We live in an era characterised by constant change. In the past few years, technological and scientific innovations have altered our lives and societies. In this changing world, people develop feelings of insecurity and mistrust of the scientific community. Sharing science on social media means dealing with naysayers, but it also provides the opportunity to engage such people in thoughtful and productive science discussions. We believe it is crucial that people have faith in science, combined with critical thinking. The only key towards this is knowledge.

According to Eurobarometer only 19% of Greek people think that scientists spend sufficient time meeting the general public in order to explain their work. Also, 67% believe that science is so complicated and they can’t understand a lot about it (https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2237).

Our aim this year was to bring people closer to science through Synthetic Biology and the iGEM Competition. Keeping in mind that science relies on the public as much as the public relies on science, we really put great effort into participating in and organising as many science communication events as possible. We had the pleasure to meet and discuss with plenty of people with whom we share our enthusiasm for the fascinating world of Biology!

Through this process, we also gained knowledge as a team and as individuals. The most important thing we understood is that science communication is a conversation and not a monologue.




Biological Fairy Tale


Aiming to reach out to even younger target groups, we decided to edit an illustrated fairy tale for children between 3-7 years old. For this reason, we created an open-access online book, available for teachers and parents in two languages, both English and Greek. We sent our fairy tail to kindergarten teachers, and we were delighted to find out that it has been appealing for a large portion of kids. The plot is based on the way a cell functions, because its main pursuit is to introduce to little kids the magnificent world of cellular Biology. We attempted to underline the significance of coordination and cooperation not only in the frame of a cell, but also in real life. On top of everything else, we indicated in a playful and super simplified way the role and the location of DNA in the cell’s nucleus. Last but not least, we did our best to design representative, but at the same time, interactive and fun graphic illustrations.

Wanting to pilot check the response of the younger children to the book we have created, we visited the 128th kindergarten of Athens, after consultation with the office of primary education of the municipality of Athens and the cooperation of the school director. There, a member of our team read the text of the book to the kindergarten children and then gave them time to carefully observe the pictures in the book. It was the children's first exposure to concepts like DNA, the cell, radiation and more so we made sure to give the children as much time as they needed to explore the book and ask us questions. Their curiosity about this new world that was opening up to them through biology was so great that their response exceeded what we expected as a team.

After the children understood the concepts we presented to them, visualized them through the pictures of the book and listened carefully to the plot and similes we had created to make the content easier to digest, they wanted to draw what they understood. Images of their paintings can be seen below. As can be seen the children using their imaginations combined the new knowledge they received and created small "works of art" based on biology.

You can download "The fascinating factory of Mister DNAkis" in english and greek.

  • Target Group: Kindergarten’s Kids
  • Main Goal of the Action: Include the youngest possible target group in our vision for Education and Science Communication, prove that Biology can be accessible to everybody, underline the importance of visualisation in the best understanding of scientific terms, give a very first idea to these little children about the magical universe of Biology.


Our visit in the 128th kindergarten of Athens.



Visiting Anavryta Experimental Lyceum


On October 10 we visited Anavryta Experimental Lyceum, which was the school of one of our team members. During our visit we did an experimental workshop for 26 senior high school students that aim to continue with life sciences studies. Our workshop had three parts. First, we did a small presentation to introduce synthetic biology, the iGEM competition, past iGEM projects that really drew our attention when we first encountered the competition, our project and some basics about the CRISPR/Cas9 System and its applications. Since the school had a laboratory equipped to perform basic biology experiments, we decided for the students to perform in teams two experiments. The first one was transformation, which is a big part of the syllabus for the third grade of high school. We explained all the steps and then assisted the students to perform the experiment with the appropriate safety measures (Ethanol, Gloves, Chlorine Water). Students and their teachers were really thrilled to perform a real experiment of what is presented to them in books.

The second experimental procedure that we used was protein expression using a cell free system. This was a donation kit by minipcr BioBits®: Protein Structure and Function. Students learned how a cell free system works, how proteins with different sequence may have similar function, how a single mutation can affect the protein structure and what fluorescent proteins are. During the experiment, students had PCR tubes with cell lysate (cell free system) and the DNA sequence coding for three different versions of a fluorescent protein FP1,FP2,FP3 and water as the control. The goal of the lab was to find which protein is fluorescent under blue light, which is safer than UV radiation, which is used for the Green Fluorescent Protein (FP1). After adding the DNA to each tube, students had the opportunity to observe the result after 24 hours of the experiment our team had already performed the previous day. We hope that this workshop raised awareness regarding synthetic biology and enthusiasm in the field of biology. Special thanks to the teachers Ms. Stamatia Tzanopoulou and Mr. Anastasios Botsakos for giving us this opportunity.

  • Target Group: Senior High School Students
  • Main Goal of the Action: Give the opportunity to students to take a grasp of real life experiments and of the possibilities that Synthetic Biology has to offer. Also encourage them to take part in an iGEM team when they enter the University next year.




UNIque Days


UNIque Days was an event organised at the deanery’ s building of the National Technical University of Athens by UNIque Minds. Its main purpose was to bridge the gap between secondary school and tertiary education, by providing high school students with vocational guidance, by informing them of their academic options and by advising them to find out what they want to study. The event was particularly focused on giving those students information about studying at the different departments of NTUA, as well as about the extracurricular activities and teams they can join. Participating in UNIque days on May 7th 2022 gave us the chance to talk to young students and inspire them to follow their dreams.

  • Target Group: High School Students
  • Main Goal of the Action: We really wanted to emphasise the fact that university life is not just synonymous to attending classes and labs, but also to widen one’s mind by taking part in different sorts of groups and activities. In the end, we presented our project briefly, in order to hear their opinion and their questions.




Communicating iGEM, Synthetic Biology and our team



NGOs Fair


Towards this goal, it was a great pleasure to attend the NGOs’ Fair organised by BEST (Board of European Students of Technology) Athens, ESN (Erasmus Student Network) of the National Technical University of Athens and Mindspace. The event happened on the 1st and 2nd of March 2022. The first day, all the voluntary teams were presented briefly in an online environment. On the second day, we got to meet the participants during the live event at the deanery’s building of the National Technical University of Athens. Taking into account that the majority of NTUA students aren’t aware of the student associations, partners and services of their University, NGOs’ Fair gave them the opportunity to get to know the teams and the organisations that are active at their Student Institution. There, our team had its own stand to inform the young Technical students about our action in the field of Synthetic Biology and the tasks of an Engineer in an iGEM group.

  • Target Group: Technical University students
  • Main Goal of the Action: Something really significant to us was to underline the importance of indiscipline within an actual scientific team, as well as to transmit to those young people the message that higher education is not only related to the acquisition of sterile scientific knowledge, but also aims to broaden one’s mind and to cultivate multiple skills. One of the most outstanding ways to achieve this, is- without doubt- the participation in a student team and the follow up to its extracurricular activities.




Biochem Day


Another event we attended was Biochem day, powered by Chemecon. Chemecon is the first voluntary, non-profit Association of Young Chemical Engineers in Greece and is active at the National Technical University of Athens. It is an association with dynamic potential that wishes to contribute substantially to the connection of students with the subject of their studies. It constantly strives to identify and address the barriers that stand between Chemical Engineering students and their profession, bridging any possible gap. The goal of Biochem Day was to inform students and achieve the networking between companies and academia. The thematic axis of the conference is biotechnology, focusing on biotechnological products and the utilisation of biotechnology in industrial processes.

As a synthetic biology group, it was our pleasure to talk to students and not only, about the field of biotechnology. During the conference, we communicated the importance of the field of synthetic biology in industry and how through it an innovative approach to the production of biotechnological products can be achieved. In addition, we discussed with experts, researchers and students about problems to which synthetic biology can provide solutions such as for example the development of new production methods, methods of increasing the efficiency of already existing processes in the production process, etc.

Finally, having our own bench in the “research corner” we were able to communicate our project and how the system we designed is connected to biotechnology. Our biosensor was well received by the students who participated in the event, and we hope to have introduced new perspectives to the way synthetic biology is approached by them.

  • Target Group: Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology and Biology Students
  • Main Goal of the Action: Contribute in bridging the gap between academical studies and professional reality by presenting career options in the field of Synthetic Biology, receive important feedback and opinions on our project implementation both from experts and non-experts, meet professionals of different companies and discuss on the industry of “Synbio”, as well as the connection of this scientific field with other fields.




Biological Journalism


In September, the online Greek Student Journal “Foititikos Cosmos” (=Students’ world) hosted an article of ours in its online page. “Foititikos Cosmos'’ is an independent and cooperative initiative, created in 2018 by a few 18 years-old students. Today, after 4 years of operation and expansion, the page is regarded by hundreds of readers per day, especially students. The journal’s administratives and the editors opened up the chance to present the rapidly developing field of Synthetic Biology, highlighting how “Synbio” actively makes the world a better place and introduces the iGEM competition, our team and its connection with the Greek universities. For us, it was another opportunity to draw attention to the potentials of “Symbio”, its limitless applications and the gravity to support innovative efforts from ambitious young scientists.

  • Target Group: General public with emphasis on students of different Universities and scientific fields
  • Main Goal of the Action: Familiarise the non-Biology experts with the scientific area of “Synbio”, justify why it is a rising domain and get them to know the iGEM institution.




28th Scientific Congress of Hellenic Medical Students


The “Scientific Congress of Hellenic Medical Students” is an annual event which attracts more than 2000 students and 500 professors from all parts of Greece, as well as from abroad. It represents the vision of hellenic students to actively advance their learning and to cultivate and promote scientific and social values. The “Scientific Society of Hellenic Medical Students”, which organises this event, is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation of medical students with 7 Chapters, one in every Hellenic Medical School. This year the “Scientific Society of Hellenic Medical Students” (SSHMS) held the 28th “Scientific Congress of Hellenic Medical Students” (SCHMS) and the 16th “International Forum for Medical Students and Junior Doctors” which took place in Athens, Greece, from 13th-15th of May 2022, as well as virtually, thus adopting a hybrid format.

One of the sessions of this year’s Congress was dedicated to the Greek iGEM teams. It was programmed for the Saturday 14th of May 2022 and consisted of six iGEM teams’ presentations of 15 minutes each. At this part of the event, two members of our team displayed the main idea of our project and received questions and useful feedback. Apart from this, we attended the other teams’ project presentations, and we were inspired by what we learned about the initiatives for the iGEM competition from other local teams.

On May 15th the conference hosted our workshop on Genome Editing Design with CRISPR-Cas9 on Benchling Platform. The workshop included general information about the CRISPR-Cas9 system and bioinformatics evaluation guided RNAs (gRNAs), in order to effectively silence the ADE2 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One of our main intentions was to present the CRISPR-Cas9 technique interactively, that’s why we set our presentations as an in silico experiment. In the meanwhile, we helped the participants while working on the Benchling platform and afterwards we had a conversation on the CRISPR-Cas9 system and its applications.

  • Target Group: Medical Students
  • Main Goal of the Action: Our main pursuit -except of spreading scientific knowledge-, was to deliver a successful scientific presentation, socialise and exchange ideas, as well as inspire our audience to become more active about its learning and research.




18th European Pharmaceutical Students' Association Autumn Assembly 2022


Our team was very happy to accept the invitation of Greek Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation and European Pharmaceutical Students' Association to participate in the upcoming conference “18th EPSA Autumn Assembly 2022” scheduled to be held after the Jamboree at November, 05, 2022. There, we will present a workshop titled “Benchling: A cloud-based platform for biotech R&D and its applications in Pharmaceutical Science”. On this workshop, the participants will design a gene editing experiment with CRISPR-Cas9 technology, and they will learn about its basic principles and its applications. Also, they will create in silico recombinant plasmids with the Golden Gate Assembly, and they will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of this innovative cloning technique.

  • Target Group: Pharmacy Students as well as young scientists from all around Europe.
  • Main Goal of the Action: To inspire them to learn more about modern methods and techniques used in synthetic biology, but also to introduce them to the iGEM competition as it will be the period of team’s recruitment and team’s formation.



TEDxAthens


Every year, TEDxAthens creates unique gatherings and events designed to catalyse and stimulate creativity, entrepreneurship, social change and inclusion. TEDxAthens is a proud member of TED’s independently organised TEDx events program, and the first ever TEDx event in Greece, established in May 2009. It amplifies great ideas worth sharing and implementing to the world. To date, it has curated more than 200 talks from world-renowned thinkers, doers and innovators. These talks have been viewed more than 7 million times online. It is, by acclamation, the most impactful and influential platform for ideas in Greece and the wider Balkans region.TEDxAthens is a team of 70+ passionate volunteers, who believe in creating opportunities for change, by delivering high-quality content born from all aspects of life, through conferences, adventures and social projects, in order to educate, motivate, inspire and become catalysts of change both locally and internationally.

Taking into account the above data, our team couldn’t miss the chance to reach out to such a wide audience, so we were really thrilled when we got accepted to present an interactive workshop.

The event took place on May 28th at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and it was where we put our workshop into action. We chose to demonstrate “DNA extraction from a banana”, considering that DNA extraction constitutes the most common technique, used in Biological laboratories almost every day. Before the practical part, we made a brief introduction about the molecule of DNA, its properties and some relevant fun facts, in order to warm up our audience about what was about to follow. Then, each participant has on his disposal his own kit to execute the experiment. The demonstration of the process, as well as the provide of help were our two principal roles. In the meanwhile, we were glad to explain the order and the significance of each step for the final result. We did our best with a view to catching people’s attention on the experimental experience and to simplifying complicated terms and lab processes.

  • Target Group: General public, even people with weak academic background
  • Main Goal of the Action: Defy stereotypes around the world of DNA by sharing valid information and facts concerning the genomic material, get people in contact with the experimental process and especially with the practice of one of the most used lab techniques all around the world and introduce them to the fascinating universe of Synthetic Biology.




Social Media


Social media constitutes a fun and massive way to inform the public on scientific issues. Besides, in recent years this form of communication is gaining more and more popularity among all ages, so through them, we could spread awareness to a broad audience quickly and effectively. We were very surprised by the participation and the feedback we received - not only from students but also from the general public!

Fun fact series

We created a Fun fact series on Instagram and Facebook. Every week we posted from our accounts a story, containing a scientific fact that we found interesting or funny, with some additional information. We made sure to put the scientific facts forward in a simple and understandable way, with a view to them being conceived from everyone.

  • Target Group: General public
  • Main Goal of the Action: Take advantage of the tremendous impact of social media on increasing biosafety awareness, utilise mass media as a tool for popularising science, provide recipients with plenty of inputs in order to enlarge their scientific and personal research.




Biosafety Debate


Shortly before the closing date for the submission of the “Project Biosafety Form”, our team organised a debate on the topic of Biosafety open to the public. On June 17th our debate-event was hosted in the Lecture amphitheatre in the Medical School’s Library in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

We invited a Greek YouTube debate channel called “The debate podcast” to collaborate with our team on the event. Our duet joined forces to realise an educational event that aimed to raise awareness of the students, and future scientists on a vastly crucial matter that not only concerns the scientific community, but also the entire modern society. Furthermore, we invited rhetoric university clubs to present their action. The event was tailored to students from different fields, who were keen on contemporary biological issues. The main category of students who attended the event was Medical and Biology students, so we targeted students who will be working in actual labs in the near future.

After introducing the teams, we underlined Biosafety rules and levels, as well as genetically engineered organisms’ social impact. We put great effort in highlighting that the use of biosafety practices and principles to reduce the health-related risks associated with handling infectious agents, toxins and other biological hazards is more than important in a laboratory setting. Beside that, we explained how Biosafety levels (BSL) are used to identify the protective measures needed in every lab to protect workers, the environment, and the public.

It was then when we discussed the safety measures in projects from the past. In this part the interaction with our audience started. We were content enough to receive their thoughts and arguments on the subject.

In the framework of Integrated Human Practices, we presented our project to the audience and received feedback about the measures we need to take to ensure that our team complies with all the Biosafety rules. Except that, we were feeling curious to observe how unspecialised Biocomputing people perceive our project’s notion.

The night ended with a very interesting debate among three students on the theme: Is it safe to release genetically engineered microorganisms in nature? It was a great pleasure for us to have invited three remarkable and skilful speakers, who defended different points of views on the hot-table topic of GMOs.

  • Target Group: Mainly high education students
  • Main Goal of the Action: Introduce to potential future lab researchers the extreme significance of Biosafety and Biosecurity, receive feedback and questioning about our project, create awareness about the different biosafety levels, offer to our audience through a fruitful dialogue and an intense debate “food for thought”.




Yiannis Sarakatsanis Live show on YouTube


Aiming to bring the public into contact with Synthetic Biology, we participated in Yannis Sarakatsani’s live show on YouTube in front of an audience of about 600 people who were connected at the time of the show. Having preceded the integrated human practices discussion with Yiannis Sarakatsanis, we explained our project in a tangible and understandable way and answered questions put to us through the chat clarifying complex concepts of biology as well as genetic engineering. We used examples from everyday life, analogies, and metaphors. Also, we discussed the implementations that PERspectives could present, and invited them to tell us some of their daily life problems that could be applied. In addition, as Giannis is a comedian and actor, we approached the whole conversation in a more fun, relaxed, and enjoyable way. The public was excited about the world of Synthetic Biology, the possibilities it offers us as well as the capabilities of a biological system like ours.

However, keeping in mind that we were addressing the general public, we have taken care to make it clear that all of our experiments (including the organisms we use, techniques and parts) and our actions are in line with the competition guidelines, as well as with our university's biosecurity guidelines. After the aforementioned clarification, the audience asked us even more questions about what lab safety is all about and how we as scientists make sure our genetically modified bacteria don't escape from the lab or their intended purpose. At this point, we took care to devote enough time to answer their questions and to clarify some common misconceptions about the safety aspects of genetic engineering.

Furthermore, it is important to note that the video from the live show we participated in will remain on YouTube so that it will be approachable to all the subscribers of Yanni's channel (about 59 thousand people) and to the entire Greek YouTube community. Thus, synthetic biology will be accessible to anyone who wants to learn about it.

You can find our video here.

  • Target Group: General public, even people with weak academic background
  • Main Goal of the Action: To bring the public into contact with the basic concepts of synthetic biology, to answer their questions and to discuss concerns raised about it.




Researcher's Night


Researcher’s Night is a vibrant festival of research, technology and innovation that takes place every year on the last Friday of September in many cities across the European continent. In Athens, it is hosted by one of the oldest and most prominent university foundations of the country, the National and Technical University of Athens, and it attracts a large number of professionals from the educational field -teachers, professors, officials from the Ministry of Education- and, mostly, school and university students: children, teenagers and young adults aged 4 to 25.

Given its non-specialized audience that mainly consists of younger individuals, the central concept of this particular event is for researchers to share their work in a more creative and original manner (meaning primarily with live experiments and demonstrations), in order to give visitors the opportunity to gain a more hands-on perspective of their scientific activities. With that being the case, we perceived our participation in Researcher's Night as an invitation to expand on our Science Communication approaches by organizing a fun tribute to fundamental experimental procedures and biological subjects related to bioengineering, in order to show participants what it means to be involved in Synthetic Biology.

Our participation in Researcher’s Night


At Researcher’s Night, visitors could find four main exhibits on our bench.



TThe first exhibit was not materially present there, but was enthusiastically received by people who came to our small exhibition. In order to catch visitors’ attention, we had prepared solid cultures of bacteria producing chromoproteins and fluorescent proteins [1]. As we were concerned about carrying genetically modified bacteria outside the lab, we contacted the iGEM Safety and Security Committee by submitting a check-in form. They informed us that, due to safety reasons, we were not allowed to transfer the plates outside laboratory facilities, so we simply took photographs of them and displayed those instead. Many visitors, especially children, were very excited to see coloured dots popping out on the plates and asked us how the colour is synthesized and what other hues there are; a couple of curious young explorers asked us if they could eat the coloured bacteria too!

Our gallery of coloured bacteria photographs.


For our second exhibit, we drew inspiration from DIY Synthetic Biology videos on YouTube [2] and set up a simplified non-toxic electrophoresis assembly. As DNA gel electrophoresis comprises a basic laboratory technique that is vastly utilized for Synthetic Biology projects, we wanted people to get a good glimpse of the actual experiments we perform daily in the wet lab. To bring the electrophoresis process closer to the public without, of course, jeopardizing their safety, we used edible agar as a solidifying agent and food dyes lined up in a rainbow as our samples, both ingredients that can be found in many houses’ kitchens. For children to grasp the fundamental concept of electrophoresis, we told them that a race was happening inside the gel. ”Mice” (small molecules of food dye) were competing against “large dogs”(bigger food dye molecules) to reach the end of the track with the catch of having to pass through small "pet doors" (pores in the agarose gel). Children quickly realized that "mice" could pass through the little doors with no difficulty, having covered a longer course on the track in a specific time period compared to "large dogs", that had to “crouch and crawl” to go through the "pet doors", resulting in them appearing in the gel as a colourful lagging zone.

Food dyes are extremely useful visual indices, so we decided to further deploy them in order to showcase the separating nature of electrophoresis. Apart from the three primary colours, red, yellow and blue, we also run the three secondary ones that are produced from mixing the former in equal quantities, orange, green and purple. School students were evidently very intrigued by the colourful apparatus; some of them even kept returning to our bench every half hour to observe how much the coloured line had progressed since the last time they checked. The ones that stayed until the end of the event also had the opportunity to witness each of the three secondary colours having split into two relatively clear bands: red and yellow for orange, yellow and blue for green and red and blue for purple.

Concerning this specific experiment, we would like to point out that we were extremely cautious with visitors’ safety. The voltage our system operated on (~45V) was very low, thus incapable of harming anyone who touched our device. We even 3D-printed our own gel combs, to ensure that no one visiting our bench would come in contact with traces of toxic factors used in electrophoresis (you can find more about our 3D-printed gel combs in our Contribution page).

Our electrophoresis experiment with food dyes as samples.


Our third exhibit revolves around finding a playful way to show younger children the flow of the Central Dogma of Biology, alongside with the way cell-free systems work, both crucial to teaching Synthetic Biology. To render the learning experience more interactive, we crafted a bacterium out of a cylindrical pencil case and we placed the basic mechanism of protein expression inside it in the form of two small fabric cushions. With the help of those two toys, our "Pac-Man" RNA-polymerase and “upside-down mushroom" protein factory (the ribosome), as well as our printed and laminated DNA, mRNA, tRNA and protein, learning the Central Dogma became a game and children discovered how proteins are synthesized inside a cell, as well as how we "empty the tummy" of bacteria to collect all the tools necessary for protein production in order to build cell-free systems.

Teaching children the Central Dogma of Biology.


While designing and preparing this exhibit, the choice of colours and materials was proven to be one of the most significant aspects. In terms of colours and patterns, we opted for tones and shapes that are stimulating, cheerful, eye-catching and, subconsciously, welcoming and inviting; this is the reason why we selected vivid and warm tints, such as purplish magenta and a yellow-white checkered pattern, for all the props of our exhibition. Accordingly, a lot of thought was dedicated to selecting the appropriate materials; we decorated our pencil-case bacterium with heterochromatic googly eyes and satin ribbons for the flagella, as those materials are frequently used for children’s handcrafts. Another such material is pipe-cleaner wires, which are very flexible and, so we utilized them to introduce school students to the different levels of protein structure. Starting from their string-like condition that resembles an aminoacid chain (primary structure), we bent and twisted them (secondary structure), until we gave them a 3D sphere-like shape (tertiary structure), which as we explained to children, is a protein’s functional state. Finally, we chose scrap fabric for the RNA-polymerase and ribosome toys, which is a safe material that also serves as a sustainable solution. We even had our ribosome made velcro-detachable, as we thought it would help younger visitors better grasp how the two ribosomal subunits snap together to translate an mRNA molecule. We used velcro as a sticky surface for our ribosome, firstly, to avoid pointy metallic elements that could be dangerous to children and, secondly, because it is a material most children are familiar with.

The majority of materials and shapes described above were also chosen to engage the sense of touch. Since most of our exhibits integrated visual stimuli, we wanted to make sure to include visually impaired visitors too in our SynBio-inspired activities.

Props we crafted and utilized to talk to students about in vivo and cell-free protein expression: our pencil-case bacterium, the RNA-polymerase and ribosome toys (with the ribosome being velcro-detachable), our printed and laminated Central Dogma parts and the pipe-cleaner wires for displaying protein folding.


Our fourth and last exhibit has an interesting story, for it travelled from the other side of the Atlantic.

During the final weeks of August, as we were seeking new Education and Science Communication tools, we encountered the two following papers: “BioBits™ Bright: A fluorescent synthetic biology education kit” [3] and “BioBits™ Explorer: A modular synthetic biology education kit” [4], which, in turn, led us to the MiniPCRbio website [5] and the BioBits products [6]. We instantly fell in love with their kits and contacted one of the co-developers of the BioBits series, Dr. Ally Huang. She was very eager to help us and willingly donated to us two BioBits®: Protein Structure and Function kits [7] and two P51™ Molecular Fluorescence Viewers (the imaging system for the aforementioned kit) [8] for our upcoming Education and Science Communication endeavours.

Since we thought that the original protein engineering concept of the BioBits®: Protein Structure and Function kit would be too hard for our young audience to follow, we decided to focus on the demonstration of the different fluorescent proteins. After having lit up the imager and stated the fact that the glow in the little tubes is derived from a compound produced by a jellyfish, it was genuinely beautiful to witness the pure fascination and wonder in children’s eyes and hear them exclaim “A jellyfish? No way!”. And then, it was truly rewarding to have them gather round and explain to them how a blobby sea animal can “fit” inside a little tube through cell-free protein production systems, namely thanks to Synthetic Biology.

Showcasing fluorescent proteins produced with the BioBits®: Protein Structure and Function kit.


1. Moore, S.J., Lai, H.-E., Kelwick, R.J.R., Chee, S.M., Bell, D.J., Polizzi, K.M., Freemont, P.S., 2016. EcoFlex: A Multifunctional MoClo Kit for E. coli Synthetic Biology. ACS Synth. Biol. 5, 1059–1069. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.6b00031 [Accessed in June 2022] 2. https://youtu.be/NYLgCq0HiH4?t=147 [Accessed in March 2022] 3. Stark, J.C., Huang, A., Nguyen, P.Q., Dubner, R.S., Hsu, K.J., Ferrante, T.C., Anderson, M., Kanapskyte, A., Mucha, Q., Packett, J.S., Patel, P., Patel, R., Qaq, D., Zondor, T., Burke, J., Martinez, T., Miller-Berry, A., Puppala, A., Reichert, K., Schmid, M., Brand, L., Hill, L.R., Chellaswamy, J.F., Faheem, N., Fetherling, S., Gong, E., Gonzalzles, E.M., Granito, T., Koritsaris, J., Nguyen, B., Ottman, S., Palffy, C., Patel, A., Skweres, S., Slaton, A., Woods, T., Donghia, N., Pardee, K., Collins, J.J., Jewett, M.C., 2018. BioBitsTM Bright: A fluorescent synthetic biology education kit. Sci. Adv. 4, eaat5107. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat5107 [Accessed in August 2022] 4. Huang, A., Nguyen, P.Q., Stark, J.C., Takahashi, M.K., Donghia, N., Ferrante, T., Dy, A.J., Hsu, K.J., Dubner, R.S., Pardee, K., Jewett, M.C., Collins, J.J., 2018. BioBitsTM Explorer: A modular synthetic biology education kit. Sci. Adv. 4, eaat5105. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat5105 [Accessed in August 2022] 5. https://www.minipcr.com/ [Accessed in August 2022] 6. https://www.mybiobits.org/ [Accessed in August 2022] 7. https://www.minipcr.com/product/biobits-structure-function/ [Accessed in August 2022] 8. https://www.minipcr.com/product/p51-molecular-glow-lab/ [Accessed in August 2022]
  • Target Group: Mostly students aged 4 to 18, but also university students and stakeholders from the educational domain.
  • Main Goal of the Action: Use live experiments and demonstrations to introduce younger audiences to basic academic concepts and laboratory procedures of Synthetic Biology.





The Impact From Us


Going through the third decade of the 21st century, it is more than obvious that science has become an increasingly complex and expensive industry, while society is considered as a “customer” and “sponsor” of research. Fighting against this unpropitious reality, our team went to great lengths to establish a genuine science communication, reaching out to the widest public we could. We truly believe that making science understandable to the world can remove the existing disorientation in society and bring confidence in the future. Therefore, science simply must be open, understandable, and accessible to the masses, rather than hiding behind the doors of offices and university auditoriums. Effective communication and a wide scale of educational backgrounds is central to attacking the problems that so drastically affect science with regard to diversity and inclusion. Without effective communication, gatekeeping will persist, and barriers will continue to exclude people from understanding science. Specially, young science representatives bear the responsibility of emphasising these essentials across the community. In synopsis, we managed to target many age groups, as well as people with totally different levels of education and specialisation. From kindergarten kids to middle-aged people, from those with weak academic backgrounds to students of higher education, all were included and considered as important target groups.

We provided not only theoretical education, but also practical, insisting on the development of some important skills. Additionally, passing on the values of cooperation, honesty and respect while working on a scientific project constituted one of our principal goals.



The Impact On Us


Initially, we were proud to accomplish a mission for doing our duty as the new scientific generation and serve The Principle of Freedom and Responsibility in Science. This principle refers to the unimpeded and responsible practice of scientific methods, which are fundamental to advancement in the field, human and environmental well-being. Scientists are responsible for conducting and communicating scientific work with integrity, respect, fairness, trustworthiness and transparency, and for considering the consequences of new knowledge and their application. This was exactly our direction.

Apart from this, undoubtedly we received valuable and indispensable feedback on our innovation. We created a huge opportunity to meet a vast amount of people with mixed backgrounds, sparking productive dialogue. Moreover, we were able to introduce our team and the whole philosophy of iGEM competition in numerous categories of folks.

Human Practices from the side of Education and Science Communication have been, without any doubt, one of our priorities for this year’s participation. We feel more than grateful for the ethical and moral reward of our action in this domain.