The Lund iGEM team made a purposeful effort to engage a broader range of people in conversation about synthetic biology, bee awareness, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and biotechnology this year. We accomplished this in a number of ways, such as weekly posts on our social media page on Instagram, multiple online discussions and presentations with other iGEM teams across the globe, conducting a general survey on GMOs and the public perception of the same and finally by writing a SynBio dictionary in collaboration with other iGEM teams. The number and diversity of people we were able to include in these discussions about synthetic biology as a result of our unique outreach activities were tremendous. We at Beecilli aim to expand scientific communication by engaging with people across the globe.
The ‘Synthetic Biology Handbook For Baby Labrats’, was a project conceptualized and co-authored by iGEM Lund along with iGEM GO Paris-Saclay. iGEM Chalmers-Gothenburg, iGEM Uppsala, iGEM Stockholm, and iGEM Aalto-Helsinki were additional contributors. We realized that the informal barrier to entry into this community is quite high due to technical terminology used on a regular basis. Therefore, we created a ‘Synthetic Biology Handbook For Baby Labrats’ dictionary to address this issue, as well as educate the public about synthetic biology. The concepts and terms introduced in the book are therefore tailored for reading by a wider audience. Ultimately, the book is intended to help new iGEM:mers within the iGEM community who are not formally educated in biology to have a better grasp of the technical terms they may encounter while beginning their journey. The handbook comprises simplified definitions generally used in synthetic biology. It also introduces readers to safety precautions followed universally in all laboratories that work on synthetic biology. Here is a digital version for free download. The book has been printed by us and is also available online through our wiki as a PDF as well as the InDesign file for further teams to contribute and adapt the First Edition to be a continually growing project. To build on the dictionary you're free to download the InDesign file. It's not licensed in any way so have fun!
.indd download for the syn-bio dictionary
PDF download for the syn-bio dictionary
We did a series of presentations with iGEM teams across the globe. This helped us connect with iGEM ASIJ_TOKYO and iGEM Waterloo. Herein teams would present and discuss their projects and ongoing progress on them.
We presented our project in front of company officials and other teams like iGEM DTU and iGEM Copenhagen to engage in a constructive scientific discussion and learn more about the company, Ampliqon. We also explored their state-of-the-art laboratories and got an insight into the commercial side of Synthetic Biology.
We used social media handles as a platform to showcase our journey to the jamboree and bridge the gap between the general public and our science communities. We tried to educate our audience on the importance of honey bees as pollinators by posting weekly fun facts on bees called ‘Bee-informed’. We also made use of our Instagram account to increase public outreach and connect with other iGEM teams. This helped us connect with iGEM ASIJ_TOKYO and iGEM Waterloo who participated in our presentation series wherein teams would present and discuss their projects and ongoing progress on them.
Furthermore, social media was crucial in organising and contacting teams iGEM GO Paris-Saclay and iGEM Chalmers-Gothenburg which helped contribute to making a SynBio Dictionary, a simplified dictionary that defines complex biological terms in simple plain English. We at Beecilli aimed to expand scientific communication by engaging with people across the globe and social media played a humongous role in achieving that aim.
Sustainability week is an annual event that was held in Lund in the first week of May 2022. It is focused on bringing new sustainable ideas to light and sharing them with the general public to raise awareness and inspire people to create a better future. Check it out here.
The aim of the workshop was to raise public understanding of bee decline and how it affects the human population in many aspects. One of the major takeaways from this presentation was to simplify the concept of synthetic biology for the general public. We also learned about the people’s concerns and how willing everyone can be to prevent bee decline. To make the workshop and discussions following the presentations more interactive we made seed bombs with the participants. This made us more familiar with local flora and helped us in our initiative to save bees by planting them!
The aim of the survey was to spread awareness about the extinction of bees and to have a better understanding of public opinion regarding our project.
The survey taught us that participants are worried about the welfare and preservation of honeybees in Sweden. People consider pesticide usage, together with climate change and habitat loss, to be the major threat to honeybees. The federal and provincial governments in Sweden should have the primary responsibility for the preservation of the wild native bee population. Moreover, it was interesting to learn that the participants are worried about the impacts of glyphosate on public health, as much as they are about its effects on insects and animals. People believe that GMOs are not particularly harmful and that, depending on the product, GMO goods can be regarded as environmentally safe, and numerous regional and international problems can be resolved by using GMO-based goods. People think that the EU's restrictions on glyphosate should be relaxed so it can be used. While most people are glad to consume items made from GM bees, others are a bit hesitant because they want proof that they are safe to use and want to take some safeguards. People are delighted to utilize our goods, as long as they don't affect the quality of the honey or the production of the crops. They may even opt to make their own insecticides instead of purchasing commercial ones.