Beyond the lab, iGEM is a synthetic biology competition whose one major goal is to spread all around the world creativity and engineering possibilities that biology can offer to address and solve current problems. Education and public engagement embodies this policy and encourages us to share this knowledge to people by teaching, exchanging and engaging. To achieve this goal, we think Scientific and rational education and participation in communication are the best ways to raise people's awareness and let the public get close to science. That is what we tried to accomplish through different Science popularization activities and contributions.

Laboratory Open Day: Bacterial Painting

For our project we have a science camp on synthetic biology. One of the most interesting activities is Bacterial Painting. We used solid-state medium as the "paper" for painting, using heat-activated, IPTG-activated expression of RFP, GFP, and BFP as luminescent proteins. We also invited the school's professors to give a lecture on aseptic handling and microbes before the event began.

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.

In addition to this, we also had a remote interaction with TUST's IGEMers to promote team and team communication.

Teaching in Mawu Primary School

Mawu Primary School is a very common public elementary school in Xi'an with limited teaching resources. In order to give children a chance to get to the field of synthetic biology earlier, we volunteered to go there for a simple tutorial. We showed them bacteria in a way that was shown in a drawing and a model, letting them understand that small bacteria are a perfect small factory for a variety of tasks. In the classroom, they are eager to ask for knowledge and raise their hands frequently. We did achieve the purpose of our trip by answering questions and getting them to participate actively. In the communication with the children we taught them some simple biological knowledge, they taught us to expand our thinking, and we can make the road in IGEM wider and wider.

For this part，We received a total of 1121 questionnaires. Because the trend of diabetes is becoming younger and younger and young people are more adaptable to online questionnaires, most of the people we surveyed are young people. Such choices do not affect the accuracy of our findings, as older people's knowledge of diabetes and most of the prevention knowledge are derived from related young people. Young people are also more able to express their own subjective opinions in the survey, and are not affected by other non-professional speech.

After analysis, we found that everyone buys things subjectively without choosing sweeteners, and they all want their food to have sugar but energy is low enough. Although D-psicose is a kind of natural sugar, there are less person know this sugar. We know that D-psicose is a natural sugar with a sweetness of 70%-80% of sucrose but very low energy, which has a good effect on diabetes. So, when we ask, if D-psicose is added to the food, if you are willing to try, more than half of them choose to. We believe that the outlook for D-psicose in food will be very good.

1. 1. Here are some sweeteners, which one are you familiar with?

   

2. 2. Will you notice the sweetener marked on the package, when you buy food?

   

3. 3. Do you think the number of sweeteners is higher in cheaper food than that in the same kind?

   

4. 4. Here are some common foods, which one do you think have a lot of sweetener?

   

5. 5. Do you know any alternatives to white sugar?

   

6. 6. Would you like to buy some sugar with low energy and good taste to replace white sugar even though it is more expensive?

   

7. 7. Would you mind adding sweeteners to the food?

   

8. 8. Do you think sweeteners are harmful to us?

   

9. 9. Do you know the difference between real sugar and sugar substitute?

   

10. 10. Do you know whether sugar substitute can be added into food separately?

    

11. 11. Here are several possible reasons which cause sweetener harmful to us. Which are plausible?

    

12. 12. Here are some sugar and sweeteners, Which one can be eaten by diabetic patients?

    

13. 13. D-psicose is a nature sugar with low energy and good taste. Would you like to add it into your food or drink?