Participants during the SynBio Challenges 2023 in Guangming District.
SynBio Challenges 2023, organized by the synthetic biology branch of the China Society of Biotechnology, took place at Shenzhen Polytechnic University's Mingzhu campus (under development) in Guangming District on Aug. 5.
The competition aimed to provide a platform for young students to exchange, learn, innovate and create, nurturing the reserve forces for synthetic biology and life sciences. It attracted a total of 80 teams consisting of over 400 participants from 48 universities nationwide.
In his opening speech, Lin Xiang, vice chairman of the Shenzhen Association for Science and Technology, stated that the competition aimed to encourage young talents in the field of synthetic biology to explore the forefront of science and technology and break disciplinary boundaries.
The "HUST-China" team from Huazhong University of Science and Technology won the Innovation Competition Grand Prize.
The "AFMU-China" team from the Air Force Medical University of the People's Liberation Army won the Most Popular Award through online voting.
This is SynBio Challenges' second edition. In the first edition, all participating teams were from the Chinese mainland; however, this year, teams from Hong Kong and Macao are now included, according to Yi Xiao, secretary-general of the organizing committee and a researcher at the Shenzhen Advanced Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In the future, the organizing committee plans to invite international teams from around the world to participate in the competition in Shenzhen, leveraging the city's innovation vitality and entrepreneurial enthusiasm, Yi said.
Gu Daining, a student from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said, "This is my second time participating in the competition, and I am delighted to be able to come to Shenzhen and experience the on-site atmosphere. Here, I have met many outstanding fellow students, and we have discussed together and had the opportunity to seek advice directly from experts and scholars. Shenzhen is at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation, and face-to-face exchanges with experts have been of great help to our learning and research!"