Overview of BioCraft

Where We Pass on Our Passions

As Bertrand Russell has put it, three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed our life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. And in like manner, we put our heart and soul into the field of Synthetic Biology.

We have sought love, first, through the interactions between teammates, through the countless nights and weekends we spent together in the library and laboratory. With equal passion we have sought knowledge. We have tried to apprehend the genetic power by which DNA holds sway above expression and what people can do about it, via literature searching, brainstorming, experimental design and modeling.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens, but always pity brought us back to earth. The more we learn, the more echoes of cries of pain reverberate in our heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by illness and the whole world of energy shortage, make a mockery of what human life should be. We long to alleviate this evil by means of what we master, the power of science.

This is how we feel about iGEM and Synthetic Biology. We have found it worth experiencing, and would gladly pass on the passions to others. Hence the comprehensive academic community BioCraft emerges at a historic moment.

Who We Are and What We Believe

If anyone asks, we would refer to ourselves as a bunch of craftsmen in white uniforms and the laboratory is our manual workshop where amazing happens. Simply speaking, we use DNA sequences of defined structure and function as standard parts, which will be assembled to create multifarious devices. Thus, the prefix “Bio” has been labeled in our name.

Synthetic Biology is a new biological area of research and technology, adding a new dimension to biotechnological revolution. Its broad application prospect excites everybody, including better availability of vaccine and new medicine, sustainable energy source made from reproducible materials, bioremediation and biosensors to detect toxic chemicals.

What people have now achieved may just cover a diminutive piece of the big picture. But little by little, we believe, we can make it happen.

What We Do

We inform people, but most of the time, we impress people.

The activities we have successfully held fall into the following categories:

College View

During the vacation, we held a summer program in Xuhui Campus of SJTU for high school students. This human practice project named “College View” was aimed at giving a preview of the colorful college life and spreading knowledge of Synthetic Biology to the juniors. The introduction of iGEM competition is also included in the process and we encouraged the intrigued students to participate in the next year’s iGEM HS division.

Edutainment on Campus

Synthetic Biology is never a traditional discipline and we do not want to spread the knowledge in a traditional way. During the semester, we managed to spread the knowledge of Synthetic Biology to the students of biological or non-biological majors in SJTU, through a series of activities, both educational and enjoyable.

Research as Public Good

One ideological concept is that we use what we learn to help those in need. We have obtained support from the famous charitable organization HuaQiao Foundation for long-term joint effort in social service. We also interviewed the chairman of HQF, Mr. Frank Yih and he gave us really valuable suggestions for future direction.