On the afternoon of October 28 EST, the awarding ceremony of the 2018 International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM) was held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, USA. HZAU won the fifth gold medal out of 114 gold medals among the 343 teams registered for the competition.
iGEM is an international competition for undergraduate and post-graduate students in the field of synthetic biology. In 2018, IGEM attracted about 4,000 students from more than 70 countries. The participants are from world prestigious universities, including MIT, Harvard University, Yale University, Oxford University, Stanford University , Peking University, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University and so on.
2018 HZAU iGEM team was made up of almost 20 undergraduates from the College of Life Sciences & Technology, Informatics, Plant Sciences & Technology, Animal Sciences & Technology /Veterinary Medicine and Humanity & Law. The instructors included prof. Ma Bingguang, prof. He Jin, prof. Li Shan. The iGEM team designed the project titled“Pyroptosis: A New Approach to Cancer Therapy“. In this project, Salmonella displaying RGD motif was used to carry GSDMD-N275 protein to label αVβ3 on the surface of the targeted tumor cells. When Salmonella enters the cells, it can induce the expression of GSDMD-N275 to induce the pyroptosis of tumor cells, destroy the micro-environment of the tumors and expose cells to the supervision of the immune system. Then immune cells will attack cancer cells, ultimately achieving the goal of cancer treatment. Compared with traditional methods, this one has the advantages of reducing damages of normal cells and improving the effect of killing cancer cells. It provides a new idea for cancer immunotherapy.
In this competition, the iGEM team faced many difficulties. On the one hand, it was the first attempt for the iGEM team to conduct animal cell experiments; on the other hand, there were only few experienced members and most were novices. During the one-year preparation, the team worked together to overcome all difficulties. They conducted biological experiments and completed mathematical modeling by self-design, and established websites to popularize knowledge of cancer, bacterial therapy and synthetic biology.
Due to the heavy task, during the two months before the competition, the team implemented 24-hour shifting system to prepare all the materials required for the experiment. Finally, the team members managed to introduce the project background, experimental process and results, human practices and so on in English, and answered all the judges' questions. During the poster session, the team members received high praise when they introduced the project to judges from many countries.
The leader of iGEM team Zeng Yinqing said，" This competition enhanced our team spirit and organizing ability, and broadened our horizons. I hope that more students will join in this competition. "
The head of the college of Life Science & Technology said，"iGEM is a comprehensive international academic competition which receives long-term support from school and colleges and enjoys great popularity among students. It is of great significance to broaden students' international visions, cultivate students' innovation ability and team spirit, thus and enhance school's reputation across the world. In the past six years, HZAU has won five gold medals and a bronze medal, topping the list among universities in China. "

Source：http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2018/1030/52983.shtml
Translated by Li Shuhan
Supervised by Guo Haiyan