“There is no greater disability in society, than the inability to see a person as more”.

    -Robert M. Hensel

Making our project inclusive of all was our primary goal. We worked on the inclusion aspect of our project. Our team feels it was a privilege to have worked on this inclusion perspective throughout our journey and modulated our project to meet the goal. 

Adhering to the commitments, the team worked on various aspects to focus on this goal. The team planned various events and joined other teams to support the groups deprived of opportunities. We got many golden opportunities to connect with various organizations and experts on this journey. When things weren’t feasible for offline set-up, events were planned online to enable maximum participation and outreach.

OVERVIEW

Our ideas were given wings by constant interaction with Team iGEM IISER Tirupati 2021, whose timely and valuable inputs helped us understand why “Inclusiveness” must be incorporated at all times. Meeting with gynecologists helped us realize that PCOS as a syndrome is not only confined to ovary owners but also the trans-masculine spectrum. It was this realization that there is very minimalistic data about biomarker levels for this syndrome that includes everyone from this spectrum. Hence this situation, our developed kit would help conduct analytical research on the LGBTQIA+ community and develop systems inclusive of everyone.

Since not everyone is aware of this syndrome in our country, we tried our best to reach out to as many people as possible and make them aware of it.

Being students of a premier science institute in India, we always felt the need to eradicate the barriers that still exist in STEM. Hence, we conducted public events to bring out this thought and encourage everyone to bring equality in STEM.

iGEM journey is incomplete without constant inputs from the wet lab. However, there is so much need to understand how difficult it becomes for people with disabilities to access the labs. Our team made a conscious effort to work on this issue.

A DIAGNOSTIC KIT INCLUSIVE FOR ALL

Discussions with Dr Surbhi Singh and Dr Rasna Kishore helped us realise the prevalence of PCOS in the LGBTQIA+ community and that this syndrome is common irrespective of gender identity. It was then that the umbrella term “OVARY OWNERS” was emphasised to address everyone who could have or is suffering from the syndrome. The discussions with various iGEM teams also aided our discussions. Project analysis was done by meeting with various experts, whose in-depth knowledge of the current scenario and statistics about the syndrome helped us comprehend that our kit could also assist in conducting extensive research on various groups aiding the process of theranostics that could benefit everyone.

MAKING A DYSLEXIA-FRIENDLY BROCHURE 

“ Disability shouldn’t stand as a barrier in diagnosis.”

20% of the population is speculated to have dyslexia or associated symptoms. In a county as vast as India, 20% accounts for a considerable number.

In such a scenario, it becomes our duty to help people with dyslexia to become aware of the syndrome and make a kit that does not hinder in the process of diagnostics for this spectrum.

We constantly communicated with The Madras Dyslexia Association and Puducherry Dyslexia Association. Their constant inputs helped us develop a “Dyslexic-friendly brochure” that has been crafted keeping in mind the font style and other necessary details to make it dyslexic-friendly. 

The open sans font style and soothing colors for various sections were adapted.

Please find the poster linked

STRING SCIENCE WITH PRIDE

“ The pen is mightier than the sword.”

The team initiated the global penning movement "STRING SCIENCE WITH PRIDE" to motivate everyone to put forward their opinions on how STEM should be made accessible to all, specifically for the LGBTQIA+ community, who face social discrimination due to their sexual orientation and gender identity. The event witnessed active participation from everyone in the forms of poems, short stories, paintings and write-ups, which can be seen on our social media handles. 

We believe breaking the gender barrier in STEM would be a step ahead in bringing impactful research in the future.

We also communicated with HKU-CHINA, and the teams discussed how diagnosis and access to treatment become a problem for this community; setbacks faced by both countries while implementing laws regarding their rights to equality and freedom and advancements taking place to eradicate social barriers.

CELEBRATING WOMEN IN STEM

“Society needs to honour and respect the contributions of women.”

The team aimed to motivate, encourage and honour the contribution of women in STEM. 

The team created a poster series portraying the achievements of some of the most noticeable Indian women and their research, even after the amount of social stigma that existed at that time.

These posters were distributed, pasted and put on all our social handles.

WE-TALK SERIES

Team IISER Tirupati and IISER Thiruvananthapuram, IIT Roorkee, and IISER Berhampur organised a 3-day event, " We-Talk, "The objective of the series was to tackle the issues faced by women in terms of equality, health problems and bringing awareness on the various high-risk disorders that exist, which if not treated could lead to complications.