2018 iGEM专栏序言

国际基因工程机器大赛(iGEM),作为一项以合成生物学为主题,集合了多种交叉学科的学生科研赛事,已成为了当今生物科研领域属于年轻人的最具活力和影响力的舞台。近年来,许多来自国内的大学和高中队伍不仅在比赛中取得了优异成绩,还做出了具有创新性的科研成果。为此,我们特组织出版了此iGEM专栏,集中报道近年来国内多支iGEM参赛队的研究工作,同时关注、探讨iGEM大赛在中国的发展情况和对大学生科研能力培养的启示。     

国际基因工程机器大赛在中国

合成生物学是一门新兴的交叉学科,为培养合成生物学后备人才,国际基因工程机器(iGEM)大赛应运而生。2007年中国首次有5支队伍参加iGEM大赛,至今已经有11年的历史。然而,目前尚无全面总结中国iGEM队伍的相关文献。文中全面梳理和总结了iGEM大赛在中国的发展历程,包括参赛队伍的数量、地理分布、竞赛成绩、中国iGEM社群CCiC的发展情况,以及iGEM大赛对中国高等教育的促进和借鉴作用,并深度思考了iGEM大赛在中国的发展前景,提出了发展建议。随着我国高等教育"双一流"战略的实施,iGEM大赛在我国的发展具有光明的前景,可为培养新一代科学家作出更大的贡献。     

国际基因工程机器竞赛热点赛道优势项目的评价分析

国际基因工程机器竞赛(iGEM)是合成生物学领域的国际顶级学术科技竞赛,因项目内容紧密结合科技前沿、广泛关注社会热点,且在学生创新创造能力培养方面具有独特优势,该项竞赛得到国内、外众多知名高校的关注和肯定.本文聚焦iGEM热点赛道,以获得最佳单项奖提名的优势项目为研究对象,从项目研究问题的实践价值、重要技术应用情况、验...     

国际基因工程机器大赛高中赛道发展概况

国际基因工程机器大赛(international genetically engineered machine competition,简称iGEM竞赛)是合成生物学国际顶级大学生学术竞赛。iGEM竞赛赛况及项目成果受到Science、Nature、Scientific American、The Economist、英国广播公司(BBC)等顶级学术期刊或国际媒体的关注,具有广泛的国际影响力。吸引了来自世界40多个国家和地区的队伍参赛。2011年起开始有高中队参赛,参赛队伍数量逐年增加,高中生日益成为推动iGEM竞赛及合成生物学发展的重要力量之一,iGEM竞赛也成为培养中学生核心素养的重要平台。基于2017–2021年全球高中队参赛情况,本文总结了高中队赛道规则、选题倾向及获奖情况,进一步分析iGEM竞赛对高中生核心素养培养的意义,探究全球高中参赛队伍的发展趋势,为未来高中参赛队伍建设提供理论参考。     

关于国际遗传工程机器大赛金奖项目的分析

国际遗传工程机器大赛(iGEM)是合成生物学领域顶尖水平的国际性学术竞赛。近年来,随着国内各高校参赛队伍的逐渐增多,iGEM引发了大众越来越多的关注与重视。选取2013—2017年5年间iGEM竞赛中的部分金奖项目,分别从湿实验、人力实践和维基3个角度切入,进行数据处理与统计,分析金奖项目优势,探究获得金奖的主要影响因素,以期为后续参赛队伍提供参考与指导。研究认为,参赛队伍湿实验部分应优先选择热点话题与热点技术,人力实践部分应与项目紧密融合,维基部分应兼具逻辑性与可视性,满足以上条件时,有利于项目取得良好的成绩。     

国际基因工程机器大赛中的生物资源宝库

国际基因工程机器大赛（international Genetically Engineered Machine competition, iGEM）是面向世界范围的大学生科技赛事,该比赛旨在推广合成生物学,各个参赛队伍通过使用原始元件和自己设计的新元件来构建新的生物系统,并在活细胞中表达,令其行使某种既定功能。每年的参赛队伍会设计许多新的生物元件（biological part）,其长期积累为生物系统的构建提供了便利与创新,其本质上也是生物资源不断丰富的体现。本文从生物资源的角度,重点阐述iGEM比赛生物元件库的发展、分类与特点,让更多人了解生物元件的特征,并在基因工程操作中参考使用,推动元件库的扩充与发展。     

合成生物学与国际遗传工程机器大赛对培养大学生双创思维与能力的影响

合成生物学是21世纪前沿交叉学科,是现代生物学最具发展空间的领域之一.随着合成生物学的迅速发展,国际基因工程机器大赛(International Genetically Engineered Machine,iGEM)应运而生.iGEM竞赛项目基于合成生物学学科基础,应用现代生物学技术手段,立足解决社区和身边的实际生物...     

将制作转基因斑马鱼的实验引入本科生基因工程实验课教学的探索与实践

转基因动物的制备是基因工程的核心技术与重要成果之一, 然而目前在国内高校本科生基因工程实验课中还未见开展制备转基因动物的报道。作者利用科研平台的优势, 将转基因斑马鱼的制作引入本科生基因工程实验课教学, 并对其教学模式进行了探索与实践, 取得了较好的成效, 具有较好的推广价值。     

以国际遗传工程机器大赛(iGEM)为载体培养大学生的科研创新能力

创新能力是科技发展的源动力,是一个民族进步的灵魂。21世纪的中国需要高素质的创新人才,而高等学校是培养人才,生产和传播新知识、新思想的重要基地。因此,如何加强大学生创新精神和创新能力的培养是我国高等教育的一大重要课题。国际遗传工程机器大赛(International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition,i GEM Competition)是合成生物学领域的顶级国际性学术竞赛,要求大学生能够用以合成生物学为核心的综合手段去解决科研和应用中的实际问题。i GEM竞赛过程非常注重对本科生的科研能力、团队协作、英语水平、沟通和表达技能的培养,从而吸引了全球顶尖高校和国内一流大学的积极参与。本文旨在通过对i GEM竞赛及2016年获奖情况进行分析,并结合第三军医大学i GEM代表队的参赛经历,探讨i GEM竞赛在培养大学生科研创新能力中的重要作用。     

大学生科研训练计划存在的问题及对策建议

大学生科研训练计划(SRTP)是针对在校本科生开展的科学研究训练项目,是在本科教育阶段实施实践教学改革的一项措施.在国外,美国的麻省理工学院鼓励和支持达到一定条件的本科生,参与教师的科学研究项目并且实施运行,这种将科研与教学相结合的培养过程,为学生的创新和开拓能力的施展提供了广阔的舞台.在国内,众多大学借鉴麻省理工学院,从1996年开始创建并实施SRTP.但是,目前,许多高校开展大学生科研训练计划的过程中存在较多问题,本文在计划开展大学生科研训练计划的实践中总结了学生对科研的认识、教师的指导及管理制度等存在的问题,提出了改革人才培养模式、提升教师人才培养能力等对策建议.     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.