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UHAS Synthetic Biology Seminar
2 August 2022
We held a seminar at UHAS to interact with students about the topic of synthetic biology, and the problems we are trying to address with it. It was only from our discussions with experts and industrial workers, that we learned that PET plastics are not recycled or degraded but rather they are exported to different countries. We found this is due to lack of equipment or methods to degrade the plastics. Illegal mining activities contribute to heavy metal pollution of our water bodies. We discovered from the local people that, after extracting the gold, excess water is needed to wash the gold hence, most illegal mining takes place around water body so that access to water will be easy. As a result of washing the gold, heavy metals such as lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium from the mining efflux are displaced in the water causing heavy metal toxicity. We discovered that, access to reagents for checking the presence of these metals is difficult for rural communities. We also discovered that, some community members residing near polluted water use this water their documestic use.
We held the seminar on 2nd of August 2022 on our campus and 114 students attended. Most of the students were in their 1st and 2nd year, but there were some in their 3rd and 4th year. Most of them were Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Students, and there were a few from Dietetics. We took worked with of the associations during the campus week celebration and decided to host a seminar on synthetic biology and briefly talk on our project. Most of the attendees have a background in biology, but very few of them actually knew what Synthetic Biology was. We spoke to them on how Synthetic Biology is being used to solve community problems and the various applications associated with it. This is the first time UHAS is participating in the iGEM competition and hence, Synthetic Biology wasn’t that well known.
During the seminar we discovered the interest of people in Synthetic Biology. Students wanted to know how organisms are engineered to help solve problems. One of the questions the students ask was "how safe are applied Synthetic Biology solutions?" That is when we talked about biosafety and guidelines needed to work using synthetic Biology approach. We also talked about iGEM and we discovered how the people were interested in it. And again it was their first time of hearing about iGEM.
We also talked to the people about our project. Some people raised concerns on how safe the Biosensor and Bioremediation are. That is when we told them about cell free systems, and how both the biosensor and bioremediation device dont use whole cells. We then discussed a few of the technical details of how our various devices work, and answered questions from the audience.
Bake Sale
27-28 August 2022
An opportunity for both fundraising and outreach, the bake sale that took place during the Edinburgh Fringe festival allowed us to spark conversation with tourists, Edinburgh locals, and University of Edinburgh students from varied degree backgrounds about what is synthetic biology (Figure 1).
We decided to take a rather traditional approach and organise a classic bake sale. Individuals would approach us to purchase a baked good, donate whatever they felt comfortable with donating, and then we would ask them if they knew about synthetic biology. This sparked a variety of interesting conversations. For privacy reasons, we didn’t take down anyone’s personal details, we just wanted to get an understanding of what people thought about synthetic biology and spark some conversation. We started off by asking people, “what are the first words that come to mind when you think of ‘Synthetic biology’?” the responses to which, were used to generate the word map below (Figure 2).
The majority of the participants were rather optimistic, emphasising its potential to save the world. Often individuals were very shocked once we explained to them our iGEM project and they were amazed by how synthetic biology could be world changing. Funnily enough, someone said “Synthetic biology” made them think about Elon Musk! There were also some individuals that were very sceptical about it, and with reason of course, as there is still so little, we know about the long-term impacts of genetic engineering. At this point in the conversation, we would then introduce the concept of cell free systems and some people made comments about it seeming quite magical and hard to believe that such a device that is cell free could still be so useful!
We found that most people’s negative views towards synthetic biology stem from GM crops and inorganic farming. This was quite interesting, as people automatically think that synthetic biology is exclusive to the products which you consume. Not many people know that synthetic biology can be applied to much more than just food. It was at these moments that we felt it was important to have sparked these conversations, as very few people are aware of the applications of synthetic biology. We as the iGEM team probably aren’t even fully aware of its potential impact!
It was very refreshing to have these conversations as it was very reflective for us as well, to really think about whether synthetic biology could potentially change the world and that there are so many global challenges we are yet to face, most of which we aren’t yet aware of. A lot of the obstacles won’t just be the technical difficulties of getting science to work, but also whether society is willing to accept such change.
GBU Seminar
16 September 2022
We were invited to speak in front of the MSc cohort of Gujarat Biotechnology University (GBU). Dr. Heather Barker presented about how to have an iGEM Team, and some of the projects past Edinburgh iGEM Teams have done. Maarten van den Ancker presented on this years iGEM project, talking about the holistic nature of an iGEM project and how it extends far outside the lab. We felt the GBU seminar was very useful, as we got the opportunity to present our project to people who had no idea what our project was, which helped in preparation for the presentations at the Grand Jamboree. We would like to thank Dr. Bart Pander for the opportunity to present in front of the GBU MSc cohort, and for the useful feedback.
Painting with Bacteria
16 September 2022
In light of Fresher’s week at the University of Edinburgh, we organised a “Painting with Bacteria” event in which students from all degrees and years were welcome to attend an introduction to synthetic biology (for beginners), followed by the opportunity to paint with E. coli! There were three different coloured strains (pink, yellow, purple) and these had been genetically modified as a way of putting the “synthetic biology into practice”. Diana (UoE) delivered the introductory talk, and this was followed by Dr. Annegret Honsbein who kindly led the “Painting with Bacteria” part of the event.
The event was sold out, with 52 registrations, most of which were from students completing Biological sciences degrees, but then we also had students from computer science, English language and literature, product design, textiles, and even sociology! It was an incredible turn out and was very inspiring to hear everyone’s enthusiasm for iGEM.
“I loved your talk so much; it made me want to switch my degree to biology!”
“Can I still do iGEM if I’m studying English Language & Literature?”
The Edinburgh Kilt Walk
18 September 2022
On the 18th of September 2022, The Edinburgh Kiltwalk took place. UoE saw this as a fundraising opportunity but also to speak to fellow Kiltwalkers raising money for other causes. Five of the UoE team members walked between 6, 13, and 21 miles to raise money for the PETALUTION iGEM project. Along the way, we spoke to 20 different walkers, casually interviewing them and sparking more conversations on synthetic biology.
- What brings you to participate in the Kilt walk today? What is your background?
- Have you ever heard about synthetic biology?
- Without thinking too much, what first comes to mind when you hear the words "synthetic biology"?
- Give brief overview of synthetic biology
- Cross-section of biology and engineering
- Taking inspiration from existing natural biological processes and designing/modifying biological systems to target specific (i.e. global/environmental) issues
- Acknowledge the controversy of GM… it's important to be critical, but also open-minded…
- Introduce our project: targeting PET plastic and heavy metal water pollution… etc. etc.
- What potential do you think synthetic biology has in the future for solving global problems?
Episode on the BioPOD Podcast
2 October 2022
The BioPOD Podcast is a PhD-run initiative and an opportunity to get a glimpse into all the exciting scientific research happening in the College of Science and Engineering. We reached out to the BioPOD team and they kindly agreed to host us on their podcast. Dev and Diana from UoE, and Charity from UHAS joined online and we all had a lovely chat with Louis Marlow, the Podcast host. It was a great opportunity for public engagement where we shared a bit about our project, the challenges encountered, and also any advice for future iGEM teams.
Listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or the University of Edinburgh Website!
