Difference between revisions of "Team:XJTU-China/Public Engagement"

 
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       <div class="row">
 
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         <nav class="navbar col-lg-3 col-sm-3" id="myScrollspy">
 
         <nav class="navbar col-lg-3 col-sm-3" id="myScrollspy">
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           <ul class="nav nav-pills nav-stacked" id="side-nav" data-spy="affix">  
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           <ul class="nav nav-pills nav-stacked" id="side-nav" data-spy="affix">
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             <h4><a href="#silver1">Silver</h4>  
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             <!--li class="nav-item"><a href="#section1">Overview</a></li>
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              <br>
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            <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section21">Laboratory Open Day</a></li>
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             <h4>Integrated and Gold</h4>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section22">Teaching in Mawu Primary School</a></li>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section1">Interviews with experts</a></li>  
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            <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section3">Questionaire on Sweeteners</a></li>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section1-5">Company visits</a></li>  
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            <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section4">Our WeChat Official Account</a></li>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section2">Benefit the old diabetics</a></li>
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            <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section5">Energy saving and Emission Reduction Creative Competition</a></li>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section3">Questionnaire about sweeteners</a></li>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section61">Brochure about Scientific Diet</a></li>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section4">Meetups with other teams</a></li>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section62">Visiting the Jinqiu nursing Home</a></li>
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            <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section7">Summary</a></li-->
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            <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section1">Education & Public Engagement</a></li>  
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section2">Basic Education</a></li>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section3">Questionaire on Sweeteners</a></li>
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             <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section4">Communication activities</a></li>
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            <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section5">Energy saving and Emission Reduction creative</a></li>
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            <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section6">Help people in need</a></li>
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            <li class="nav-item"><a href="#section7">Summary</a></li>
 
           </ul>
 
           </ul>
 
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             <h1 class="font-weight-bold text-center">Public Engagement</h1>
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                  <h3>Silver</h3>
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                <p>
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                  In order to improve our projects, we have several interviews with experts in Microbiology, Medicine and Food, to collect information about diabetes, sweeteners, advantage of D-psicose as well as market and possible commercialization of D-psicose. Additionally,we visited the elders and patients in Xi'an Jinqiu Nursing Home, Xi’an Jiaotong University community and hospital, to collect their problems on medical treatment and daily diet, as well as to popularize our projects about healthy sugar substitutes D-psicose. In our WeChat public account, we not only introduce and promote the IGEM competition concept and our project, we also regularly post scientific articles in synthetic biology to gradually walk the public into life sciences.
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              <div class="page-header">
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              <h3>Integrated & Gold</h3>
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            <p>
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              Our human practice work is integrated into different stages of the project. To learn about the possibility of D-psicose as a drug for the treatment of diabetes，We had a deep interview with Dr Guo, who is a doctor for diabetes treatment. To collect some information about the current sweetener market, and situation of sugar production, we visit companies related to sugar production. To investigate the public's perception about sweeteners and predict the future market of our products, D-psicose，we have collected over one thousand questionaires.
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            </p>
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              <h3>Public engagement</h3>           
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            </div>
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            <p>
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              Public participation is very important given that the IGEM competition is a competition that was born to solve practical problems. We actively joined various communities to involve the public into our project. Social media like Wechat public account, Twitter, and public mailbox are constantly used to communicate with the public and other teams. We also conducted questionnaires for online and offline surveys. In addition, social practice of IGEM competition is including offering lectures on synthetic biology, visiting nursing homes, and handing out health manuals.
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            </p>
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            <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/4/45/T--XJTU-China--HP-Silver-2.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
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            <br><br><br><br>
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            <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/6/6f/T--XJTU-China--HP-GOLD-HEAD.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
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             <div id="section1">
 
             <div id="section1">
 
               <div class="page-header">
 
               <div class="page-header">
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                 <h2>Interviews with experts</h2>
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                 <h2>Education & Public Engagement</h2>
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                <br>
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               </div>
 
               </div>
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            <div id="section11">
 
 
               <p>
 
               <p>
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                 In order to improve our projects, we have several interviews with experts in Microbiology, Medicine and Food, to collect information about diabetes, sweeteners, advantage of D-psicose as well as market and possible commercialization of D-psicose.  
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                 Beyond the lab program, iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) is a synthetic biology competition dedicated to spread all around the world creativity and engineering possibilities that biology can offer. Education and public engagement embodies this policy and encourages us to share knowledge amongst people. To achieve this goal, scientific education and participation are the best ways to raise people's awareness and make the public approach to sciences. That is what we tried to accomplish through different science popularization activities and contributions.
 
               </p>
 
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             </div>
 
             </div>
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             <div id="section1-0">
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             <div class="page-header" id="section2">
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               <h3>Part 1: Diabetes and possible positive effects of D-psicose on diabetes</h3>
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               <h2>Basic Education</h2>
 
             </div>
 
             </div>
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             <div id="section12">
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             <div id="section21">
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               <div class="page-header">
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               <h3>Laboratory Open Day: Bacterial Painting</h3>
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              <h4>Prof.Jiankang Liu, Prof.Jianggang Long</h4>
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               <br>
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               <p style= "text-align:right;">
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               <blockquote>School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University</blockquote>
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               Center for Mitochondria Biology and Medicine in Xi’an Jiaotong University</p>
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              <div class="row">
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                </div>
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               <p>
 
               <p>
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                 Prof. Liu and Prof. Long are specialists in mitochondria biology and nutrition regulation on aging and metabolic syndrome. We had an interview with them to obtain their professional opinions on nutrition-disorder related diseases and our D-psicose.
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                 For our project we launched a science camp on synthetic biology. One of the most interesting activities was Bacterial Painting. We used solid-state medium as the "paper" to paint on, using heat-activated, IPTG-activated expression of RFP, GFP, and BFP as luminescent proteins. The school professors were invited to lecture on aseptic handling of microbes before the event began. In this way, we have shown the infinite possibilities and fun of IGEM competition and synthetic biology to the students in the lower grades. It allowed them to communicate and ask questions in biology and jobs. We also initiated remote interactions with TUST's IGEMers to facilitate communications between teams.
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              </p>
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              <p><b>Keypoints</b></p>
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              <ul>
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                <li>
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                  At present, diabetes is a complex disease, which is difficult to recover just using a single food treatment such as D-psicose-containing food.
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                </li>
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                <li>
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                  Our project to enhance activity of key enzyme for D-psicose production by directed evolution and biosensor system has great potential for diabetes treatment.
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                </li>
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              </ul>
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              <p>
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                They suggested that we need to know more about the toxicity and safety of D-psicose. Can it be used as a medicine instead of just as a sweetener? What’s the detailed mechanisms of D-psicose on diabetes and obesity, which are nutrition-disorder related diseases? How about the market and cost for this rare sugar?
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              </p>
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              <p>
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                Let us find the answers in the following human practice!
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               </p>
 
               </p>
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              <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/f/fb/T--XJTU-China--HP-drawing-1.png" class="mx-auto d-block" style="width: 50%" />
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              <!--p>
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                In this way, we showed the infinite possibilities and fun of IGEM competition and synthetic biology to the students in the lower grades. At the same time, they also like to have a broader exchange and discussion with us. The proximity with us allowed them to communicate and ask many questions around fields of study in biology and jobs.
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              </p-->
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              <!--img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/3/3a/T--XJTU-China--HP-drawing-2.jpg" class="mx-auto d-block" />
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              <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/5/50/T--XJTU-China--Banner-bed.jpg" class="mx-auto d-block" /-->
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              <!--p>
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                In addition to this, we also had a remote interaction with TUST's IGEMers to promote team and team communication.
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              </p-->
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              <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/a/a3/T--XJTU-China--HP-drawing-4.jpg" class="mx-auto d-block" style="width: 50%" />
 
             </div>
 
             </div>
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             <div id="section12-1">
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             <div id="section22">
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               <div class="page-header">
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               <h3>Teaching in Mawu Primary School</h3>
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              <h4>Dr. Hui Guo</h4>
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              </div>
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              <p style= "text-align:right;">
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              Director of endocrinology department in First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University</p>
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              <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/0/05/T--XJTU-China--HP-GOLD-HUIGUO.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
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              <p>
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                We had a deep interview with Dr Guo, who is a doctor for diabetes treatment, to learn about the possibility of D-psicose as a drug for the treatment of diabetes.
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              </p>
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              <p><b>Keypoints</b></p>
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              <ul>
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                <li>
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                  D-psicose is suitable for the treatment of obesity and almost all types of diabetes (multi-site functions), which is very advantageous as a potential drug.
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                </li>
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                <li>
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                  Safety of D-psicose is the major concern, and a series of clinical trials is needed before commercialization.                </li>
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                <li>
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                  Diet control is very important to control blood sugar level and its intakes. A reasonable diet pyramid should be paid attention to for the diabetics.
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                </li>
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            <div id="section13">
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              <div class="page-header">
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              <h3>Prof. Yali Zhang & Dr.Ganqiao Ran</h3>
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            </div>
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              <p style= "text-align:right;">
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              Professor major in food and medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University
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               <br>
 
               <br>
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               an associate professor in Shaanxi Institute of Bio-Agriculture
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               <blockquote>Mawu Primary School, Chang'an District, Xi'an</blockquote>
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            </p>
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              </div>
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               <p>
 
               <p>
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                 Prof. Zhang, who focuses her research on the food and medical mechanism of D-psicose, as well as Dr. Gan-Qiao Ran, who works on medical effects and production of D-psicose, introduced us some reported results about detailed effects of D-psicose.
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                 To make children familiar with the field of synthetic biology, we volunteered to go to Mawu primary school for a simple tutorial. Bacteria model were drawn to let them understand that small bacteria cells are perfect micro factories for a variety of tasks. We did successfully achieve our goal by involving students actively to participate in our tutorial. We taught them some biological basics and our mind is expanded by bringing in new ideas from the students. The road in IGEM will definitely go wider and wider.
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               </p>
 
               </p>
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               <p><b>Keypoints</b></p>
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               <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/b/b6/T--XJTU-China--HP-teaching-1.png" class="mx-auto d-block" style="width: 50%" />
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              <ul>
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              <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/thumb/3/35/T--XJTU-China--HP-teaching-2.png/450px-T--XJTU-China--HP-teaching-2.png.jpeg" class="mx-auto d-block" style="width: 50%" />
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                <li>
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                  In rodents, D-psicose is known to inhibit digestive enzymes, including alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase. D-psicose also inhibits the absorption of glucose from the intestine by competing with glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) on the basolateral membrane of intestinal epithelial cells.  
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                </li>
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                <li>
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                  In rats, D-psicose-induced hepatic glucokinase has been reported to improve hepatic glucose utilization.
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                </li>
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                <li>
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                  Rats fed D-psicose had significantly lower serum insulin and leptin levels. The D-psicose diet significantly reduced liver enzyme activity involved in adipogenesis, while gene expression of fatty acid oxidative transcriptional regulators was enhanced.
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                </li>
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              </ul>
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             </div>
 
             </div>
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            <p style="font-family: Times">
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             <div id="section3">
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                [1] Naohito NISHII1)*, Toru NOMIZO1), Satoshi TAKASHIMA1), Tatsuya MATSUBARA1), Masaaki TOKUDA2) and Hitoshi KITAGAWA1),” Effects of D-allulose on glucose metabolism after the administration of sugar or food in healthy dogs” J. Vet. Med. Sci. 78(11): 1657–1662, 2016
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                <br>[2] Yasuo Nagata,*,†,§ Akane Kanasaki,† Shizuka Tamaru,† and Kazunari Tanaka†,” D‑Psicose, an Epimer of D‑Fructose, Favorably Alters Lipid Metabolism in Sprague−Dawley Rats”, J. Agric. Food Chem. 2015, 63, 3168−3176<br>[3] Tomonori Kimura M.S.a, *, Akane Kanasaki M.S.a, Noriko Hayashi M.S.a, Takako Yamada M.S.a, Tetsuo Iida Ph.D.a, Yasuo Nagata Ph.D.b, Kazuhiro Okuma Ph.D.a,” D-Allulose enhances postprandial fat oxidation in healthy humans” ,Nutrition 43–44 (2017) 16–20<br>[4] Akram Hossaina, Fuminori Yamaguchia, Toru Matsunagab, Yuko Hirataa, Kazuyo Kamitoria, Youyi Donga, Li Suia, Ikuko Tsukamotoc, Masaki Uenod, Masaaki Tokudaa,⇑”Rare sugar D-psicose protects pancreas b-islets and thus improves insulin resistance in OLETF rats”, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 425 (2012) 717–723<br>[5] Tatsuhiro Matsuo1*, Reika Ishii1, Yoko Shirai2 1 “the effects of 90-day feeding of D-psicose syrup in male Wistar rats”, Vol.1, No.2, 66-71 (2011) <br>[6] akram hossain1,2 Fuminori Yamaguchi1 Kayoko hirose1 Toru Matsunaga3 li sui1 Yuko hirata1 chisato noguchi1 ayako Katagi1 Kazuyo Kamitori1 Youyi Dong1 ikuko Tsukamoto4 Masaaki Tokuda1 “Rare sugar D-psicose prevents progression and development of diabetes in T2DM model Otsuka long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rats”, Drug Design, Development and Therapy 2015:9 525–535
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              <p>
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                From literatures and information gathered from doctors and professors in medicine and food fields, we know that D-psicose can be used for a potential drug for the treatment of obesity and diabetes.  A series of clinical trials is further needed for safety issues. In addition, the market, price, and the current production situation of D-psicose are still needed to be addressed.
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            <div id="section15-0">
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              <h3>Part 2  Market and current production of D-psicose, as well as commercialization of D-psicose</h3>
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            <div id="section15">
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              <div class="page-header">
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              <h3>Dr.Yuan-xia Sun</h3>
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            </div>
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              <p style= "text-align:right;">
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              a distinguished research fellow in Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences</p>
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              <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/4/40/T--XJTU-China--HP-GOLD-Yuanxia.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
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              <p>
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                Prof Sun worked in Japan Sugar Research Center which is the pioneer in this field, and she has devoted herself into rare sugar research since then, owning a lot of patents for rare sugars. We conducted an interview with her on the application, market share and production of D-psicose.
+
−
              </p>
+
−
              <p><b>Keypoints</b></p>
+
−
              <ul>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  D-psicose is by far a perfect substitute for sucrose, not only in taste, sweetness, calorie, but also in food processing. The most similar sugar to D-psicose is tagatose, but it is more expensive, and its comprehensive characteristics are not as good as D-psicose.
+
−
                </li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  Japan is a pioneer for study of D-psicose, and the three companies to commercialize D-psicose worldwide are Matsutani Chemical Industry Co.,Ltd.(JP)，CJ Cheiljedang Crop.(KR) and Tate & Lyle P.L.C (UK)
+
−
                </li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  All three commercialized companies for D-psicose use enzymatic production instead of chemical synthesis, which means high activity of key enzyme in D-psicose biosynthesis is essential.
+
−
                </li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                D-psicose has been approved by FDA in 2011. FDA-related information shows that D-psicose is sufficiently safe to be used in food. In China it is not approved yet.               
+
−
                </li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  D-psicose has been industrialized out of China since FDA’s approval, and hundreds of foods have been added with D-psicose as a sweetener.
+
−
                </li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  The global market of sugar is more than $10 million per year, of which more than 80% is sucrose. In China, the demand for sucrose is also large and the yield is insufficient.
+
−
                </li>
+
−
              </ul>
+
−
              <p>
+
−
                Thanks to Prof. Sun, it can be concluded that D-psicose is safe to be used in food and has unparalleled advantages over other sugar substitutes! The large sugar market in the world including in China reveals D-psicose will be in a huge demand as a healthy sucrose substitution especially with low production cost. So we are trying to find out the possibility to commercialization of D-psicose in China.
+
−
              </p>
+
−
            </div>
+
−
            <div id="section16">
+
−
              <div class="page-header">
+
−
              <h3>Dr.Shang-Wei Lv  </h3>
+
−
            </div>
+
−
              <p style= "text-align:right;">
+
−
              An expert in the transformation of knowledge into practice</p>
+
−
             
+
−
              <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/d/d7/T--XJTU-China--HP-entrepreneurship-1.jpg" class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
−
              <p>
+
−
                We discussed with Dr Lv to explore the possibility of the industrialization of D-psicose to the market as sweetener.
+
−
              </p>
+
−
              <p><b>Keypoints</b></p>
+
−
              <ul>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  Lab-scale production process and techniques are the basis for industrialization.
+
−
                </li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  More detailed analysis of cost, price, market share of D-psicose needs to be conducted before commercialization.
+
−
                </li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  To start a business, funding, employees, supplies, regulations, property rights issues, etc need to be taken into account, besides techniques.
+
−
                </li>
+
−
              </ul>
+
−
              <p>
+
−
                From Dr. Lv, we have learned that there is still a long way for industrialization of D-psicose, which requires a lot of efforts and collaborations. Our project about directed evolution system of key enzymes for D-psicose and our proposal concerning advantages and market share of D-psicose will also be beneficial to the further commercialization of D-psicose, contributing to a healthier life style.
+
−
              </p>
+
−
            </div>
+
−
            <div id="section17-0">
+
−
              <h3>Part 3 iGEM advices</h3>
+
−
            </div>
+
−
             <div id="section17">
+
 
               <div class="page-header">
 
               <div class="page-header">
−
              <h3>Dr. Terry Johnson </h3>
+
                <h2>Questionaire on Sweeteners</h2>
−
              <p style= "text-align:right;">
+
−
              Professor in UC Berkeley, USA</p>
+
 
               </div>
 
               </div>
−
              <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/7/76/T--XJTU-China--HP-Gold-9.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
 
 
               <p>
 
               <p>
−
                 Some of the team members participated in the summer exchange program in UC Berkeley. Therefore, we had a chance to meet Prof. Terry Johnson, a bioengineering professor who was a judge of iGEM and we exchanged some thoughts with him on iGEM project.
+
                 We collected a total of 1121 questionnaires. Diabetes is becoming quite commonly in young people, they are more adaptable to online questionnaires, so most of the people we surveyed are young people. Older people's knowledge of diabetes and its prevention are mostly derived from related young people. The survey of mostly young people will thus not affect the accuracy of our findings.
 
               </p>
 
               </p>
 
               <p>
 
               <p>
−
                 He first introduced the University of California, Berkeley's 2012, 2013 project to us, one of which was the bio-manufacturing of blue fuel, starting with the massive demand for blue dyes in jeans. This tells us how to tell the project as a good story. He then introduced us to the techniques of presentation, such as being fun, engaging, confident, enthusiastic, and logical. Most importantly, we must make judges with different backgrounds understand and not so bored.
+
                 we found from the survey that people shop subjectively without choosing sweeteners, and sugary food with limited energy is very popular. Although D-psicose is a kind of natural sugar, there were less people knowing it. D-psicose is a natural sugar with a sweetness of 70%-80% to that of sucrose but very low in energy, which is good to diabetes. So, whether people will try D-psicose when adding it to the food, more than half of the interviewees chose to give it a try. We believe that the outlook for D-psicose in food will be very promising.
−
              </p>
+
−
              <p>
+
−
                He firstly introduced the previous projects of UC Berkeley. One of which was bio-manufacturing of blue fuel, inspired by massive demand of blue dyes in jeans. Followed by how to organize a good story for a project, he guided us to the techniques of presentation, such as how to be attractive, engaging, confident, enthusiastic, and logical. We benefited a lot from him!
+
 
               </p>
 
               </p>
 +
              <a data-toggle="collapse" data-parent="#accordion" href="#collapse_sweeteners" class="collapsed btn" aria-expanded="false">Show more/less..</a>
 +
              <ol class="list-group collapse" id="collapse_sweeteners" aria-expanded="false" >
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>1. Here are some sweeteners, which one are you familiar with?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/d/d5/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-1.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>2. Will you notice the sweetener marked on the package, when you buy food?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/5/5e/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-2.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>3. Do you think the number of sweeteners is higher in cheaper food than that in the same kind?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/e/e8/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-3.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>4. Here are some common foods, which one do you think have a lot of sweetener?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/e/e8/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-4.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>5. Do you know any alternatives to white sugar?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/6/65/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-5.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>6. Would you like to buy some sugar with low energy and good taste to replace white sugar even though it is more expensive?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/c/cd/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-6.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>7. Would you mind adding sweeteners to the food?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/f/fa/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-7.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>8. Do you think sweeteners are harmful to us?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/f/fe/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-8.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>9. Do you know the difference between real sugar and sugar substitute?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/2/2a/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-9.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>10.  Do you know whether sugar substitute can be added into food separately?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/3/34/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-10.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>11.  Here are several possible reasons which cause sweetener harmful to us. Which are plausible?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/6/65/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-11.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>12.  Here are some sugar and sweeteners, Which one can be eaten by diabetic patients?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/d/d2/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-12.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
                <li class="list-group-item">
 +
                  <p>13.  D-psicose is a nature sugar with low energy and good taste. Would you like to add it into your food or drink?</p>
 +
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/1/11/T--XJTU-China--HP-survey-13.png" class="mx-auto d-block" />
 +
                </li class="list-group-item">
 +
              </ol>
 
             </div>
 
             </div>
−
             <div id="section1-5">
+
             <div id="section4">
 
               <div class="page-header">
 
               <div class="page-header">
−
                 <h2>Company visits</h2>
+
                 <h2>Communication activities</h2>
 
               </div>
 
               </div>
 +
              <div>
 
                 <p>
 
                 <p>
−
                Our product, D-psicose, as a sweetener, has the advantages of high sweetness and low calorie. To collect some information about the current sweetener market, and situation of sugar production, we visit companies related to sugar production. We learned the market demand of sweeteners and transformation of lab-scale achievements to market, and collected professional insights and suggestions on our IGEM project, to better understand the important value and development prospects of D-psicose.
+
                  <h3>Our Wechat</h3>
−
              </p>
+
                </p>
−
            </div>
+
−
            <div id="section1-51">
+
−
              <div class="page-header">
+
−
              <h3>Global Horticulture (Xi’an) Limited, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, China</h3>
+
 
               </div>
 
               </div>
−
              <p style="text-align: right;"> A company that produces and sales kiwi-containing beverage.
 
−
              </p>
 
 
               <div class="row">
 
               <div class="row">
 
                 <div class="col-sm-5">
 
                 <div class="col-sm-5">
−
                   <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/8/85/T--XJTU-China--HP-GOLD-Company1.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
                   <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/a/a4/T--XJTU-China--HP-wechat-1.jpg" class="mx-auto d-block"/>
 +
 
 
                 </div>
 
                 </div>
 
                 <div class="col-sm-5">
 
                 <div class="col-sm-5">
−
                   <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/a/ab/T--XJTU-China--HP-GOLD-Company2.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
                   <p>
 +
                    Since the beginning of the IGEM competition, we have realized that many people may not be very familiar with the competition and the field of synthetic biology. So, the IGEM WeChat public account of Xi'an Jiaotong University was created to meet this end. We try to use simple and relevant knowledge to solve problems in life. In our WeChat public account, we not only introduce and promote the IGEM competition concept and our project, we also regularly post scientific articles in synthetic biology to gradually walk the public into life sciences.At present we have a total of 20 tweets, 171 followers, the highest click rate 304, total clicks 2526, average hits 126.
 +
                  </p>
 +
                  <p>
 +
                    We respond to questions and comments in a timely manner in the public account. It has proven that this manner brings the public closer to science. This fits well with the IGEM concept of combining with public and practical issues.
 +
                  </p>
 +
                  <p>
 +
                    In addition, we have email and twitter account to communicate with other schools. For example, we emailed the paris-evry 2017 team with our help in experimental design.
 +
                  </p>
 
                 </div>
 
                 </div>
 
               </div>
 
               </div>
−
              <p>
 
−
                Key points of discussion with Director Tan:
 
−
              </p>
 
−
              <ul>
 
−
                <li>The potential huge market of D-psicose will rely on people in top cities with healthy diet, or the diabetics, who will prefer to buy healthier D-psicose.</li>
 
−
                <li>Chinese people always think of sweetener as a bad additives, which is a potential obstacle for the commercialization of sweetener including D-psicose. More popularizations are needed to make healthy sweeteners acceptable.</li>
 
−
              </ul>
 
 
             </div>
 
             </div>
−
             <div id="section1-52">
+
             <div id="section5">
 
               <div class="page-header">
 
               <div class="page-header">
−
              <h3>Xinsheng Jixang Biological Company, Weinan, Shaanxi Province, China</h3>
+
                 <h2>Energy Saving & Emission Reduction Competition</h2>
−
              </div>
+
−
              <p style="text-align: right;">
+
−
                 The company mainly produces enzymatic sugar-containing food products
+
−
              </p>
+
−
              <div class="row">
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/2/27/T--XJTU-China--HP-GOLD-Company3.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
−
                </div>
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/7/7c/T--XJTU-China--HP-GOLD-Company4.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
−
                </div>
+
 
               </div>
 
               </div>
 
               <p>
 
               <p>
−
                 Key points of discussion with Director Tan:
+
                 Our project is based on a directed evolution in D-psicose synthesis pathway. Compared to traditional chemical and biosynthesis methods, our method has the advantages of high yield, low energy consumption and low carbon emissions. By introducing the synthetic ideas of our projects, we fully demonstrated the superiority of our projects and the art of synthetic biology. . Eventually, we got the Excellence Award in the competition of energy conservation and emission reduction.
 
               </p>
 
               </p>
−
             
+
               <img class="mx-auto d-block" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/1/16/T--XJTU-China--HP-energy-1.jpg" style="width: 50%" />
−
               <ul>
+
               <img class="mx-auto d-block" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/b/b2/T--XJTU-China--HP-energy-3.jpg" style="width: 50%" />
−
                <li>D-psicose is advantageous over other sugar substitutes especially in terms of calorie and taste.</li>
+
               <img class="mx-auto d-block" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/d/dd/T--XJTU-China--HP-energy-4.jpg" style="width: 50%" />
−
                <li>If we want to commercialize our D-psicose in China, the acceptable price is ~20,000 RMB/ton, which means the price of one bottle of D-psicose-containing beverage is ~10 RMB. The visit allows us to better understand market demand and acceptance of D-psicose, which will better improve our products and project.</li>
+
−
               </ul>
+
−
               <p>This activity allows us to better understand the needs of the market, which will better improve our products.</p>
+
 
             </div>
 
             </div>
−
             <div id="section1-53">
+
             <div id="section6">
−
              <div class="page-header">
+
            <div class="page-header">
−
              <h3>Yesherb company, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China</h3>
+
                 <h2>Help People in Need</h2>
−
              </div>
+
−
              <p style="text-align: right;">Yesherb, Xi'an
+
−
              </p>
+
−
              <p style="text-align: right;">A company produces oligomannose-containing prebiotic products.
+
−
              </p>
+
−
 
+
−
              <p>Key suggestions about how to transform scientific research into products to market:</p>
+
−
              <ul>
+
−
                 <li>Ideas goes first before experiment and production.</li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  Refine lab-scale techniques for large-scale production.
+
−
                </li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  Think more about the market of your products, your advantages and disadvantages
+
−
                </li>
+
−
                <li>
+
−
                  Finally, the operation of the entire production, marketing, sales etc.
+
−
                </li>
+
−
              </ul>
+
−
               
+
−
                <div class="row">
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/7/79/T--XJTU-China--HP-GOLD-Company5.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
−
                </div>
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/f/fc/T--XJTU-China--HP-GOLD-Company6.png"class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
−
                </div>
+
−
              </div>
+
 
             </div>
 
             </div>
−
             <div id="section2">
+
             <div id="section61">
−
              <h2>Benefit the old diabetics</h2>
+
                <h3>Visiting the Jinqiu Nursing Home and Community</h3>
−
              <br>
+
−
            </div>
+
−
            <div id="section21">
+
−
              <div class="page-header">
+
−
              <h3>Abstract</h3>
+
−
            </div>
+
−
              <p>There are 425 million diabetics all over the world with continuous increasing. What can our project do for the people with diabetes? D-psicose is reported to control blood sugar level which is beneficial for diabetics.  Therefore, We visited the elders and patients in Xi'an Jinqiu Nursing Home, Xi’an Jiaotong University community and hospital, to collect their problems on medical treatment and daily diet, as well as to popularize our projects about healthy sugar substitutes D-psicose. Our visits and activities will bring warmness to the elders, and also provide some advice that can effectively solve their problems. We also designed and handed out brochures for diabetics after communication with them, to make them have clearer insight into scientific and healthy eating habit. Our projects will benefit and help people who are in need. </p>
+
−
             
+
−
            </div>
+
−
            <div id="section22">
+
−
              <div class="page-header">
+
−
            <h3>Jinqiu Nursing Home and community</h3>
+
−
          </div>
+
−
            <p style="text-align: right;">
+
−
              Xi’an Jiaotong University community and hospital, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China
+
−
            </p>
+
−
            Keypoints：
+
−
            <ul>
+
−
              <li>Most of the elders in the nursing home have diabetes.</li>
+
−
              <li> More than half of them usually eat more vegetables and eat less sugar-containing food，pay attention to the level of their blood sugar.</li>
+
−
              <li>With the improvement of living conditions, people's concern about health is increasing.</li>
+
−
              <li>Most of people support our project about D-psicose and have a positive attitude towards this healthy sweetener, and willing to buy if it is commercialized.</li>
+
−
              <li>We got a deeper understanding of the real needs of the elders.</li>
+
−
 
+
−
            </ul>
+
−
            <div class="row">
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/7/75/T--XJTU-China--HP-elder-3.jpg"class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
−
                </div>
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/1/10/T--XJTU-China--HP-elder-2.jpg"class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
−
                </div>
+
−
              </div>
+
−
            </div>
+
−
            <div id="section23">
+
−
              <div class="page-header">
+
−
                <h3>Brochure</h3>
+
−
                </div>
+
−
                <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/8/87/T--XJTU-China--HP-brochure-1.jpg" class="mx-auto d-block" />
+
−
                Keypoints:
+
−
                <ul>
+
−
                  <li>
+
−
                    Based on the literature, we summarize the clinical manifestations and hazards of diabetes and provide eight healthy eating habits.
+
−
                  </li>
+
−
                  <li>
+
−
                    Based on the current lifestyle of elders and diabetics, we proposed correct dietary recommendations.
+
−
                  </li>
+
−
                  <li>
+
−
                    Reasonable dietary advice for other geriatric diseases such as hypertension are also included in out brochure.                  </li>
+
−
                  <li>
+
−
                    Advantage and value of D-psicose are also introduced in this brochure.
+
−
                  </li>
+
−
                  <li>
+
−
                    The distribution of the brochure makes people have a better understanding of healthy diet and makes more people benefit from our projects.
+
−
                  </li>
+
−
                </ul>
+
−
            </div>
+
−
            <div id="section3">
+
−
                <h2>Questionnaire about sweeteners</h2>
+
−
                <br>
+
−
                <p>Online questionnaire was used to investigate the public's perception about sweeteners and predict the future market of our products, D-psicose. </p>
+
 
                 <p>
 
                 <p>
−
                   The pie chart below is the analysis result about some of the questions in the questionnaire.
+
                   To make elderly people understand and benefit from our IGEM project, we visited Xi'an Jinqiu Nursing Home to explain them what a scientific and reasonable dieting is. We not only offered the warm companionship, but also helped them with a deeper understanding of the scientific and rational planning and eating life style. They might not able to understand the competition in the field of synthetic biology, but they could benefit from it. Our visit can solve some of the problems they are facing every day. From this perspective, our activities like this kind are even more important and meaningful.
 
                 </p>
 
                 </p>
−
                 <ul>
+
                 <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/7/75/T--XJTU-China--HP-elder-3.jpg" class="mx-auto d-block" style="width: 50%" />
−
                  <p>1. Here are some sweeteners, which are you familiar with?</p>
+
                 <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/1/10/T--XJTU-China--HP-elder-2.jpg" class="mx-auto d-block" style="width: 50%" />
−
                  <h2>pic1</h2>
+
−
                  <p>2. Will you notice the sweetener marked on the package, when you buy food? </p>
+
−
                  <h2>pic2</h2>
+
−
                  <p>3. Do you know any alternatives to sucrose？</p>
+
−
                  <h2>pic3</h2>
+
−
                  <p>4. Would you mind adding sweeteners to the food?</p>
+
−
                  <h2>pic4</h2>
+
−
                  <p>5. D-psicose is a nature sugar with low energy and good taste. Would you like to add it into your food or drink?</p>
+
−
                 </ul>
+
−
                <p>For this part，We received a total of 1121 questionnaires. </p>
+
−
                <p>After analysis, we found that everyone buys things subjectively without choosing sweeteners, and more than half said they would mind the use of sweeteners. However, they all want their food to have sugar and low energy. </p>
+
−
                <p>D-psicose is a kind of natural sugar, but less person knows this sugar. This sugar with a sweetness of 70%-80% of sucrose, has very low energy and a good effect on diabetes. So, when we ask, if D-psicose is added to the food, do you want to try. More than half of them choose "Yes". Therefore, we believe that the outlook for D-psicose in food will be very good.</p>
+
−
            </div>
+
−
            <div id="section4">
+
−
                <h2>Meetups with other iGEM teams</h2>
+
−
                <br>
+
 
               </div>
 
               </div>
−
              <div id="section41">
+
            <div id="section62">
−
                <div class="page-header">
+
                 <h3>Brochure about Scientific Diet</h3>
−
                 <h3>Hefei meetup</h3>
+
                 <p>
−
              </div>
+
                   D-psicose is low in calorie, so its blood sugar lowering function is very meaningful. Diabetes has a high incidence among middle-aged and older people, so a small handbook was designed and printed out by our team. Here, ways for a scientific and healthy diet and precautions for diabetes are described in detail. The distribution of the manual gives people a better understanding of the importance of life sciences. The IGEM competition and our projects are far-reaching. We walked into the nursing home and brought elderly with concept of healthy living and dieting. We showed them our caring and received many expectations from them to our project. Our activities as such are meaningful, coming not only from the practical handbook, but also from the power of cutting-edge technology.
−
                 <p style="text-align: right">Location: School of life science in USTC, Hefei;
+
−
 
+
−
                   Teams: XJTU-China, USTC, BNU, Jilin-China
+
 
                 </p>
 
                 </p>
−
                 <p>Some of our team members were invited to participate in a student academy communication meeting in USTC, Hefei. We contact with Jilin-China, USTC, BNU igem teams to hold a meeting in School of life science in USTC. Each team presented their ideas and we discussed about them later. Then we talked about competition details and how to collaborate with each other. From this meeting, we know how to prepare our project and how to present our ideas.</p>
+
                 <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/8/87/T--XJTU-China--HP-brochure-1.jpg" class="mx-auto d-block" style="width: 50%" />
−
                <div class="row">
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <h2>pic1</h2>
+
−
                </div>
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <h2>pic2</h2>
+
−
                </div>
+
 
               </div>
 
               </div>
−
              <div id="section42">
+
            </div>
−
                <div class="page-header">
+
            </div>
−
                <h3>CCiC</h3>
+
            <div id="section7">
−
                </div>
+
              <div class="page-header">
−
                <p style="text-align: right">Location: Shanghai;
+
                 <h2>Summary</h2>
−
 
+
−
                  Teams: More than 60 Chinese teams
+
−
                </p>
+
−
                <p>CCiC(the Conference of China iGEMer Community)is a seminar attended by China's iGEM teams. As a communication platform for Chinese synthetic biology enthusiasts, CCiC develops in reform and innovation during 5 years. The 5th CCiC was hosted by ShanghaiTech University. There are more than 60 teams participated in the conference, with several more than 500 people. During the five-day meeting, we met and communicated with other iGEMers, exchanging our knowledge and experience. Meanwhile, some seniors in synthetic biology such as Dr. Haoqian Zhang provided us valuable advice. We experienced a grand feast of thinking.</p>
+
−
                <div class="row">
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <h2>pic1</h2>
+
−
                 </div>
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <h2>pic2</h2>
+
−
                </div>
+
 
               </div>
 
               </div>
−
               <div id="section43">
+
               <p>
−
                <div class="page-header">
+
                 Public participation is very important given that the iGEM competition is a competition that was born to solve practical problems. We actively joined various communities to involve the public into our project. Social media like Wechat public account, Twitter, and public mailbox are constantly used to communicate with the public and other teams. We also conducted questionnaires for online and offline surveys. In addition, social practice of IGEM competition is including offering lectures on synthetic biology, visiting nursing homes, and handing out health manuals.
−
                <h3>Xi'an meetup</h3>
+
              </p>
−
                </div>
+
−
                <p style="text-align: right">Location: in NPU, Shannxi;
+
−
 
+
−
                  Teams: XJTU-China, NPU-China and NWU-China.
+
−
                 </p>
+
−
                <p>This summer, three teams in Shaanxi came together and shared their thoughts in the first stage of the iGEM season. It was a great chance for us to share the sparks we had in brainstorming and the obstacles we met during lab (especially in InterLab, by then), to share the resources we have, and to talk about the experiences we had in building up the team and managing all the experiments</p>
+
−
                <p>
+
−
                  During the meetup, we all shared our conceptions of iGEM projects. After it, NPU and NWU teams have shared their experiences in attending the Giant Jamboree. We have learned some very useful tips in Boston. At last, we shared our thoughts about how to pass our knowledge to younger iGEMers, and how to involve them in our current labs, so that they will be familiar to the protocols when building up a team of themselves.
+
−
                </p>
+
−
                <p>
+
−
                 
+
−
                </p>
+
−
                In summary, it is very important to get in touch with the teams nearby, solve the problems together and share wonderful ideas.
+
−
                <div class="row">
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <h2>pic1</h2>
+
−
                </div>
+
−
                <div class="col-sm-5">
+
−
                  <h2>pic2</h2>
+
−
                </div>
+
−
          </div>
+
 
             </div>
 
             </div>
  

Latest revision as of 23:29, 17 October 2018

Public Engagement

Education & Public Engagement

Beyond the lab program, iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) is a synthetic biology competition dedicated to spread all around the world creativity and engineering possibilities that biology can offer. Education and public engagement embodies this policy and encourages us to share knowledge amongst people. To achieve this goal, scientific education and participation are the best ways to raise people's awareness and make the public approach to sciences. That is what we tried to accomplish through different science popularization activities and contributions.

Basic Education

Laboratory Open Day: Bacterial Painting


School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University

For our project we launched a science camp on synthetic biology. One of the most interesting activities was Bacterial Painting. We used solid-state medium as the "paper" to paint on, using heat-activated, IPTG-activated expression of RFP, GFP, and BFP as luminescent proteins. The school professors were invited to lecture on aseptic handling of microbes before the event began. In this way, we have shown the infinite possibilities and fun of IGEM competition and synthetic biology to the students in the lower grades. It allowed them to communicate and ask questions in biology and jobs. We also initiated remote interactions with TUST's IGEMers to facilitate communications between teams.

Teaching in Mawu Primary School


Mawu Primary School, Chang'an District, Xi'an

To make children familiar with the field of synthetic biology, we volunteered to go to Mawu primary school for a simple tutorial. Bacteria model were drawn to let them understand that small bacteria cells are perfect micro factories for a variety of tasks. We did successfully achieve our goal by involving students actively to participate in our tutorial. We taught them some biological basics and our mind is expanded by bringing in new ideas from the students. The road in IGEM will definitely go wider and wider.

Questionaire on Sweeteners

We collected a total of 1121 questionnaires. Diabetes is becoming quite commonly in young people, they are more adaptable to online questionnaires, so most of the people we surveyed are young people. Older people's knowledge of diabetes and its prevention are mostly derived from related young people. The survey of mostly young people will thus not affect the accuracy of our findings.

we found from the survey that people shop subjectively without choosing sweeteners, and sugary food with limited energy is very popular. Although D-psicose is a kind of natural sugar, there were less people knowing it. D-psicose is a natural sugar with a sweetness of 70%-80% to that of sucrose but very low in energy, which is good to diabetes. So, whether people will try D-psicose when adding it to the food, more than half of the interviewees chose to give it a try. We believe that the outlook for D-psicose in food will be very promising.

Communication activities

Our Wechat

Since the beginning of the IGEM competition, we have realized that many people may not be very familiar with the competition and the field of synthetic biology. So, the IGEM WeChat public account of Xi'an Jiaotong University was created to meet this end. We try to use simple and relevant knowledge to solve problems in life. In our WeChat public account, we not only introduce and promote the IGEM competition concept and our project, we also regularly post scientific articles in synthetic biology to gradually walk the public into life sciences.At present we have a total of 20 tweets, 171 followers, the highest click rate 304, total clicks 2526, average hits 126.

We respond to questions and comments in a timely manner in the public account. It has proven that this manner brings the public closer to science. This fits well with the IGEM concept of combining with public and practical issues.

In addition, we have email and twitter account to communicate with other schools. For example, we emailed the paris-evry 2017 team with our help in experimental design.

Energy Saving & Emission Reduction Competition

Our project is based on a directed evolution in D-psicose synthesis pathway. Compared to traditional chemical and biosynthesis methods, our method has the advantages of high yield, low energy consumption and low carbon emissions. By introducing the synthetic ideas of our projects, we fully demonstrated the superiority of our projects and the art of synthetic biology. . Eventually, we got the Excellence Award in the competition of energy conservation and emission reduction.

Help People in Need

Visiting the Jinqiu Nursing Home and Community

To make elderly people understand and benefit from our IGEM project, we visited Xi'an Jinqiu Nursing Home to explain them what a scientific and reasonable dieting is. We not only offered the warm companionship, but also helped them with a deeper understanding of the scientific and rational planning and eating life style. They might not able to understand the competition in the field of synthetic biology, but they could benefit from it. Our visit can solve some of the problems they are facing every day. From this perspective, our activities like this kind are even more important and meaningful.

Brochure about Scientific Diet

D-psicose is low in calorie, so its blood sugar lowering function is very meaningful. Diabetes has a high incidence among middle-aged and older people, so a small handbook was designed and printed out by our team. Here, ways for a scientific and healthy diet and precautions for diabetes are described in detail. The distribution of the manual gives people a better understanding of the importance of life sciences. The IGEM competition and our projects are far-reaching. We walked into the nursing home and brought elderly with concept of healthy living and dieting. We showed them our caring and received many expectations from them to our project. Our activities as such are meaningful, coming not only from the practical handbook, but also from the power of cutting-edge technology.

Summary

Public participation is very important given that the iGEM competition is a competition that was born to solve practical problems. We actively joined various communities to involve the public into our project. Social media like Wechat public account, Twitter, and public mailbox are constantly used to communicate with the public and other teams. We also conducted questionnaires for online and offline surveys. In addition, social practice of IGEM competition is including offering lectures on synthetic biology, visiting nursing homes, and handing out health manuals.

Copyright © 2018 XJTU-China iGEM Team. All rights reserved.