We have studied many iGEM projects of past years, as well as knowledge on synthetic biology. During the implementation of our project, scientific education and communication activities on synthetic biology were conducted continuously.
Synthetic biology is a new field of biological research that integrates science and engineering. It is also a top-tier interdisciplinary field. It requires knowledge literacy in biology, engineering and other aspects, or at least a deep interest in these fields. Therefore, the requirements for the educators and communicators are relatively high. We chose graduates, undergraduates and senior high school students as the audience of our education and communication engagement.
Before our communication activities, some students were not very familiar with synthetic biology. Through these introduction activities, those students are full of interest and passion for it. Before and after the seminar, we sent questionnaires to the audience, and asked them about their acknowledgement on synthetic biology and iGEM, also about their comments on the brochures we sent them. According to the feedback of questionnaires we sent to attendees, more than 90% of them said they began to be interested in synthetic biology after the education and communication. And some planned to join the iGEM competition next year for their school’s first time.
Due to the epidemic situation, our communication with the Academy of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University was conducted in WeChat groups. We formed a WeChat group with some of the graduate students and their supervisors this May. We first had a three-day centralized communication in the WeChat group, and then kept in touch to exchange information about synthetic biology and the iGEM competition at any time, and also exchange the progress of both sides. We also sent them some brochures we made or cooperated with other iGEM teams as soon as the materials were ready. Through our introduction, they have decided to participate in the iGEM competition next year.
Together with Team NWU-CHINA-A, we held a science popularization meeting with students from Beijing No. 22 Middle School on Sep.29. At the meeting, the team members of NWU-CHINA-A introduced some basic knowledge and progress of synthetic biology to the students, and a member from our team, DKU_CHINA, mainly introduced excellent cases in iGEM competitions over the years. We also sent them some brochures we made or cooperated with other iGEM teams. Those vivid contents aroused great interest for the students. They hope that they will keep in touch with us in the future and also form a team to participate in the iGEM competition.
On Oct. 9, We went to the Kunshan Middle School and gave the popularization seminar to their international department students. We gave them a lecture about synthetic biology and some case studies on iGEM teams in the past years.
On Oct. 11, We had an online seminar with Beijing Xinfuxue Academy. Their teachers and students from International Track attended this education and communication activity. The seminar was extremely successful, and their teachers asked for many more materials from us, and are planning to add synthetic biology to their curriculum to lead their students to participate in iGEM next year.
During the session, we created numerous articles and manuals, and brochures, such that more people inside and outside of iGEM can learn more useful things.
We translated the English version of the brochure Sync -- a Window to the World of Synthetic Biology which was created by Team IISc-Bengaluru into a Chinese version for educational collaboration, and we distributed it around us. For example, we sent it to our universities’ students WeChat group, the WeChat group of our DKU students’ parents, we also distributed it to all the schools we cooperated for the activities of education and communication.
Sync -- 鸟瞰合成生物学世界
We wrote "A Quick Guide to 3D Modeling for iGEM" for the handbook "2022: An Instruction Handbook for New Teams" which was co-authored by many 2022 iGEM teams. We distributed to the ones in our education activities who said that they wanted to participate in iGEM. 2022: An Instruction
Handbook for New Teams
We participated in the Gut Alliance and wrote the article "Gut Flora and Heavy Metal Poisoning" for the Alliance brochure. We distributed it in our university and to the people around us.
Gut Alliance Brochure