Overview
The Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean all encircle the Indian subcontinent to its east, west, and south, respectively. For this reason, India is a peninsular country, and fish has become a constituent of the staple diet in most parts of the subcontinent. The field of synthetic biology is relatively new in science and engineering. This novel science faces problems concerning regulation, social acceptance, and ethics. Through the months, our approach involved various communities in the conversation about the field and its applications. Our team tried to appeal to a wide range of people, including the elderly and the young. Furthermore, we focused on building cognisance about vibriosis and AMPifin. For our range of interactions, we were fortunate enough to connect with a few schools, communities and universities in and around the Indian states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana.
We created and used educational, outreach, and science communication-based material on synthetic biology. As part of this, we expounded and discussed the rudimentary aspects of synthetic biology and iGEM to various target audiences through our interactions with the working class population, undergraduate, high school, middle school, and differently-abled students. To do so, we modified our materials according to every group’s capabilities and prepared different activities for them. We spoke to them about other aspects of molecular biology, synthetic biology and our project.
Orientations and Activities
India’s educational course structure primarily focuses on theoretical and computational learning. Due to this, pure science courses are sidelined. Through our education and communication, our objective was to introduce new topics to these school students and help them pursue more interests and career opportunities than common topics. To do this, we decided to approach students of different age groups and in various schools.
Amalgamating Biology and Engineering
According to the current Indian curriculum, higher secondary students are split into different branches—science with biology, science without biology, commerce, and humanities. Consequently, senior secondary is the age at which students need to choose their probable majors for university, and it is an important year for them. Other than the mainstream courses, we wanted to introduce them to the versatile field of biology and engineering.
On July 9th 2022, we visited Shantiniketan School, where we elucidated the integration of biology in engineering. to over two hundred students. Since our session was focused on secondary students, the orientation began with an introduction to molecular biology and genetics. This included some basic concepts on genes, nucleotides and, eventually, the different codons and their functions. After explaining the basics of synthetic biology, we moved our focus toward AMPifin and its applications. The session concluded with a small activity using the codon chart. The students were given a few random sequences to decipher using the codon chart to solve a mystery. Everyone took part in this with great enthusiasm!
In the following days, many teachers and students approached our team members about the contents of our presentation with numerous different follow-up questions. They shared snapshots of the event through their platforms to help engage their readers on the activities of our session.
Synthetic Biology, an Oxymoron?
On 19th July 2022, we visited CHIREC International School to educate higher secondary students on the various career opportunities synthetic biology and genetic engineering hold.
We interacted with over sixty students whose coursework was a mix of biology and science-based subjects. These students were enthusiastic about learning the applications of engineering biology and its amalgamation with synthetic biology. Since biology is mostly associated with all things natural, the concept of synthetic biology seemed quite contradictory to the students at first. We started by speaking about “the amazing genetic code”, and then spoke about the central dogma and its applications in engineering biology. Moreover, we explained the Design–Build–Test–Learn (DBTL) cycle approach through simple examples.
Following this, we spoke about the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition and how students their age can take part through various simple ideas that focus on local problems. The students were exceedingly interested in AMPifin and asked our members numerous questions about our project iterations. They were also interested in the career prospects of synthetic biology and biotechnology. Furthermore, we conducted a short codon-chart-based activity that the students took part in with great interest!
Some of the educators approached us to understand how they could guide their students towards new and upcoming fields in biology and engineering. The head of department of biotechnology even approached us a few days later to know more about how they could enroll CHIREC as an iGEM high school team!
School of Synthetic Biology
Madhav Kripa is a school that is located near our college premises. Being surrounded by several colleges, we felt it would be beneficial to introduce its students to the diversified courses available in biology and engineering for higher studies. We decided to have an orientation on 7th October 2022 with the secondary school students and educate them on the concepts of synthetic biology and foldscope design.
Adding on to our previous educational initiatives, we began the session by teaching some basic molecular and synthetic biology concepts. We enlightened the learners on genes, nucleotides, codons and their functions. Furthermore, we introduced them to the history and timeline of synthetic biology—chemistry, biology, synthetic chemistry, and synthetic biology. Our team also spoke to them about synthetic biology's various applications, including diagnostics, therapeutics, agriculture, industry, energy, and bioremediation. After this, we distributed AMPifin’s DIY comic strip to the students there and asked them what they inferred from it. Many of them observed what we tried to communicate, and their answers were in tandem with AMPifin’s problem statement.
After we explained our project to them, we spoke about a foldscope microscope. We showed them a foldscope microscope and how it works. The students were enthusiastic and responded well to our questions and the session. After the session, a few of them asked us how they could learn more synthetic biology and genetic engineering concepts. Furthermore, the educators and administrators at the school wanted us to conduct more such sessions for the students. Our team decided to make it a regular activity after our iGEM season.
High school science majors often face confusion between choosing engineering or biological sciences. This is the point when biology and engineering frequently diverge, with one being seen as wholly exclusive. Through our visits, we helped instil awareness of the potential for combining biology and technology or the extent of this field. Furthermore, by interacting with a wider demographic, we brought cognisance to synthetic biology, its applications, and the opportunities it holds.
Synthetic Biology for Everyone
On many occasions, the differently-abled are excluded from the fields of science and technology. We believe that science is for everyone. To bring fruition to our beliefs, we decided to visit a rehabilitation centre and interact with the members at their home.
On September 29th 2022, our team visited the Asare Rehabilitation Centre—a home for the differently-abled. We began with a brief introduction to iGEM MIT_MAHE, and were introduced to the members at the home. To understand and interact with them in a better way, we engaged them in a musical performance. After this, we proceeded to enact a skit that explained our project idea to them. Here, we held placards to signify the key aspects of AMPifin—fish, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the MAM7 protein, a peptide, and chitosan nanoparticles. Through our skit, which was performed in their local language—i.e., Kannada, we were able to bring an understanding of AMPifin and synthetic biology. Following the skit, we organised a colouring activity based on assorted cliparts of fish. Through this visit, we understood that there are no barriers to understanding science, and their enthusiasm toward our initiative was enlivening!
Synthetic Biology for Everyone—the Working-Class Audience
On September 18th 2022, we conducted an online webinar for the working-class members. These individuals, currently in their 35–60 year age group are the working-class representatives of the society, and therefore, we decided to hold a webinar that included the basics of synthetic biology and AMPifin. The attendees were from various fields and backgrounds, of which, approximately 25% were well-versed in biotechnology and its principles. Our audience pool consisted of engineers, professors, chartered accountants, nurses, business people, scientists, teachers, to name a few.
In spite of their expertise barrier, they listened to our idea with rapt attention. Throughout the presentation, they asked us questions on concepts that they were unfamiliar with. During the question and answer session, they asked us questions on topics that we hadn't previously considered. They encouraged us to continue our work post-iGEM, and improve on our current idea. This pushed us to discuss our future implementation and amalgamate our design with a commercially-viable solution. At the end of this meeting, all the members built an inquisitiveness toward synthetic biology and its applications. Furthermore, their various areas of expertise helped us build a certain holisticity to AMPifin.
Local People Solving Local Problems
To educate university students on synthetic biology and AMPifin, our team decided to hold an interactive and educational session in our university about biology and its relevance in engineering.
The session consisted of two phases. During the first phase of this session, we spoke to them about biology and how it is integrated into engineering. We explained synthetic biology and iGEM. We then spoke to them about iGEM, and in tandem with that, we introduced them to AMPifin. At the end of this session, we split the attendees into groups and asked them to generate their own problem statements. We explained that the solution to their chosen problem need not be perfect; however, it should reflect on the concept of local problems and effective synthetic biology-based solutions to them.
A week later, we conducted the second phase of this session. Every team came up with unique and interesting problem statements. They presented their projects in exciting ways and were able to answer the audience’s questions. Their ideas brought in a versatile approach to solving local problems. By spreading the idea behind iGEM and synthetic biology, we aimed to inspire young scientists to address pressing issues. The students underwent a month-long training session that covered the fundamentals of synthetic biology before we asked them to string together project ideas. The initiative brought in an exhaustive understanding of the various aspects involved in picking a problem statement, understanding its impact, and generating cohesive solutions to them.
The teams worked on simple solutions to their chosen problem statements. iGEM MIT_MAHE mentored them through the process, and ensured to interact with them at every stage of their work. Listed below are their problem statements
- Reducing the thermal heat transfer that takes place in the air conditioning system which excessively contributes to global warming.
- Improving the viability of PGPRs in ginger fields and alleviate the need for harmful chemical fertilisers.
- Blocking the docking of Plasmodium vivax on Reticulocytes.
- Addressing the issue of microplastic accumulation by using PETase enzyme from Bacillus subtilis.
Workshops
Biology and Experimental Learning
A student’s interests develop at a young age. Therefore, it is important to expose the younger generation to the new fields in science and communication. We believe that this would help them build an interest in STEM-based subjects at a younger age, and understand science as a broad subject of study, too. For this reason, we decided to go to an elementary and middle school.
We visited the Prajna English Medium School on 11th October 2022. Our team had the opportunity to interact with students of a wide age group band, including elementary, primary, and secondary school children. For the forty students, we began with a small introduction of our team members to the students, and proceeded to talk about basic biology and its integration with engineering. Furthermore, we distributed our DIY comic strip and explained our project idea to the students through the snippets of the comic.
We invited Ms. Shyamala S Kunder, a member of the National Commission for Women, to emphasise the importance of educating young children, paving the way to enhance the literacy rate of our country.
The students were able to understand our project in simple terms through the comic strips. They were reciprocative during the presentation and understood the importance of sustainable solutions in all aspects of life. Being young students, they also gained familiarity with new terms that they would come across after a few years. Furthermore, the teachers were keen on understanding AMPifin and explaining it to the students.
Microscope Workshop
The school we visited did not have access to microscopes or lab equipment. Therefore, we decided to introduce the school's students to basic lab equipment and their usage. To do this, we decided to hold a workshop on microscopes and basic visualisation using them. As part of the workshop, we explained to them the building of a microscope and their various applications in viewing organisms. Then, we helped them analyse samples of moss, cheek swabs, bacteria from a water body, and red blood cells. The students were thoroughly immersed in the activity, and participated with great enthusiasm. Through their observations, they deciphered the differences between the various cell structures and their functions.
Swab Testing Workshop
Through this workshop, we wanted to show the students the importance of hygiene practices and the amounts of germs that reside on their hands. We also wanted to give them a representation of how these germs appear on a microscopic level. The second activity we planned for them was a swab test of their palms. Before we started this activity, we spoke to these students about the importance of washing hands thoroughly, especially in recent times owing to the pandemic. For this, we took a few swab samples from their palm. After this, we asked the students to wash their hands using soap and hand sanitiser. We took their samples after this. Then, we took these samples back to our university, where we tested the samples and communicated with the school teachers about the results we received. This was done to teach the students about the importance of washing their hands and following good personal hygiene practices. The students responded positively to our session and learnt about simple tests that can be performed. The aforementioned workshops have been elaborated on via the attachment below:
Overview
It is true that comprehending scientific advancements is more significant than learning about the opportunities they open up. Synthetic biology is not an exception to this; without acceptance of the changes it brings, advancement would be meaningless. This was our attempt at communicating our vision and values to diverse audiences through different teaching methods.
Webinars
Waterborne Pathogens
In collaboration with Queen’s iGEM, we hosted a webinar on waterborne pathogens. Since our project, AMPifin, is associated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus, we wanted to spread awareness on various bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens that live in water. Our speakers—Dr. Mamatha Ballal and Dr. Cecilia Gimenez—both extremely proficient academicians in their respective fields, set the stage by discussing infectious diseases, waterborne pathogens, and the importance of clean water across all localities. The webinar saw over sixty attendees from across the regions of Canada and India, including university students and scholars. Furthermore, in the Question and Answer portion of the seminar, the audience picked up engaging discussion points. They asked the speakers about their work, and interlinked these aspects with the webinar’s topic. Furthermore, they were inquisitive about the various methods of detection of these pathogens, and the speakers elaborated on all aspects of the questions. To know more about the webinars, check our Collaboration page!
Entrepreneurship in Bioremediation and Aquaculture
In collaboration with Queen’s iGEM, we hosted a talk on the different synthetic-biology-based entrepreneurial techniques in bioremediation and aquaculture. Sandra Dworatzek, a principal scientist at SiREM Canada, discussed her current outline of work in the field. The webinar saw over thirty attendees from across the regions of Canada and India, including university students and scholars. She elaborated on how the various techniques can be integrated through aspects like entrepreneurship and product development with iGEM teams like ours. Furthermore, in the Question and Answer portion of the seminar, the audience picked up engaging discussion points. They asked the speaker about their work, and interlinked these aspects with the webinar's topic.
To know more about this webinar, view our Collaboration page!
Biosafety in Synthetic Biology
To communicate with a wider audience on the importance of biosafety in synthetic biology we hosted a webinar in partnership with iGEM IISER Pune II. This webinar aimed to make the general audience aware of the essential biosafety measures to be followed while working with synthetic biology in the real world.
We invited Dr. Vinod Jyothikumar to deliver this presentation. He received his PhD in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences from Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK, in 2010 and post-doctoral experience from the University of Guelph, Canada—in 2011. He has executed various safety projects within research laboratories across reputed academic institutions in Europe, the US, and industry settings. It was an extremely interactive and insightful experience. The audience learnt about biosafety practices, dual research use, basic lab protocols and their imperativeness in any workspace, and legal regulations that follow any project. The participants also had many questions and clarified their doubts and misconceptions of the topic in the question and answer session. Through this session, we were able to set the stage on the imperativeness of safety in all experiments, and how it integrates itself in any field of work. To know more about this webinar, visit our Partnership page!
Pamphlet on Antibiotics in Aquaculture Industries
India is the second-largest producer of seafood in the world. Udupi, Manipal, and Mangalore contribute to this production significantly. As our project is based on the pisciculture industry, our major stakeholders are fish farmers and hatchery owners.
For this reason, team AMPifin decided to research the previously used methods of prevention, and we discovered that antibiotics are used as a broad-spectrum solution. Additionally, small-scale fish farms or hatchery owners don’t send infected samples to the lab for detection. These fish are directly treated with common antibiotics or other methods. Since antibiotics are most commonly misused in this field, we decided to work on a pamphlet on the safe usage of antibiotics.
In the pamphlet, we included the common but often overlooked guidelines on their usage. We also included a few precautions farmers, and hatchery owners should follow to get a healthy yield of produce for a long time. To improve our pamphlet’s reach and readability, we distributed it to various communities while ensuring that they were printed in their regional languages—i.e. English, Kannada, and Tamil. We distributed them at the various fish farms and hatcheries across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Dubai. These pamphlets were well-appreciated and educational. The farmers who received the pamphlets were glad to incorporate the guidelines in their day-to-day operation. These pamphlets have been attached below
Podcast with The Astronomy Club, Manipal.
On 7th October, 2022, we collaborated with the Astronomy Club, Manipal to talk about synthetic biology and its applications in the space industry. The podcast comprised two members of the Astronomy Club and two members of Manipal BioMachines. The podcast started off with an introduction to the respective members and iGEM. The discussion was based on how synthetic biology could be used to enhance and use the extreme environments of space to our advantage. For example—extremophiles for the elimination of biowaste and synthesis of biomaterial, self healing bio-compounds for integrity of the space shuttle, nutrient-rich-space-conserving food. There were talks about previous iGEM teams’ projects that built on the motive of improving space travel quality for the travellers by integrating pure synthetic biology-based components.
This podcast was an opportunity for us to help include all those interested in astronomy to synthetic biology. It was also a learning opportunity for our team since we were able to speak to astrophiles. This helped us understand the areas of intersection between synthetic biology and astronomy. To check the audio, visit our collaboration page!
DIY Comic Strip
To foster interest in synthetic biology and biotechnology in children, we decided to create a comic book. The theme of this comic book is based on our project—AMPifin. Through this comic strip, we aim to teach the younger generation that biology is not a niche subject and that synthetic biology is an interesting field to study and work in. In this comic strip, we follow a fish called Juno and its underwater adventures as it learns about the pathogen—Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and the disease caused by it—i.e., vibriosis. Furthermore, we distributed this comic strip to children and students across our locality, and they thoroughly enjoyed reading it! Below is a digital version of our strip
Ethics Round Table
Our college, Manipal Institute of Technology, currently has seventeen student projects. To broaden our dialogue on AMPifin, we decided to talk to members of various interdisciplinary projects about the ethical aspects of our project, and synthetic biology at large. For this—i.e., the Ethics Roundtable, on 22nd September 2022, we invited members from R.U.G.V.E.D Systems, Formula Manipal, Project Manas , Thrust MIT, SWARM Robotics, Team Manipal Racing , Aero MIT, and Project Dronaid.
We urged them to talk about the safety protocols they followed through their projects that fall under various engineering subjects like mechanics, electronics, computer science and artificial intelligence, to name a few. We began by simply elucidating on AMPifin, keeping in mind their scientific background. After this, we asked every student to explain their projects. As the ethics roundtable progressed, we asked them about the safety protocols they follow at their workspaces, and we elaborated on our lab safety protocols.
Through this, we establish the imperativeness of safety protocols in any experimental setup. We asked them what they thought might be the safety issues associated with our project and their interpretation of any safety measures we could implement. The discussion panel shifted toward an enthusiastic dialogue on their interpretation of biosafety issues, and it helped us perceive the general opinion on synthetic biology-based projects. They also asked us questions based on the general idea behind synthetic biology and what it involves. Furthermore, we explained the concept of genetic engineering and its ethical concerns. The interaction was extremely fruitful as the raised points brought a better understanding of synthetic biology for a wider community. Additionally, it created room for numerous interdisciplinary aspects that we could explore.
Geo Book
In the spirit of sharing and understanding seafood within the context of different cuisines and localities, MIT_MAHE’s iGEM team decided to collaborate on a compendium of dishes that involve aquatic animals.
The main aim of the Geo Book was to celebrate diversity and bring more recognition to what affects our favourite palates of seafood. Furthermore, it brought light to any unsustainable practices involved in their breeding. All the participating teams included details and photographs of their favourite kinds of seafood, and our team compiled them for inquisitive readers, and of course, seafood connoisseurs!
The Geo Book was designed to help the general public understand the various topics that are associated with seafoods. The teams that participated were iGEM REC Chennai, iGEM IISER Pune II, iGEM Chalmers_Gothenburg, iGEM William and Mary, iGEM Vilnius-Lithuania 2022, iGEM HKUST, iGEM Pinene Express, iGEM TecCEM, iGEM Queens_Canada. To view the book, check our Collaboration page.