Introduction

The notion that scientists are running experiments with genetically modified organisms in your city can be scary to hear. However, this sense of fear typically stems from a lack of understanding of genetically modified organisms and synthetic biology. To address this situation, we want to educate the public and people of Austin about synthetic biology, White Nose Syndrome (WNS), and how our research can help bat conservation efforts using synthetic biology. Currently, people have primarily heard of synthetic biology through the popularization of GMO foods, however, with modern-day scientific advances, the field of synthetic biology can be used for much more. To spread awareness about our project’s use of synthetic biology, we engaged in conversations with visitors at the bat bridge , were spotlighted by Austin’s local news channel KXAN, and starred on Texas A&M iGEM team’s podcast. Overall, we hope that we have shown the public that genetically modified organisms can be used to develop meaningful solutions for countless environmental problems.

Fig. 1. The Congress Avenue Bat Bridge.

Informing the Public

Austin’s Congress Avenue Bat Bridge is home to the largest urban bat population in North America, and it has become a staple of the city’s landscape. Every Friday evening, hundreds of Austin locals and tourists from across the nation gather around the bridge to watch as the bats set off for their nightly hunt. Seeing this as an opportunity to interact directly with the public, we condensed all the important information relating to our project into a pamphlet and visited the bat bridge with the intention of educating the general public about WNS and how our project aims to detect its presence using synthetic biology.

Fig. 2. ARROWE Pamphlet, made by Nate Brant, Adam Franco, and Neil Tian. The front of the pamphlet is pictured at the top, and the back at the bottom. To view in greater detail, click here for the front and here for the back.

On two separate occasions, we distributed our pamphlets to the public and explained the information to anyone willing to listen. We chose to hand out pamphlets because they provided an efficient avenue for presenting a concise overview of our project and WNS to our target audience in a condensed format. Initially, we highlighted the importance of bats to the environment and Austin’s culture in that our ice hockey team is known as the “Austin Ice Bats” and the mascot of our local community college is the “Riverbat”. Although the importance of bats in Austin’s culture wasn’t news for many of the observers we talked to, much to the public’s surprise, there exists a dangerous, fungal pathogen that threatens bat populations across the United States. This fungus, known as Pseudogymnoascans destructans , causes WNS in hibernating bats, which is characterized by white, itchy patches on the skin of their noses that leads to scratching. This scratching disturbs the bats' hibernation and depletes their fat reserves, leading to death [1].

After we touched on the importance of bats to Austin and provided a overview of WNS, members of the public openly expressed their concern for the bats, and were eager to hear about our proposed solution. First, we introduced them to the concept of synthetic biology, as many of our participants had never heard of it before, explaining it as an emerging field of science that utilizes the various capabilities of living organisms to solve current scientific issues. Following this, we explained how we are using synthetic biology to re-engineer a bacterium known as ADP1 to serve as a detector for WNS. To better contextualize what this means, we described our biosensor as a microscopic, forensic analyst that searches for P. destructans DNA in the environment and alerts us if the environmental DNA (eDNA) is present, suggesting the existence of WNS. Although our project does not develop a cure for WNS, faster detection of WNS in the environment can allow scientists to help contain and prevent its spread, saving the lives of many bats during the process. Regardless, many participants still vocalized that they would support our project being utilized to help save bat populations, and they all demonstrated interest in learning more about our use of synthetic biology and the final results of our research.

Educating Austin

Inspired and seeking a larger audience, we organized an interview with KXAN, one of the primary news sources for the Austin metropolitan area whose website receives almost five million visitors monthly [2]. One of the focal points of our segment was the danger that WNS poses to local bat populations. During our interview, we explained that WNS originated in Albany, NY in 2006, and has been confirmed in the Texas Hill Country region in 2020, presenting a threat to our local bats. Alarmingly, in North America alone, WNS has killed more than 6 million bats, even leading to the death of up to 90 percent of some bat colonies [3].

Having established the detrimental impact WNS could have on local bat populations, the interview pivoted to discussing how our research project could provide solutions. When asked about our research, we explained that our goal is to develop the bacterium ADP1 into a detector of P. destructans eDNA, the fungus that causes WNS. In the lab, we re-engineered ADP1 to serve as the chassis for our biosensor because it is a naturally competent organism that is capable of intaking DNA directly from the environment. Due to this, our biosensor is capable of producing a signal when the P. destructans eDNA is detected from the sample. In practice, our detection system involves taking various soil samples from the environment to our lab and using our detector to assess whether they contain the P. destructans eDNA that suggests the presence of WNS. Ultimately, we hope to use our findings to assist bat conservationists and researchers that are attempting to cure WNS by providing them with an additional mechanism that can be used to monitor the spread of WNS.

Fig. 3. Local News Interview. Blake DeVine, from KXAN-TV, interviews our team member Jeffrey Chuong about our mission to detect WNS. Click here to read KXAN article