Team:Shenzhen SFLS/Collaborations
Collaboration with SCIE-SIAT
In order to enhance the communication between iGEM teams and improve the project, SIAT-SCIE and our team co-sponsored a meet-up. We invited eight iGEM teams to attend the meet-up in Shenzhen College of International Education. Professor Haoqian Zhang from Chinese Academy of Science was invited to join this meet-up as well. Each team had a 15-minute presentation. Before the presentation, Professor Zhang explained the evaluation criteria for iGEM competition in detail and offered many valuable suggestions to each team. After the exhibition of projects, each team had a 10-minute question time. It was beneficial for each team to understand the projects of others. Also, it gave us a chance to help each other.
Collaboration with BGIC-Union
Meet-up On Oct 5, 2017, we communicated with BGIC-Union in a Starbucks coffee shop and exchanged details of the projects on both sides. Both our projects are related to CRISPR/Cas9 technology and have the same off-target problem. It is therefore possible to collaborate in modeling. We compared several articles on predicting off-target effects in mathematical ways and BGIC-Union iGEMers recommended us a better method named “Cutting Frequency Determination (CFD) scoring method”. Thus we improved our model. They also supported our modeling group a lot by introducing us biological theory. Besides, we offered them several examples of molecular kenetics model and we still keep in touch after the meet-up.
We also shared the schedule of wiki design and they wanted to offer some help. We found that both of us wanted to make a pop science video about biosafety level (BSL) with similar ideas, so we decided to do it together. In addition, they provided us with useful information about Safety Form and Part submission as well as experimental verification of design. What’s more, we exchanged our ideas about Human Practice in the areas of education and public engagement.
A Video about Biosafety Level By communicating with BGIC-Union, we decided to cooperate with them to produce a video about biosafety level. In order to contact and discuss the issue at any time, two groups formed a WeChat group. After looking for a lot of information and revisions, we set up a transcript of text and pictures and translated the English version. Then, Our members used their rest time to record and make the video.
Speeches in Donghai Primary School Attached to Shenzhen Foreign Languages School and Shenzhen Baihe Foreign Language School On October 25, 2017, we made a speech together with BGIC-Union in Donghai Primary School Attached to Shenzhen Foreign Languages School. Together, we gave a brief introduction about synthetic biology as well as cancer and its therapy. We also held a biology knowledge contest and found that the students there knew more about biology than we expected! On October 27, 2017, BGIC-Union and our team gave out a lecture in Shenzhen Baihe Foreign Languages School. In the lecture, we introduced iGEM and our project to the students.
Collaboration with SUSTech-China
On July 10, 2017, we held a diminutive meet up in Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) with their team. At that time, we were informed that our previous project about treating Trichophyton rubrum infection by defensins had a low feasibility. We then got the chance to discuss the project with Prof. Hongmin Zhang, an instructor of SUSTech_China, and asked for some questions about expressing a mutated defensins in bacteria. Prof. Zhang gave us some valuable suggestions and pointed out that it was time-consuming.
We also exchanged the ideas about our cancer project deeply and one of their members offered some help on our modeling.
Collaboration with SZU-China
On April 29, 2017, to promote our project and have a throughout discussion with other iGEM teams, we attended iGEM Southern China Regional Meeting held by Shenzhen University (SZU_China). Six undergraduate teams and two high school teams attended the meet-up.
At the meet-up, each team described the background and core theory of their project and raised valuable questions for other teams. SZU_China purposed an important experimental hypothesis linking Human Beta Defensin 3 ( hBD3 ) to motor protein so that hBD3 can not be transported outside the bacteria.
We learned more about projects of other teams and had further understanding about synthetic biology.
