HK pupils land a winner with black soldier fly bandages

Eunice Lam

A team of 40 Hong Kong students from five secondary schools snatched gold in the International Genetically Engineered Machine awards in Paris with their invention of biodegradable bandages.

The students used transgenic modification to transfer the genes of black soldier flies into Escherichia coli to generate antimicrobial properties for the inner layer of the bandage, and used the shell of the flies to create the outer layer of the bandage.

By doing so, the bandage is antibacterial and could be completely biodegraded in seven weeks.

The iGEM competition is an annual worldwide synthetic biology competition held by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States since 2003.

It was initially aimed at undergraduate university students but has since expanded to include other divisions including high school students.

The HK-Joint-School team consisted of pupils from Baptist Lui Ming Choi Secondary School in Sha Tin, Kowloon True Light School in Kowloon Tong, Carmel Pak U Secondary School in Tai Po, Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College, and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Mrs Wu York Yu Memorial College in Kwai Chung.

Their team won the gold award among 400 competing teams of over 7,000 participants from 44 countries earlier this month. The bandage was also nominated for the Best Sustainable Development Project award.

Team members said they read more than 40 essays as this was their first time experimenting with biotechnology.

A secondary six student, Chow Pui-yin, from Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Mrs Wu York Yu Memorial College, said the team also took reference from different statistics and previous experiments.

Chow said the bandage adopted a double-layer design, including a water-proof outer layer, and an inner layer containing Cathelicidin, which can be completely degraded in seven weeks.

A secondary five schoolgirl, Lai Sheung-yu, from Kowloon True Light School, who was responsible for the bandage's mathematical model, recalled that they started inventing the bandage in July.

The team also promoted biotechnology and environmental protection by giving out leaflets and organizing workshops in primary schools.

Lau Ho-laam, a secondary five schoolboy at Baptist Lui Ming Choi Secondary School, said that by doing promotions in the community, they hoped to change people's mindset about the use of the black soldier fly bandage.

"People did not dare use the bandage, as they thought insects are dirty," Lau said.

He was surprised by the gold award, adding that he hoped to pursue studies in biotechnology or science-related programs at university in the future.

"I had never learned about biotechnology before. It was my first time to try out advanced-level experiments."

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com