking simultaneous sign language interpretation. This has, to some extent, restricted the access to and understanding of scientific research content among the hearing-impaired population. As a team involved in promoting synthetic biology, we believe that the inclusiveness of science should cover users of different sensory channels. We hope to provide a more suitable means of communication for the hearing-impaired community, enabling them to understand the significance of our project and scientific knowledge, and promoting the realization of technological equity and barrier-free knowledge dissemination.

Who & Where

Who: People with hearing impairments, including students, researchers, and ordinary members of the public who are interested in science.

Where: It will be released through social media platforms to ensure wide dissemination. At the same time, representatives of the hearing-impaired community will be invited to participate in offline feedback sessions to ensure the practicality and effectiveness of the content.

How

- Condense the background, purpose, methods, and significance of the project into an easy-to-understand video explanation. Ensure that the content is both scientifically accurate and easy to comprehend.

- Communicate with representatives of the deaf community to understand their needs and preferences, and make sure the video content conforms to their language habits.

- Collaborate with sign language interpreters who have experience in deaf-related popular science. Synchronously display sign language interpretation content in the video. Ensure the accuracy and fluency of the sign language interpretation so that deaf viewers can understand the information in the video through sign language in real time.

- Release the video through social media platforms and invite deaf individuals and sign language teachers to watch it. Collect their feedback for subsequent optimization.

- Regularly organize offline feedback meetings to have face-to-face exchanges with representatives of the deaf community and understand their specific needs and suggestions.

- Improve Accessibility: Through sign language interpretation, deaf individuals can more conveniently understand the core content of synthetic biology projects.

- Stimulate Interest and Sense of Participation: Arouse the interest of deaf individuals in life sciences and encourage them to actively participate in scientific activities.

- Enhance Community Belonging: Through inclusive dissemination, make deaf individuals feel welcomed and recognized by the scientific community and enhance their sense of belonging.

What

- Sort out the core knowledge points of synthetic biology and transform them into easy-to-understand language, ensuring that the content is both scientifically accurate and meets the understanding needs of people with hearing impairments.

- Communicate with sign language translation teachers multiple times to ensure that professional terms have appropriate sign language expressions, making the content more in line with the language habits of the hearing-impaired group.

- Produce a video introducing the core content of the project and invite professional sign language interpreters to synchronously display sign language translation content.

- Release the video through social media platforms for wide dissemination to ensure that people with hearing impairments can easily access the information.

- Collect feedback from people with hearing impairments and sign language teachers to understand their suggestions on content clarity, subtitles, and the partitioning of sign language and the picture.

- Optimize the video content according to the feedback to enhance the user experience.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to consider the needs of different users, especially those groups that have been overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people with hearing impairments through innovation and cooperation.

Why

Among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), digestive system-related problems (such as food sensitivities, gastrointestinal discomfort, and gut microbiota imbalance) are relatively common. These problems may affect their emotions, behavior, and overall health status. However, current science education materials often lack attention to the special needs of these children, making it difficult for them to understand scientific concepts such as the human digestive system. Through this interaction, we hope to understand how children perceive and understand the human digestive system, so as to develop more user-friendly and understandable popular science materials for our synthetic biology project. This activity aims to combine science with empathy, enabling our project to cover a wider range of groups, including neurodiverse people.

Who & Where

Who: The participant of this activity is an 8-year-old boy who has been diagnosed with autism and is currently in the first grade of primary school. He is willing to communicate on topics that interest him. He loves insects, marine life, etc., and can express his understanding through visual and tactile means.

Where: This activity is carried out at the child's home. Conducting the activity in a familiar and quiet environment helps reduce external interference and promote a natural interaction process.

How

- An interactive activity based on handmade models was designed. Children use colored clay to make the organs of the human digestive system and attach them to a human body mold.

- Before making each organ, we will first ask the child two questions: "What do you think this organ looks like?" and "What do you think its function is?" Based on his answers, we will work together to shape the clay and explain the function of the organ, and then stick it on the human body diagram.

- The whole process emphasizes interactivity, sensory participation, and cognitive inspiration, aiming to understand his understanding of the digestive system and test whether the teaching method we designed is suitable for neurodiverse children.

- Through questioning and handicraft making, guide children to actively participate, enhancing their learning interest and hands-on ability.

- During the activity, we used a variety of sensory elements, such as colored clay and human body molds, to help children understand and remember better.

- Enhance Cognition: Through interactive activities, help children better understand the structure and function of the human digestive system.

- Increase Engagement: Through handicraft making and interactive Q&A, enhance children's sense of participation and learning interest.

- Promote Empathy: Through interaction with children, understand their needs and ways of understanding, providing a reference for the design of future popular science materials.

WhatStrong

- It was observed that the child has a certain understanding of the shapes of the esophagus, large intestine, and small intestine, and is able to point out their approximate positions and external features.

- He also has a basic understanding of the functions of the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and esophagus, and can express basic concepts such as "used to transport food" and "can digest food".

- He lacks knowledge of the names, positions, and functions of other organs (such as the liver, pancreas, gallbladder, etc.), indicating an obvious cognitive gap in the popularization of digestive system knowledge.

- With our guidance, the child was able to understand the functions of various human organs and their locations.

- He completed making human organs with clay and correctly pasted them on the human body diagram.

Reflectionstrong

Strengths：

Challenges：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that are overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more autistic children through innovation and cooperation, ensuring that the education and application of synthetic biology are not only for the general public but also inclusive of and serve those often overlooked groups.

Why

In the iGEM competition, we are committed to creating inclusive materials because we firmly believe that science communication must break through the academic circle and reach a diverse audience. The ways in which the public of different ages, educational backgrounds, and cultural environments accept scientific content vary significantly. Teenagers prefer the intuitive expression of short videos, professional groups require in-depth interpretations, and international audiences rely on cross-cultural contexts. Traditional science communication often ignores these differences, making it difficult for some groups to access and understand scientific knowledge.

To break down these barriers, we leverage the power of social media and carry out cross-platform science popularization work to ensure that scientific knowledge can reach a wider audience. We not only post content on domestic platforms such as Douyin, Bilibili, and WeChat Official Accounts but also set up accounts on international platforms such as YouTube and Instagram to ensure that users from different regions and language backgrounds can access our science popularization materials.

By customizing content for multiple platforms, we have not only broken the barriers to the dissemination of scientific knowledge but also built a bridge for two-way communication, enabling synthetic biology to move from the laboratory to a broader social arena. This inclusive practice not only ensures the fairness of knowledge access but also lays the foundation for cultivating future diverse innovators, truly reflecting the spirit of responsible research and innovation. Through cross-platform science popularization work, we hope to provide equal learning opportunities for audiences of different backgrounds and promote the democratization of scientific knowledge dissemination.

Who & Where

In the iGEM competition, the inclusive materials we created are targeted at five core audience groups:

These materials pay special attention to groups that are easily overlooked in traditional science communication, such as non-native English speakers, students in remote areas, and ordinary people with a cognitive threshold for technology. By reducing the understanding threshold, providing multilingual options, and adapting content to different cultural backgrounds, we truly achieve universal coverage of science communication.

How

In the iGEM competition, we implement inclusive material creation through a systematic approach. The specific steps are as follows:

- Identify the differences in age, cultural background, and content preferences of users on different platforms to ensure the relevance and effectiveness of the content.

- Understand the interactive behaviors of users on different platforms through data analysis and optimize the content strategy.

- Have scientific researchers be responsible for the accuracy of the content, media students adapt the expression form, and international team members handle multilingual translations to ensure the scientific nature and diversity of the content.

- Team members come from different backgrounds and possess cross-cultural communication skills to ensure the internationalization and localization of the content.

- Create different forms such as short videos, graphics and texts, and in-depth reports for the same theme to meet the needs of different audiences.

- Ensure wide coverage of the content through multilingual versions (such as English, Chinese, and other minor languages) and lower the understanding threshold.

- Continuously optimize the content through comment section interactions and data analysis to ensure continuous improvement and optimization of the content.

- Regularly collect user feedback, adjust the content strategy, and enhance the user experience.

- Add audio descriptions for visually impaired users, provide subtitles for hearing-impaired groups, and enhance the reading experience through color contrast optimization.

- Ensure that all content can be presented well on different devices and platforms to improve accessibility.

This methodology not only ensures scientific rigor but also achieves the inclusivity of dissemination, guaranteeing that every group can equally access and understand scientific knowledge.

What

Through the process of creating inclusive materials, we have systematically achieved multi-dimensional transformation of scientific content. The specific achievements are as follows:

Cross-platform Audience Analysis:

- Through detailed data analysis, we understand the preferences and needs of users on different platforms to ensure the relevance and effectiveness of the content.

- We publish content on platforms such as Douyin, Bilibili, WeChat Official Account, YouTube, Instagram, etc., covering different audience groups.

Content Transformation and Optimization:

- Transform professional scientific research content into forms suitable for different audiences, including short videos, multi-language graphics and texts, and accessible versions.

- Optimize the content strategy through continuous data feedback to improve the interaction rate and dissemination effect of the content.

Multi-platform Publishing:

- Publish content on multiple domestic and international platforms to ensure that users in different regions and with different language backgrounds can access our popular science materials.

- Ensure wide coverage of the content through multi-language versions and reduce the threshold of understanding.

Technical Optimization:

- Add audio descriptions for visually impaired users, provide subtitles for hearing-impaired groups, and enhance the reading experience through color contrast optimization.

- Ensure that all content can be well presented on different devices and platforms to improve accessibility.

Through these efforts, we have achieved over 100,000 precise touches and a significantly improved interaction rate. We have cultivated the team's scientific communication and cross-platform operation capabilities, received positive feedback from educational institutions, international audiences, and special groups, and effectively promoted the democratic dissemination of synthetic biology knowledge.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges:

Through this multi-platform science communication practice, we have deeply realized that inclusive content creation is not only a technical challenge but also an ideological innovation. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more groups through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the universal coverage of science communication.

Why

Neuroscience is a very young discipline that has only existed for about 200 years. Scientists have limited knowledge of our nervous system, let alone the general public. However, our nervous system and brain are the most important parts of our body, and we cannot survive without them. Nevertheless, the public's awareness of neuroscience remains very limited, which results in many people lacking sufficient understanding and attention to brain health issues. To change this situation, the members of our team contacted students from other schools and established an alliance called "Neurogeneration", aiming to spread neuroscience knowledge to the public. Through our project, residents will pay more attention to brain health and at the same time learn more about this fascinating yet important discipline.

Who & Where

Who: All social media users, as well as those with problems related to nervous system health.

Where: Publish content through social media platforms (such as Xiaohongshu, Instagram, WeChat) and hold a neuroscience forum in Shenzhen to ensure that the information can be widely disseminated and reach the target groups.

How

Social Media Content Posting:

• Publish articles on Xiaohongshu, Instagram, and WeChat, introducing the mechanisms of the nervous system, various brain diseases (including Tourette syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, etc.), and interdisciplinary knowledge, such as the relationship between the nervous system and gut microbiota.

• Through these platforms, we not only disseminate scientific knowledge but also promote the public's interest in and understanding of neuroscience.

Neuroscience Forum:

• Hold a neuroscience forum in Shenzhen, inviting experts and enthusiasts to jointly discuss the latest advancements and hot topics in neuroscience.

• Through the forum, we provide the public with a platform for learning and communication, further promoting the popularization of neuroscience knowledge.

Expected Impact:

• Raise public awareness: Through social media and offline activities, enhance the public's awareness of brain health and neuroscience.

• Promote community engagement: Through alliances and forums, encourage the participation of students and the public, and form a learning and communication community.

• Facilitate science popularization: Through content posting on multiple platforms and offline activities, promote the wide dissemination of neuroscience knowledge.

What

Content Publishing:

• We have published over 30 articles on neuroscience on social media, attracting a large number of fans.

• These articles cover various aspects such as the mechanisms of the nervous system, brain diseases, and interdisciplinary knowledge, providing the public with rich learning resources.

Organization Development:

• Currently, our organization has 55 members, and the number is still increasing.

• Through the form of alliances, we have attracted more students and enthusiasts interested in neuroscience, forming an active community.

Event Hosting:

• We successfully held a neuroscience forum in Shenzhen, attracting many participants and promoting the dissemination and exchange of neuroscience knowledge.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that have been neglected by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of neuroscience knowledge.

Why

Most teenagers in China are busy with their studies and rarely have time to learn extracurricular scientific knowledge. Many teenagers have poor work and rest and eating habits, such as staying up late frequently and consuming too much fried and junk food. With the increasing trend of cancer getting younger, these unhealthy living habits significantly increase the risk of rectal cancer. Teenagers urgently need to understand the scientific knowledge of the cancer induction mechanism and the methods of preventing cancer. However, in their daily study, life, and on social media, it is very difficult for them to access this knowledge. In order to fill this knowledge gap and raise teenagers' health awareness, we have decided to carry out popular science activities on rectal cancer prevention knowledge through campus social media platforms.

Who & Where

Who: Adolescent groups in middle schools and upper grades of primary schools.

Where: The social media campus wall accounts of schools. This is a social platform where students are active daily and can effectively reach the target group.

How

Utilize social media platforms:

• Social media has become the main socializing method for middle school students. Many schools have set up a "campus wall" on their social media accounts for students to post and browse information within the school. Through this platform, we designed a poster to enable more teenage students to learn about rectal cancer.

Design interactive posters:

• Attract attention through a title design with strong visual impact: "The Environmental Accomplice of the 'Killer' in the Intestines - How Close is Rectal Cancer to Us?" Combine it with a cartoonized intestine icon to avoid the discomfort that medical pictures may bring, and at the same time quickly catch the attention of teenagers.

• Questions and data bubbles: Use intuitive numbers to arouse students' curiosity, such as "Eating one more serving of vegetables every day can reduce the risk of rectal cancer by 18%".

• Knowledge dissemination: Simplify complex concepts in a progressive manner. Use simple drawing schematics to visually display the disease process. Introduce the metaphor of a "switch" icon to emphasize the core message that "bad habits turn on the risk, while healthy habits can turn it off".

Content design close to life:

• According to the life characteristics of the teenage group, break down environmental factors into three daily-life-related sections: diet, lifestyle, and environmental threats.

• Diet factors: Adopt the "traffic light food" classification method to highlight the harm of processed meat and fried foods, and recommend whole grains and high-fiber foods.

• Lifestyle: Design an "energy bar" icon. Compare exercise to "charging the intestines" and sitting for a long time to "letting the intestines be lazy". Especially emphasize the special risks of smoking and drinking among teenagers.

• Environmental threats: Use simple drawing schematics to show the pathways of "invisible killers" such as polluted air and polluted water, and give practical suggestions.

- "Risk assessment" section: List 5 self-assessment items regarding daily habits. Let students tick/ cross in the sticky note area to calculate their risk scores.

- "Gut defense battle" action list: Use cartoon buttons to mark star the actionable suggestions, such as specific guidelines like "Get up from your seat and jump rope for 1 minute during the break".

- Active advocacy and goal setting: Through the active advocacy of "A healthy gut = A happy life" and the "My small goals" graphic area, transform professional knowledge into practical actions.

What

Poster Design:

• Designed a popular science poster with rich content and diverse forms. Through visually impactful titles, cartoon icons, data bubbles, stick figure diagrams, etc., complex medical knowledge was transformed into content that is easy for teenagers to understand.

• The poster content includes the definition of rectal cancer, the disease process, environmental factors, dietary suggestions, lifestyle suggestions, environmental threats, and practical suggestions, etc.

Interactive Sessions:

• Set up interactive sessions such as "risk tests" and "intestinal defense war" action lists to enhance students' sense of participation and motivation.

• Through the "My Small Goals" comment area, students were encouraged to set and achieve healthy lifestyle goals.

Release and Feedback:

• The poster was released on the school's social media campus wall account, attracting a large number of students' attention and interactions.

• Collected students' feedback to understand their understanding and acceptance of the poster content, providing a basis for further optimization.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that popularizing science requires considering the needs of different users, especially those groups that are overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more teenagers through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of health knowledge.

Why

Core Barriers:

• Cognitive Misconceptions: The public has significant cognitive misconceptions about colorectal cancer. 60% of the respondents believe that “only the elderly need to pay attention,” ignoring the risk factors for the young population such as sedentary lifestyles and high-fat diets.

• Low Exercise Adherence: 78% of people said, “I know exercise is beneficial, but it's difficult to stick to regular fitness routines,” indicating that the public faces challenges in the sustainability of healthy behaviors.

• Concerns about Movement Safety: The middle-aged and elderly population generally has joint degenerative diseases and has a fear of movements such as jumping and squatting, which limits their exercise options.

Needs of the Audience:

• Fragmented + Low-threshold Exercise: 85% of office workers expect a single training session to last no more than 15 minutes and require no equipment to adapt to the fast-paced lifestyle.

• Cultural identity: The concept of traditional Chinese medicine health preservation has a high acceptance rate of 92% among the middle-aged and elderly population, indicating the importance of cultural factors in promoting healthy behaviors.

Reasons for Choosing the Five-Animal Exercises:

• Tiger Exercise (waist and abdomen exertion): Strengthens the core muscle group and promotes intestinal peristalsis.

• Deer Exercise (spinal rotation): Relieves the pressure on the intervertebral disc caused by long sitting.

• Bear Exercise (steady swaying): Improves balance and prevents the risk of falling.

Who & Where

Core target groups:

Secondary target groups:

Implementation scenarios:

How

- Core group: Design low-intensity and fragmented exercise plans suitable for middle-aged and elderly people. Combine traditional Chinese medicine health preservation concepts to improve acceptance.

- Secondary group: Attract young people to participate through interesting forms and short video platforms and help them establish healthy habits.

Implementation scenarios: Promote the Five-Animal Exercises in community health centers, on short video platforms, and during enterprise work-break exercise periods to ensure that different groups can participate.

- Produce and release teaching videos, providing detailed explanations and demonstrations of the movements of the Five-Animal Exercises.

- Enhance the sense of participation and interactivity through online live teaching and real-time Q&A sessions.

- Design a simple punching card mechanism to encourage participants to keep practicing in the long term.

- Raise health awareness: Improve the public's understanding of the risk factors of colorectal cancer through popular science and teaching.

- Promote healthy behaviors: Help the public establish and maintain healthy habits through fragmented and low-threshold exercise plans.

- Strengthen cultural identity: Combine traditional Chinese medicine health preservation concepts to increase the participation and acceptance of middle-aged and elderly groups.

What

- Produced and released a teaching video of Wuqinxi (Five-Animal Exercises). Three core movements were highlighted: the breathing method of the Bird Exercise, the improved Tiger Pounce, and the Bear Lean.

- Learned other auxiliary movement combinations and checked each other to ensure the movements were in place.

- Recorded a complete video with music as the learning outcome.

- Promoted Wuqinxi at community health centers, on short-video platforms, and during the break time of corporate work exercises.

- Enhanced interactivity and participation through online live teaching and real-time Q&A.

- Designed a punching card mechanism to encourage participants to practice consistently in the long term.

- Each team submitted activity photos and videos, which were screened, edited, and uploaded by the person in charge.

- Displayed the activity achievements on short-video platforms and at community health centers to expand the influence.

Reflection:

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of health knowledge.

Why

In recent years, engineered Escherichia coli has been widely used in the research of disease treatment. Among them, kynureninase, an important enzyme for immune regulation, has potential application value in tumor treatment. However, these cutting-edge scientific research achievements are often limited to the academic circle, and teenagers and the public have relatively limited understanding of these fields. In order to fill this knowledge gap, our activity aims to popularize the scientific connotation of this scientific research topic to teenagers, enabling them to understand and spread cutting-edge life science knowledge in an artistic language. By visualizing abstract scientific research concepts through artistic creation, it helps students learn across disciplines, stimulates their interest, and at the same time enhances the attention of the general public to synthetic biology and tumor treatment.

Who & Where

Audience: Not only the participants, but also the general public who come into contact with the event through the online exhibition, peers, and the iGEM community. Location: Online

How

- Design popular science content: The team designs simple and easy-to-understand popular science content to ensure the accuracy and comprehensibility of scientific knowledge.

- Plan the program: Formulate a detailed activity plan, including the activity process, schedule and publicity plan.

- Provide painting theme hints: Provide painting theme hints related to engineered Escherichia coli and cancer treatment. There are no restrictions on the creative style, and students are encouraged to give full play to their creativity.

- Establish submission channels: Establish a unified electronic submission channel (email/questionnaire) to facilitate students to submit their works and explanations.

- On August 5: Release the activity notice and popular science tweets, and conduct extensive publicity through social media and school channels.

- From August 5 to 15: Students create and submit their works independently. The team collects the works and explanations through the submission channels.

- From August 16 to 20: The team selects excellent works and sorts out the exhibition copy to ensure the scientific and artistic nature of the exhibition content.

- After August 20: Hold an online exhibition and push it on the official account. Display excellent works through social media platforms to expand the influence of the activity.

What

- Collected painting works of students and some residents. The theme centered around the use of engineered Escherichia coli to treat cancer. Each work was accompanied by a detailed description introducing the creative ideas and scientific background of the work.

- Published the collected works on social media platforms. Through official account push and online exhibitions, the influence of the works was expanded, enabling more people to understand the latest developments of synthetic biology in the medical field.

- Widely promoted through social media platforms, attracting the attention of a large number of audiences and increasing the public's attention to synthetic biology and tumor treatment.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that are overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

We chose to produce team peripherals mainly for two core reasons:

Enhancing team cohesion:

• The members of our team come from different grades, schools, and even cities. They are not familiar with each other, and it is inevitable that they are introverted or have concerns when communicating. To enhance the team's cohesion, we need a way to quickly narrow the distance between members and promote communication and cooperation.

Increasing public awareness:

• We need to make the public and other teams understand us and be interested in our project. However, in the face of numerous iGEM teams, the outside world often lacks memory points, and the communication between teams is mostly superficial. The general public doesn't have enough patience to listen to our presentations and take the time to understand us. Therefore, we are in urgent need of a "low-threshold, high-adhesion" medium that can instantly identify our identity and continuously remind the other party that "we are worth getting to know".

Based on these needs, we chose to make our own peripherals.

Who & Where

Core Audience:

Location:

How

Questionnaire survey:

• Conduct a questionnaire survey to understand the preferences of team members and potential audiences for the types and patterns of peripherals, ensuring that the design can meet the needs of most people.

Design of team logo and character image:

• Organize team members to carry out the design. Through multiple meetings and discussions, finally determine the design of the team logo and character image to ensure that the design is representative and attractive.

Selection of items:

• Based on the results of the questionnaire survey and team discussions, select suitable peripheral items, such as badges, T-shirts, postcards, etc.

Design of items and shirts:

• Combine the team logo and character image to design the specific patterns and styles of peripheral items. At the same time, design the patterns and colors of T-shirts to ensure consistency with the team image.

Statistics of shirt sizes:

• Collect the size information of all team members to ensure the proper fit of T-shirts.

Proofing and delivery:

• Conduct a small number of proofing experiments to check the feasibility and quality issues of the design. Make necessary modifications according to the feedback and then carry out large-scale customization.

After-sales service:

• Conduct a quality inspection after receiving the goods to ensure there are no problems. At the same time, handle possible after-sales issues to ensure the satisfaction of all members.

What

From March 7th to June 18th, first of all, we used questionnaires to collect the preferences of the public. We also learned about everyone's aesthetic preferences through Tencent Meetings and offline meetings. Then we asked the members to share their inspirations and designs. We collected these designs and actively made revisions to reach a consensus, finally obtaining the following designs:

After the design was completed, we first carried out a small-scale proofing experiment on all the peripherals. We found that the badge pictures were printed crookedly and the bleed line was too narrow, cutting off the pattern. Therefore, we modified the pattern again, carried out another round of proofing, and finally started to place a large order for our peripherals. When making the T-shirts, after finalizing the pattern with everyone, I counted everyone's sizes. After comparing prices and quality, we placed the order.

Finally, we inspected the goods after receiving them to ensure there were no problems.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that the enhancement of team cohesion and public awareness requires innovation and meticulous planning. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide a better experience for team members and the public through innovation and cooperation.

Why

Primary school students are in a crucial stage of scientific enlightenment and are full of curiosity about natural and life phenomena. However, in formal science education, synthetic biology often lacks an intuitive and vivid way of introduction. The existing teaching materials have scattered knowledge points and a relatively high professional threshold, making it difficult for students to understand abstract concepts such as cells and genes. Therefore, we have chosen to design a series of books in the form of story picture books. Through the fantasy adventures of the anthropomorphic character "He Xiaocheng", the abstract subject knowledge is transformed into vivid story experiences. The needs of students are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

Who & Where

Target audience:

• Students in the middle and upper grades of primary school, with basic reading comprehension skills and a preliminary interest in science.

Applicable scenarios:

• Popular science expansion courses in primary school classrooms

• Campus science festivals/science exhibitions

• Family parent-child reading scenarios

How

We integrate picture book development with teaching activities and follow a 6-week development cycle:

- Design the protagonist "He Xiaocheng" and build the worldview of ecological islands such as "Tumor Jungle", "Metabolic Plain", "Skin Garden", and "Immune Battlefield".

- Each level corresponds to a scientific knowledge module, such as plasmids and drug targeting, metabolic energy regulation, immune escape, etc.

- Transform complex scientific concepts into vivid plots through a storytelling approach.

- The picture book not only has a story plot but also includes illustrations, mini-games, and thought-provoking questions to guide students' participation.

- Enhance students' sense of participation and learning interest through interactive sessions.

- Understand students' level of comprehension and interest feedback through questionnaires and trial readings, and continuously optimize the content.

- Adjust the word choice and expression based on the feedback to ensure that the content is both scientific and interesting.

- Students can initially understand the basic concepts of synthetic biology.

- Students can cultivate the spirit of scientific exploration and logical thinking during the reading process.

What

Week 1: Character Development + World Building

- Designed the protagonist "He Xiaocheng" and built the world views of ecological islands such as "Tumor Jungle", "Metabolic Plain", "Skin Garden", and "Immune Battlefield".

Week 2 - 4: Write the Text and Sketch the Illustrations of the Picture Book Chapter by Chapter

- Each level corresponds to a scientific knowledge module, such as plasmid and drug targeting, metabolic energy regulation, immune escape, etc.

- Transformed complex scientific concepts into vivid plots through a storytelling approach.

Week 5: Integrate the Whole Picture Book and Refine the Illustrations

- Integrated the content of the whole book and refined the illustrations to ensure the coordination between the visual effects and the content.

Week 6: Internal Reading Test, Optimization, and Design of Supporting Teaching Questionnaires and Suggestion Letters

- Collected feedback through internal reading tests to optimize the content.

- Designed supporting teaching questionnaires and suggestion letters to provide guidance for teachers and parents.

Results:

- Students mastered basic concepts such as cell structure, metabolic processes, and immune mechanisms through interesting stories.

- Their reading interest was significantly improved. Especially in the interactive Q&A session, they showed a strong desire for active thinking and expression.

- Teachers and parents reported that the picture book achieved a balance between scientificity and interestingness.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that are overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

In today's society, the public has relatively limited awareness of colorectal cancer and its latest treatment methods. Many people only stay at the basic common sense level and know very little about the biological mechanisms of cancer and the potential of synthetic biology in developing new treatment methods. In order to increase public awareness of this field and stimulate their interest in related sciences, the ZQT-Nanjing team decided to produce a humanistic microfilm promotional video as a supplement in addition to the professional popular science promotion video required by iGEM. Through these videos, we hope to use vivid stories and intuitive visual effects to help the audience better understand complex scientific concepts and enhance their confidence in fighting diseases.

Through questionnaires and interviews, it was found that the public has significant knowledge blind spots and needs in the following aspects:

- Knowledge blind spots: Most people lack in-depth understanding of the causes, preventive measures, and the latest treatment progress of colorectal cancer.

- Information needs: The public is particularly concerned about information that can directly affect their health, such as how lifestyle habits affect the risk of getting sick.

- Target audience: It covers people of different ages and social backgrounds. Teenage students tend to learn new knowledge through highly visual and interactive methods, while adults pay more attention to the practical application value of information.

- Comprehension barriers: Medical terms and technical details often confuse non-professionals, indicating that we need to find a more effective way to simplify complex scientific concepts to make them easier to understand and accept.

Who & Where

Target audience: All the general public. We hope to reach as wide an audience as possible to ensure that people of different ages and backgrounds can access our popular science content. For those with potential disease risks, we hope that these two videos can help them better manage their health and improve their health literacy.

Implementation locations:

• Online platforms: Release the videos through online channels such as social media and video platforms to ensure wide dissemination.

• Offline activities: Conduct offline promotion and screenings in places such as schools and communities to enhance interactivity.

How

- Questionnaire Survey and Interviews: Understand the knowledge blind spots and interests of the target audience.

- Literature Research: Ensure the accuracy of all scientific content.

- Script Writing: Write detailed scripts for two videos. One is a professional popular science video about colorectal cancer and its treatment, and the other is a humanistic microfilm with a cancer patient as the protagonist.

- Clarify Team Roles: Define the roles and responsibilities of team members, including directors, photographers, editors, actors, etc., and organize necessary training.

- Laboratory Shooting: Select the laboratory as the main shooting location to capture close-ups of researchers' busy hands (pipette operations), the perspective shift under the microscope eyepiece, and the vibrant group photos of the team.

- Classroom Shooting: Capture scenes of team members interacting with students in a classroom environment.

- Microfilm Shooting: Carefully arrange various indoor and outdoor scenes. Through delicate emotional portrayal and real story narration, enable the audience to empathize, thereby deepening their understanding and attention to colorectal cancer.

• Editing and special effects: Edit the filmed footage, add necessary special effects and subtitles to ensure the fluency and attractiveness of the video.

• Music and sound effects: Select appropriate background music and sound effects to enhance the emotional expression of the video.

Evaluation and feedback:

• Questionnaire survey: Understand the audience's level of comprehension and interest feedback through a questionnaire survey, and continuously optimize the content.

• Trial broadcast and feedback: Conduct a trial broadcast of the video on a small scale, collect feedback, and make necessary adjustments.

Expected effects:

• Increase awareness: The audience can initially understand the basic concepts of colorectal cancer and its latest treatment methods.

• Stimulate interest: Stimulate the audience's interest in relevant sciences through vivid stories and intuitive visual effects.

• Boost confidence: Boost the audience's confidence in fighting diseases and encourage them to adopt positive health behaviors.

What

- Laboratory Shots: Capture footage of team members using various experimental instruments and display the experimental results.

- Classroom Shots: Capture scenes of team members interacting with students to showcase the actual effects of science popularization activities.

- Microfilm Shots: Shoot different plots with various shot sizes. The real and delicate emotional portrayal makes the whole story more touching.

- Editing and Special Effects: Edit the shot footage and add necessary special effects and subtitles.

- Music and Sound Effects: Select appropriate background music and sound effects to enhance the emotional expression of the video.

- Online Release: Release the video through online channels such as social media and video platforms to ensure wide dissemination.

- Offline Promotion: Conduct offline promotion and screenings in schools, communities and other places to enhance interactivity.

- Questionnaire Survey: Understand the audience's level of understanding and interest feedback through a questionnaire survey.

- Trial Screening and Feedback: Conduct a trial screening of the video on a small scale, collect feedback and make necessary adjustments.

- Through real experimental footage, complex scientific concepts become more understandable to the audience.

- The humanistic microfilm enhances the memory effect through the actors' performances and emotional resonance.

- Teachers and parents have feedback that the video strikes a balance between scientificity and interestingness, making it suitable for audiences of different ages. Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that are overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, ensuring the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

We have learned that there is a significant lack of public awareness of microorganisms and gut microbiota. Many people lack interest in or do not have the time to delve deeper into the knowledge of gut microbiota, resulting in their misunderstanding of bacteria, believing that all bacteria are harmful. In fact, bacteria can either be beneficial to the human body or cause diseases, depending on the type of bacteria. To correct this misunderstanding and enhance public awareness of microorganisms and gut microbiota, we have decided to combine the knowledge of gut microbiota with the popular card game Werewolf. Through this highly interesting and interactive form, scientific knowledge can be made more accessible and spread more easily. We hope that through this card game, we can stimulate more people's interest in biology and encourage them to pay attention to biological knowledge.

Who & Where

Target audience:

- People who are fond of board games and card games.

- Students, teachers, and the general public interested in science.

Implementation locations:

- Offline: Promote and conduct trial plays in places such as schools, community centers, and libraries.

- Online: There are plans to develop an online version in the future and promote it through social media and gaming platforms.

How

- Combine Werewolf with knowledge of microorganisms and gut microbiota. Transform the microorganisms in the body into characters in the game, and their functions into the skills of the characters.

- Design three camps: the Werewolf Camp, the Civilian Camp, and the Cleric Camp. Each camp contains different characters corresponding to different microorganisms and immune cells.

- Civilian Camp: It includes Escherichia coli (normal residents in the intestine), narrow-spectrum antibiotics, and Bacillus subtilis (bacteria beneficial to the human body).

- Werewolf Camp: It includes bacteriophages and lambda phages (viruses responsible for infecting normal bacteria in the body).

- Cleric Camp: It includes macrophages, helper T cells, Colicin-producing Escherichia coli, and broad-spectrum antibiotics (each with different functions. Some can distinguish beneficial bacteria from harmful ones, some can cooperate with the immune system to prevent infections, and some can kill both normal bacteria and harmful bacteria).

- First, conduct a trial play among team members, collect feedback, and optimize the game.

- Promote the game to the schools and classes of each member for a more extensive test and feedback collection.

- Promote the game through offline activities and online platforms to attract more players to participate.

- Hold game competitions and interactive activities to increase the fun and participation of the game.

What

Game Design and Development:

• Designed and developed a card game that combines the gameplay of Werewolf and knowledge of gut microbiota.

• Designed detailed rules and character cards to ensure the scientific nature and interestingness of the game.

Testing and Optimization:

• Conducted trial plays among team members, collected feedback and made optimizations.

• Promoted the game in schools and communities, gathered feedback from players, and further optimized the game content.

Promotion and Publicity:

• Promoted the game through offline activities and online platforms to attract more players to participate.

• Held game competitions and interactive activities to increase the interestingness and participation of the game.

Achievement Exhibition:

• Displayed the game through social media and offline activities to expand its influence.

• Collected feedback from players to demonstrate the scientific and educational nature of the game.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that popularizing science requires considering the needs of different users, especially those groups that are overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, ensuring the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

Currently, there are significant gaps in the global understanding of iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine competition) and colorectal cancer. There is an urgent need to increase awareness through cross-border exchanges.

Regarding the iGEM competition, as a top international event in the field of synthetic biology, it has covered more than 45 countries globally and attracts over 300 university teams every year. However, surveys show that only 23% of foreign respondents who are not majoring in biology are aware of this competition. 68% of the general public in Europe directly associate "synthetic biology" with "gene editing risks". The awareness rate among teenagers in Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea regarding "student-led scientific research and innovation competitions" is less than 15%. The value and influence of the competition have not fully reached the global public.

In terms of the health issue of colorectal cancer, it has become the third most common cancer globally, with over 2 million new cases in 2023. The situations vary in different countries:

- In the United States: The incidence rate among people under 50 years old has increased by 22% in the past 10 years, but the early screening rate is only 40%.

- In Japan: Due to the westernization of the diet structure, the mortality rate of colorectal cancer has increased by 18% compared to 2010. 70% of the respondents wrongly attribute "blood in the stool" to "intestinal sensitivity".

- In Southeast Asian countries (such as Thailand and Malaysia): There is an uneven distribution of medical resources. Most early-stage cancers are diagnosed in the middle or late stages, and the 5-year survival rate is less than 55%.

- In European countries (such as Germany and France): Although the early screening technology is mature, among the population over 65 years old, the active screening rate is less than 35% due to concerns about "inconvenience" and "pain". In this OMETV transnational online interview, English is chosen to communicate with people from multiple countries. The core purpose is to build a bridge between professional knowledge and the global public's understanding. This aims to enable people from different countries to understand how iGEM uses synthetic biology to solve medical problems, especially in colorectal cancer screening at an early stage. By doing so, it can increase the attention of the iGEM competition and people around the world to colorectal cancer, breaking both the cognitive and geographical barriers.

Who & Where

Implementation location: Online on OMETV. (PS: OmeTV is a popular video chat application. It is free and ad-free, with over 5 million users every day. These users come from more than 50 countries and it supports 44 languages. It can randomly match users, allowing you to get to know people from different backgrounds around the world. It has real-time translation to break down language barriers. There is also strict censorship to ensure privacy and security. You can communicate freely through video and text.)

Target population: Users of this software from regions or countries other than the Chinese mainland.

How

- Avoid using too many professional terms. Use vivid and relatable language and real-life examples to explain, so that people from different countries and with different knowledge backgrounds can understand.

- Use analogies and incorporate the life characteristics of different countries to reduce the difficulty of understanding. At the same time, emphasize the importance of early screening.

- Step 1: Explain what colorectal cancer is.

- Step 2: Discuss the harms and early screening of colorectal cancer in the context of different countries.

- Step 3: Display a comparison chart of a healthy intestine and a cancerous intestine (avoid using terrifying ulcer pictures). Demonstrate the development process of tumors with a "mung bean (early-stage tumor) → bad walnut (late-stage tumor)" model using fruits and vegetables, so that the audience can intuitively understand colorectal cancer.

- Through interactions, understand the cognitive misunderstandings of people from different countries and supplement the popular science content accordingly.

- Before the interview, prepare corresponding popular science materials (pictures, cases, interactive questions) according to the characteristics of the target population in different countries, and test the OMETV connection equipment to ensure smooth communication.

- During the interview, start with a relaxed chat to understand the audience's initial understanding of iGEM and colorectal cancer. Then proceed in the order of "popularize iGEM → popularize colorectal cancer → interactive communication". Adjust the rhythm and content depth of each session according to the audience's feedback.

What

- Refrain from using too many technical terms. Instead, use vivid and relatable language along with real-life examples for explanation, enabling people from different countries and with diverse knowledge backgrounds to comprehend.

- Employ analogies and integrate the life characteristics of different countries to ease the understanding process. Meanwhile, stress the significance of early screening.

- Step 1: Explain what colorectal cancer is.

- Step 2: Discuss the harms and early screening of colorectal cancer in the context of different countries.

- Step 3: Present a comparison chart of a healthy intestine and a cancerous intestine (avoid using terrifying ulcer pictures). Demonstrate the development process of tumors with a "mung bean (early-stage tumor) → bad walnut (late-stage tumor)" model using fruits and vegetables, allowing the audience to intuitively understand colorectal cancer.

- Through interactions, identify the cognitive misunderstandings of people from different countries and supplement the popular science content accordingly.

- Before the interview, prepare corresponding popular science materials (pictures, cases, interactive questions) based on the characteristics of the target population in different countries, and test the OMETV connection equipment to ensure smooth communication.

- During the interview, start with a relaxed conversation to understand the audience's initial knowledge of iGEM and colorectal cancer. Then proceed in the order of "promote iGEM → popularize colorectal cancer → interactive communication". Adjust the rhythm and content depth of each session according to the audience's feedback.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations:

Through this project, we have deeply realized that cross-border popular science needs to take into account the cognitive differences under different national and cultural backgrounds. Through innovation and cooperation, we can provide equal scientific learning opportunities for more people and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

We are committed to producing inclusive materials because we firmly believe that scientific knowledge should be transmitted to everyone without barriers. Language barriers and physical conditions should not be obstacles to accessing science education. By providing multilingual versions and Braille materials, we not only expand the breadth of science communication but also deepen its inclusive connotation - enabling non-native English speakers to understand cutting-edge technologies in their most familiar languages and giving visually impaired groups equal learning opportunities through the tactile system. This reflects the true essence of science popularization: knowledge knows no boundaries, education has no divisions, everyone deserves to be cared for, and every inquisitive voice should be heard.

Who & Where

Target groups:

- People with different language backgrounds: This includes non-native English speakers, ensuring that they can understand scientific knowledge in their most familiar languages.

- Visually impaired groups: Through Braille materials, ensure that visually impaired people can have equal learning opportunities through the tactile system.

Implementation locations:

- Global scale: Through the iGEM global network and cooperative education platforms, share materials for free with people in need around the world.

How

Establish a multilingual translation team:

• Recruit volunteer team members who are proficient in multiple languages to translate content in the languages they have learned, ensuring that knowledge is conveyed accurately and naturally.

• Invite professional translators and native speaker volunteers to conduct multiple rounds of proofreading to ensure that each translated version not only meets academic norms but also retains the language characteristics.

Produce braille materials:

• Invite visually impaired researchers to participate and convert text into braille versions that can be read by touch for the blind.

• Utilize professional braille translation services to ensure the accuracy and usability of braille materials.

Share materials for free:

• Share the translated materials for free with those in need around the world through the iGEM global network and cooperative education platforms.

• Ensure that language and vision no longer pose obstacles to accessing knowledge.

What

- Successfully established a multilingual translation team and accurately translated synthetic biology educational materials into five language versions: Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Korean.

- Through the careful refinement of professional translators and multiple proofreadings by native language volunteers, each translated version not only meets academic norms but also retains its language characteristics.

- Specifically produced Braille versions to ensure that visually impaired groups can have equal learning opportunities through the tactile system.

- Through professional Braille translation services, the accuracy and usability of Braille materials are ensured.

- Shared these translation achievements for free with people in need around the world through the iGEM global network and cooperative education platforms.

- Ensured that language and vision are no longer barriers to accessing knowledge, and truly achieved the multilingual barrier-free dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Links

Middle-aged and elderly handbook with 6 languages

Jingling High School Sino-US Program Lecture PPT with 4 languages

PPT of Lecture in Xianlin Foreign Language School with 4 languages

PPT of Lecture in Nanjng Experimental Nursery with 2 languages

Why

We have learned that in the history of scientific development, the contributions of female researchers have often been overlooked or underestimated. From Rosalind Franklin having the credit for her DNA research snatched away by others to the still low proportion of female signatures in top scientific journals today, gender bias has always persisted. This imbalance is not due to differences in ability but rather stems from long-term social prejudice and unequal resource distribution. Female scientists often face stricter evaluation criteria and receive less research funding. In teamwork, their contributions are sometimes downplayed or even attributed to male colleagues.

We hope that through the "She Lab" project, more people can see the true value of women in scientific research. From the pioneering women who were buried in history to the young researchers striving in the laboratory today, their stories deserve to be told and their achievements deserve to be recognized. This is not only for the sake of fairness but also to make science itself stronger - because only when all talents can fully realize their potential can humanity truly break through the boundaries of knowledge.

Who & Where

Target audience:

• Everyone: Through the form of popular science, enable more people to learn about the stories of female scientists and eliminate prejudice against women.

Implementation locations:

• Social media platforms: Publish content on social media platforms such as WeChat official accounts to ensure wide dissemination.

• Offline activities: Carry out offline promotion and interactive activities in places such as schools and communities to enhance the sense of participation.

How

Select the target scientist:

• Participants need to choose an outstanding female scientist they admire on their own (not limited to the field of biology. It is encouraged to expand to fields such as physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, environmental science, psychology, economics and other humanities and social science fields). Initially understand her core research areas and outstanding contributions, and determine the object of writing.

Data search and learning:

• Through authoritative academic databases (such as CNKI, Web of Science, PubMed, etc.), scientists' biographies, reliable science communication websites, official institutional documentaries or speech videos and other channels, deeply search for and study reliable information on the scientist's life experience, key research achievements, breakthrough contributions, challenges faced and the scientific spirit demonstrated.

Story sorting and writing:

• Based on the collected data, extract the most touching core stories and highlights. With vivid, accurate and infectious words, focus on her personal struggle process, the value of scientific achievements, the wisdom and perseverance to overcome difficulties, and the inspiration to future generations. Complete the first draft of the tweet about the deeds of this female scientist, striving to present a three-dimensional image and exemplary power.

Content release and promotion:

• Create and maintain your own social media accounts and regularly release popular science content.

• Release stories about female scientists through platforms such as WeChat official accounts to attract more attention and interaction.

• Hold offline activities such as lectures and exhibitions to enhance the sense of participation and interactivity.

What

- Created my own social media accounts and published popular science content through the WeChat official account.

- The currently published popular science content includes the stories of female scientists such as Yan Ning and Tiera Gene Fletcher.

- Regularly publish popular science articles about female scientists, presenting their achievements and contributions through vivid stories and detailed information.

- Use the interactive functions of social media platforms to collect users' feedback and suggestions, and further optimize the content.

- Organize offline activities such as lectures and exhibitions to enhance the sense of participation and interactivity.

- Through offline activities, let more people learn about the stories of female scientists and eliminate biases against women.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that have been neglected by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

Urban white-collar workers have high demands for health management, green consumption, and career development, but lack an understanding of the applications of synthetic biology in daily life. At the same time, they hope to obtain personalized medical care, environmentally friendly products, and career transition opportunities. However, they have cognitive barriers and ethical concerns about synthetic biology and lack channels to access cutting-edge scientific and technological information. In order to fill this knowledge gap, enhance urban white-collar workers' awareness of synthetic biology, promote green consumption and health management behaviors, and expand career development paths, we have decided to conduct popular science lectures and interactions in the form of an online salon.

Who & Where

Target audience: Urban white-collar workers. They have high demands for health management, green consumption, and career development, but lack understanding of the applications of synthetic biology.

Implementation location: Online meeting platforms, ensuring that participants can easily join and engage in interactions.

How

- Equipment Debugging: Ensure the stability of the online meeting platform and the quality of audio and video.

- Promotion and Preheating: Conduct event promotion through channels such as social media and emails to attract the target audience to participate.

- Use PPT to showcase the applications of synthetic biology in fields such as healthcare, energy, and food, ensuring that the content is easy to understand.

- Enhance the attractiveness and resonance of the content through cases and user stories.

- Set up a Q&A session to encourage participants to ask questions and answer their queries in a timely manner.

- Collect the interests and feedback of participants to provide references for subsequent activities.

- Introduce discussions on ethical and social impacts to alleviate public concerns.

- Attract white-collar workers with different backgrounds through interdisciplinary content.

What

- Conduct equipment debugging to ensure the stability of the online meeting platform and the quality of audio and video.

- Promote the event through channels such as social media and emails to attract the target audience to participate.

- Conduct a PPT presentation to showcase the applications of synthetic biology in fields such as healthcare, energy, and food.

- Set up a Q&A session, encourage participants to ask questions, and answer their questions in a timely manner.

- Collect the interests and feedback of participants to provide references for subsequent events.

- Organize the content of the Q&A session to form an FAQ document for participants' future reference.

- Optimize the content based on the feedback to provide improvement directions for future events.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that have been overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

The elderly population in a relatively advanced age group at Nanjing Yaofangmen Elderly Care Service Center is facing a serious threat of colorectal cancer. However, many senior citizens only know that rectal cancer is life-threatening. Due to the obscurity of some medical terms and the limited cognitive abilities of the elderly, they don't know exactly what the pathology of rectal cancer is. This lecture builds an understandable bridge between medical terms and the elders' cognition, transforming early screening from an abstract concept into an actionable life protection measure.

Who & Where

Implementation location: Nanjing Yaofangmen Elderly Care Service Center.

Core intervention targets:

• Elderly people over 60 years old who lack health awareness.

• Vulnerable groups with no social support (elderly people living alone whose children visit less frequently than once every 90 days, and those with no immediate family members).

How

Explain the basic knowledge of colorectal cancer:

• Explain the pathological mechanism of colorectal cancer in words that the elderly can understand: "Just like the inner wall of a water pipe getting rusty and caked, colorectal cancer is a bad lump formed by the uncontrolled and crazy growth of cells on the inner wall of the intestine. It quietly blocks the intestinal passage - in the early stage, it's like a tiny fleshy growth the size of a grain of rice, and after five years, it may grow into a tumor the size of a walnut."

• Use pictures to assist in the explanation: Display a comparison picture of a healthy intestine (with a pink and smooth inner wall) and a cancerous intestine (with a cauliflower-like tumor blocking the intestinal cavity) to help the elderly understand intuitively.

Explain the harms of colorectal cancer:

• Explain in detail problems such as intestinal obstruction, malnutrition, complications caused by organ invasion, metastasis that endangers life, and great psychological pressure, so that the elderly can truly and intuitively feel the harm that colorectal cancer brings to the body.

Provide dietary suggestions:

• Explain the benefits of drinking more water, exercising more, and consuming high-quality protein and dietary fiber.

• Use simple and easy-to-understand language and life-like metaphors to help the elderly understand how to prevent colorectal cancer through diet.

Interactive session:

• Use a silicone intestinal model and movable polyp modules to allow the elderly to intuitively feel the pathological changes through tactile signals.

• Explain the canceration process through metaphors of fruits and vegetables (such as "mung bean → bad walnut") to avoid using terrifying pictures of ulcerated tumors.

What

- Translate medical terms into life narratives. For example, a “polyp” is a small fleshy growth in the intestine, “kynurenine” is the stinky sludge that feeds cancer cells, and probiotics are like cleaners that swallow and transform dirt, enabling elders with primary school education to instantly understand the principles.

- Avoid using pictures of ulcerated tumors. Use fruits and vegetables to metaphorize canceration (from a mung bean to a bad walnut) to reduce the difficulty of understanding.

- Use a silicone intestinal model and movable polyp modules to allow the elderly to directly feel pathological changes through tactile signals.

- Enhance the participation and understanding of the elderly through interactive sessions.

- Provide specific dietary suggestions to help the elderly prevent colorectal cancer through their daily diet.

- Use simple and easy-to-understand language and life-like metaphors to help the elderly understand how to prevent colorectal cancer through diet.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that have been neglected by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal scientific learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

Many middle-aged people are faced with the problem of sleep disorders. This problem not only affects their physical health (such as a decline in immunity and an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases), but also has a negative impact on their mental state (such as anxiety and depression) and daily life (such as work efficiency and interpersonal relationships). However, many people have insufficient awareness of sleep disorders and lack scientific improvement methods. Therefore, I choose to popularize sleep health knowledge among this group of people by distributing brochures, helping them master practical improvement techniques, so as to enhance their overall quality of life.

Who & Where

Target population:

• Middle-aged people and those with sleep disorders. This group is more prone to sleep disorders usually due to work pressure, family responsibilities or physiological changes.

Implementation locations:

• Community centers, workplaces, schools, etc. These are places where middle-aged people often go, which facilitates the distribution of brochures and communication.

How

- Common Causes: Introduce the common causes of sleep disorders, such as stress, bad living habits, etc.

- Scientific Improvement Methods: Provide scientific improvement methods, such as sleep hygiene, relaxation techniques, etc.

- Professional Resource Recommendations: Recommend professional resources, such as medical consultation guides, psychological counseling channels, etc.

- Combination of Text and Graphics: Ensure that the information is concise and easy to understand, and use charts and illustrations to enhance comprehension.

- Real Cases or Data: Attach real cases or data to enhance persuasiveness.

- Distribute the manual in community centers, workplaces, schools and other places to ensure that the target population can access it conveniently.

- Share the manual through online platforms (such as social media, email) to expand the coverage.

- Hold small lectures or workshops, invite professionals to explain sleep health knowledge to enhance interactivity.

- Set up a Q&A session to answer participants' questions and collect feedback.

What

Manual Production:

• Produced a manual titled "The Middle-aged Rest Manual". The content covers the common causes of sleep disorders, scientific improvement methods, and recommendations for professional resources.

• The manual adopts a form combining pictures and texts to ensure the information is concise and easy to understand. Real cases or data are attached to enhance its persuasiveness.

Manual Distribution:

• Distributed the manual in community centers, workplaces, schools, etc., to ensure that the target population can access it conveniently.

• Shared the manual through online platforms (such as social media and email) to expand its reach.

Interactive Communication:

• Held small lectures or workshops and invited professionals to explain sleep health knowledge to enhance interactivity.

• Set up a Q&A session to answer participants' questions and collect feedback.

Achievement Exhibition:

• Had a conversation with a tired teacher. He was holding "The Middle-aged Rest Manual" in his hand, and I was holding his book "Why We Sleep" in mine.

• Through this conversation, it demonstrated how academic achievements and scientific knowledge can go out of the laboratory to solve practical problems.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations:

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that are overlooked by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal scientific learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Links

Middle-aged and elderly handbook

Why

The reason for choosing Ruijin Road Community to carry out biological lecture activities mainly targeting primary school students is that the science courses in local primary schools have very limited introductions related to biology. Usually, there is only a very superficial part (such as what is in a water droplet). Therefore, primary school students generally have a strong interest in biological knowledge but lack systematic scientific enlightenment education. To fill this knowledge gap, we plan to carry out biological lecture activities through a combination of lectures and handicrafts. Our main purpose is to bring primary school students a basic understanding of the biological discipline, and at the same time let them understand where their DNA and genes come from and how they work.

Who & Where

Implementation time: From 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.

Implementation location: The Community Party-Masses Service Center of Ruijin New Village Community.

Target group: Primary school students. 26 children, several volunteers and parents were present.

How

- Introduce the basic concepts of DNA, including the discovery, composition, structure, replication, importance of DNA, as well as some interesting trivia related to it.

- Ensure the content is both scientifically accurate and easy to understand through vivid language and rich pictures.

- After the lecture, lead students to build a DNA double helix model through a handicraft activity.

- Use materials such as colored clay or plastic rods to allow students to make the DNA model by themselves, enhancing their sense of participation and understanding.

- Set up a Q&A session to encourage students to ask questions and answer their doubts in a timely manner.

- Enhance students' sense of participation and learning interest through interactive Q&A.

What

- Through the combination of lecturing and handicrafts, students have gained a basic understanding of the biological discipline.

- The students showed a strong interest in the functions and specific compositions of the three parts of DNA (phosphate group, pentose sugar, and base), and actively asked questions.

- After the lecture, the students actively asked questions, mainly focusing on the functions and specific compositions of the three parts of DNA, as well as the relationship between DNA and genes.

- After answering the students' questions one by one, they had a clearer understanding of these concepts.

- After class, some students further inquired about the content related to DNA replication. A detailed explanation was given by dividing it into different steps according to different enzymes.

- Finally, an explanation of protein synthesis and what codons are was also provided, further expanding the students' knowledge.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that have been neglected by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to strive to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Why

Urban elite office workers need to pay special attention to preventing and learning knowledge about rectal cancer. The core reason is that their work patterns and living habits are highly correlated with the high-risk factors of rectal cancer, which are specifically manifested in the following aspects:

Sitting still for long periods, resulting in slowed intestinal peristalsis:

Office workers sit for long periods, which causes the speed of intestinal peristalsis to decline and the retention time of feces in the intestine to be prolonged. Harmful substances in feces (such as coprostanic acid, nitrosamines, etc.) have an increased contact time with the intestinal mucosa. Long-term and repeated stimulation may damage the intestinal mucosa, induce abnormal hyperplasia of mucosal cells, and increase the risk of canceration.

Imbalanced diet structure and insufficient intake of dietary fiber:

This group of people often rely on takeaways and social events due to their busy work. The proportion of high-fat and high-protein foods (especially red meat and processed meat) in their diet is relatively high, while the intake of foods rich in dietary fiber such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains is insufficient.

High stress, disrupted schedules, and impaired immunity:

Urban elites often face high-intensity work pressure. Chronic mental stress can affect the balance of gut microbiota and may also lead to a decline in immunity, making it difficult to promptly eliminate mutated intestinal mucosal cells. In addition, staying up late and having an irregular schedule can disrupt the body's biological clock and affect hormone secretion (such as abnormal cortisol), further increasing the likelihood of intestinal cell carcinogenesis.

Ignoring early signals and lacking awareness of screening:

Early symptoms of rectal cancer (such as blood in the stool, changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain, etc.) are easily mistaken for "hemorrhoids" or "enteritis". Due to their busy work, office workers often ignore these signals or delay seeking medical treatment. Coupled with the lack of a habit of regular colonoscopy screening (the early screening rate for rectal cancer is less than 30%), many patients are already in the middle or late stages when diagnosed, significantly increasing the difficulty of treatment and the risk of prognosis.

Who & Where

Target population: "Office workers" in urban areas, especially middle-aged and young people who sit for long periods, have irregular diets and are under great pressure.

Implementation location: Online platforms. Carry out popular science publicity through channels such as WeChat groups and social media.

How

- Produce popular science videos covering the association between rectal cancer and sedentary behavior, early symptoms, preventive measures, etc.

- Design a questionnaire to evaluate the cognitive changes of participants before and after watching the video.

- Send the popular science video in the WeChat group, along with the questionnaire link, to ensure that participants fill out the questionnaire after watching the video.

- Through group chat interactions, answer the questions of participants to enhance their sense of participation.

- Collect questionnaire data within two days after the event ends, and analyze the cognitive changes of participants regarding the relationship between sedentary behavior and rectal cancer.

- Evaluate the effectiveness of the event, summarize experiences and lessons, and provide references for subsequent activities.

What

- Produced and released popular science videos. The content covered the association between rectal cancer and sedentary behavior, early symptoms, preventive measures, etc.

- Sent the video link in the WeChat group, along with the questionnaire link, to ensure that participants filled out the questionnaire after watching the video.

- Designed a questionnaire to evaluate the cognitive changes of participants before and after watching the video.

- Collected and analyzed the questionnaire data to assess the effectiveness of the activity.

- Answered participants' questions through group chat interactions to enhance their sense of participation.

- Collected the feedback from participants to provide directions for improvement in subsequent activities.

Reflection

Strengths：

Challenges：

Follow-up Recommendations：

Through this project, we have deeply realized that science popularization needs to take into account the needs of different users, especially those groups that are neglected by traditional methods. In the future, we will continue to work hard to provide equal science learning opportunities for more people through innovation and cooperation, and ensure the wide dissemination of scientific knowledge.