iGEM interview 

by Shanghai Family

iGEM成员Ella Xiao和Queenie Yang在iGEM团队载誉归来后接受了知名外文杂志Shanghai Family的采访，让我们共同感受一下未来科学届的动向。

iGEM team member representatives Ella Xiao and Queenie Yang are interviewed by a popular magazine Shanghai Family this week in Wanyuan Campus. 

Q1:请介绍一下你们的团队合作以及在过去一年中的里程碑？Can you tell me about your teams work and milestones over the past year?

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Ella：我们团队的研究致力于帮助环境可持续性的基因工程开发及设计。通过调查我们了解到微藻作为潜在原料可以帮助各国发展以可再生生物为基础的绿色经济。由于类似产业对于技术及财政的要求较高，对于产品的成本也很高。所以我们想，也许我们可以运用合成生物科技去解决这个问题，帮助提高有价值输出，最大程度的利用微藻生物质。

Ella：Our team’s research and development project explored genetic engineering and design can help environmental sustainability. We explored the role of microalgae as a potential feedstock for helping countries develop a bio renewable based green economy. We learned that due to both technical and financial hurdles this type of industry may not be economically feasible. We thought we could use synthetic biology to solve this problem by allowing industry to increase valuable output and utilize all constituents of the microalgae biomass.

Ella：经过大量的调查，我们决定利用自然共生关系–微藻和细菌间上千年的进化来提高生产量。所以，我们决定通过生产帮助增长的化学物来设计一种可以增加微藻量的细菌。

Ella：After much research, we decided to utilize the natural symbiotic relationship, forged by millennia of evolution, between microalgae and bacteria as a way to increase productivity. So, our final solution was to design and genetically engineer a strain of bacteria that would increase algae yields by producing growth enhancing chemicals.

Queenie：这个项目让我们有机会前往武汉大学及中国科学院与当地学生和科学家进行交流合作。通过实验，我们成功的设计了我们的细菌，并通过一系列的测试证明我们设计的大肠杆菌如我们预期的那样正常工作。此外，我们进行了大规模的跨国研究调查，了解工程和设计原理如何能在生命科学课堂中被运用。这个研究不仅可以提高人们对这一领域的认识，也为发展落实以技能为基础的下一代工程师、科学家的高中教育打下基础。

Queenie：Our project allowed us to visit and collaborate with students and scientists from Wuhan university and the Chinese Academy of Sciences which were exciting moments for us. Through wet lab work, we successfully engineered our bacteria and through various experimental assays proved our designed E. coli worked as intended. Additionally, we were able to perform a large-scale international study into how engineering and design principles can be used in life science classrooms. The aim of this study was to both start raising awareness for, and developing programs for, the implementation of skills-based education for the next generation of engineers and scientists in high schools.

Q2:参加类似iGEM的长期项目并和以科学及工程为专业的大学生竞赛是否让你们觉得不安？

How daunting for you was it to undertake this long-term project and compete against university science and engineering majors at the iGEM competition?

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Ella：当然我们感到非常荣幸能和所有顶尖大学的学子及教授共处一室进行角逐。但说实话我们并不害怕。首先，这是学校第二次参加这个比赛，去年学长们也取得了非常不错的成绩。所以今年，我们相信我们可以更进一步，把它做得更好。我们是为数不多获得特别奖的学校，所以我们更加感觉到我们是这个iGEM大家庭的一份子。

Ella：For sure, we feel very honored to be in the same room with, and compete against, all the university teams’ students and professors. However, to be honest, we are not really scared to be there. Firstly, our school was in the second year of doing this, and all the senior members of the team achieved quite amazing results. So, for this year, we believed we could take another step forward and make it even better. Thankfully, we were one of only a small number of schools that did win an award for our efforts, so we definitely felt as though we belong with this company in Boston.

Ella：另外，我们觉得对于还是高中生的我们，参加这样的活动更重要的是学习、展示我们对这个项目的热情。这是我们特有的优势。事实上，我们想要学习、接受挑战的心是最有价值的。我们接受这项工作不仅为了扩展我们的视野，更多的是出于对它的热爱。

Ella：Also, we think the point for us, the high school students, to participate in this event to learn and to show our passion instead of showing our expertise. Those are unique qualities and advantages we have. In fact, our proactive drive to learn and embrace challenges are the most important values. We take on this work for the aim of expanding our horizons and for the love of it.

Q3:你和你们的队员在这个项目中面临的最大挑战是什么？

What were the major challenges you and your team mates faced throughout the duration of the project?

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Queenie：   iGEM项目本身从各方面来说对我们就是一个挑战。所有参加比赛的同学在去年都只有10、11年级，当时我们才刚开始接触到这一领域的一些基础知识。我们的指导员Doyle老师和顾老师在知识和项目设计上帮助了我们许多。我们意识到在科学研究领域有那么多的挑战需要面对。甚至在开始试验前我们就被要求做许多困难的技术层面的决定，如：用什么系统来表达我们的基因？用什么质粒？等等。在试验设计环节我们每天都在担心我们的方法是否奏效？我们准备了Paln B，但每个环节用到的时间都比我们预计的要长。幸运的是，大部分情况下我们的方法都奏效了，我们成功的生长了我们自己设计的细胞，并在之后证明细胞如我们设计的那样“运作良好”。这10个月间我们从设计到展示自己的项目付出了许多努力，克服了重重挑战，也收获了最好的结果。

Queenie：Just doing the iGEM project is a challenge for all of us, every aspect. All of the students who participated in this competition were only in Grade 10 and 11 when we started and lacking many fundamental knowledge and skills. Our instructors Mr. Doyle and Mr. Gu helped us a lot with the content as well as project design. We learned that in scientific research there are many challenges one must face. Even before experiments we were required to make difficult technical decisions, such as: which system to use to express our genes? What plasmid to use? etc. During experiment design we worried everyday if our methods would work? We prepared a backup plan and things always seemed to take longer than planned. Fortunately, most of the methods worked for our gene cluster and we successfully grew our newly designed cell and later proved they work the way we designed them. The ten months we spent from initial design to presentation of our work were busy and full of challenges but finally they were extremely rewarding,

Q4:你们最大的收获是什么？什么最让你们感到骄傲？

On reflection what were your biggest achievements and what can you be most proud of?

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Ella：我们为自己感到自豪，不单单因为我们完成了一个长达10个月之久的，可以为合成基因产业做出贡献的优秀项目，也因为我们赢得了“最杰出教育公众拓展奖”。赢得这个这类奖项是任何一个iGEM团队所梦寐以求的。我们非常的感动，因为这一奖项涵盖了我们所有的努力，创意，谨慎的分析以及团队合作。

Ella：We are proud of our team not only because we complete a 10 month long well-constructed project which can be further built upon by the synthetic biology industry, but also, we won the “best education and public engagement award”. Winning one of these special awards is one of the biggest achievements an iGEM team could hope for. It was so pleasing for us because the work we did that leads us to achieve this goal was full of creativity, grit, careful analysis and team work.

Queenie：比赛评委将这一部分的项目描述为“模范性的”。我们很高兴看到这个领域的学习可以在麻省理工大学的Natalie Kuldell教授的指导下延续、发展下去。能够获得那么多合成生物及生物工程领域“巨头”的赞美和认可我们非常满足。这个比赛让我们意识到团队合作和奉献能将我们带到我们曾认为永远无法触及的地方。

Queenie：This portion of our project was described as “exemplary” by the judges and we are glad to see that this study can continue to have an impact through continued collaboration with Dr. Natalie Kuldell from MIT, whom was involved with our original design. There was great satisfaction to have the praise and recognition from so many giants of the synthetic biology and bioengineering fields. We learned that team work and dedication can take you places you never knew were possible.

17/12/2018School News