Education and Communication
We firmly believe that communication with society is an important driving force in the development of science and technology and serves as a bridge between science and society. Although scientists and researchers have made a lot of efforts and countless sacrifices for the development of science, and at the same time do promote the continuous progress of science and technology, we find that the public still has a large misunderstanding of the technical means and direction of scientific development. Therefore, we try to take our responsibility to popularize the progress of scientific research to the society and close the relationship between scientific research and social life by introducing the recent progress of synthetic biology and our project.
As iGEM high school students, we know that synthetic biology can greatly contribute to the development of scientific research in the new era. In order to attract interest, We have designed a variety of activities, from children to adults, to actively carry out online and offline science popularization and communication.
In order to introduce the basic principles of synthetic biology to all ages, in the early stage, we designed a mini-game related to plasmid construction. We made plasmid components (including promoters, terminators, protein-coding genes, replicons, etc.) using A4 paper, and constructed a complete plasmid by placing and pasting each component in order with tape. We all helped each other, worked together, drew pictures, used watercolor pencils to color in the individual originals, wrote the names of each element, and finally participated together in putting together the whole plasmid.
Such games can help us understand the basic principles of plasmid construction, promote teamwork and team spirit, and also lay the foundation for later science popularization activities for the public.
Fig.1 Plasmid games.
Although there are mini-game props that can help the public understand, it is still necessary to introduce the history, basic principles and current progress of synthetic biology, as well as the main research contents and research objectives of this project to the public systematically by means of illustrations, which can help the public better understand synthetic biology.
First of all, we made a Meetup PPT, which mainly introduced the information of our team members and the process of team establishment. We then created a cartoon PowerPoint to promote our research to children. We used a lot of cartoon elements in the PowerPoint, hoping to attract children's interest through animation and drawing and help them understand the growth process of roses, the production process of extracting perfume from flowers, and the main uses of perfume. Finally, we made a promotional PPT - Synthetic Biology Orientation PPT for middle/high school students and adults and introduced the definition and research content of synthetic biology in a relatively easy-to-understand way to help them understand the main tasks of synthetic biology, the current development trend, and the vast application areas and markets in the future.
We will attract more people to pay attention to synthetic biology, and introduce the content of our project which use microorganisms as the chassis to synthesize 2-PE (2-phenylethanol), one of the main components of perfume.
After the preliminary preparations were completed, we contacted the staff of the community center located in Qimin Road with the introduction of teachers from the School of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering of Nanjing Normal University.
On July 15, 2022, we entered the children's activity center of the Qimin Road Community Service Center and introduced the growth process of roses and the production process of extracting perfume from flowers to the children by the cartoon PPT we made. We played games with children. We made paper roses from pink A4 paper and sprayed 2-PE (2-phenylethanol) pure product on the paper roses to give them a unique fragrance. We also made a base complementary pairing puzzle (A-T, G-C) using A4 paper so that children could understand the principle of base complementary pairing in a vivid way. Finally, we helped the children to remember and understand the introduction and knowledge through activities such as quizzes with prizes. Children actively participated and answered our questions and we gave out our prizes to those who answered correctly.
All the children were happy to learn general knowledge about the growth process of roses and perfume extraction, and many of them expressed interest in our project, which gave us confidence and helped us absorb experience to carry out our later promotional science activities better.
Fig.2 Qimin Road community science publicity.
On July 16,2022, we entered the Nanjing Science and Technology Museum and set up a booth at the museum to present a demonstration on the theme of "Green and Sustainable Preparation of Phenylethyl Alcohol（2-PE）". We introduced 2-PE, the main component of rose scent, to the students who visited the Nanjing Science and Technology Museum and played interactive games such as guessing the name of a flower by looking at a picture “carrot squatting” with them. We asked all the students and parents in the audience to think of poems with flowers in them,which is a fun "flying flower" activity; we let each student choose a flower as their code name and played “Carrot Squat”.
Through our propaganda and interactive games, we attracted the interest of students and parents and helped them gain a deeper understanding of synthetic biology and the fact that the synthesis of 2-phenylethanol by microbial methods is a very green and sustainable strategy for sustainable development, which is friendly to the global environment.
Fig. 3 Nanjing Science and Technology Museum science publicit.
On July 20, 2022, we introduced the recent development of synthetic biology and the potential market and unlimited possibilities of biosynthesis to the junior high school students at the New Oriental Institute in Tianan International Building in Nanjing city. We firstly distributed small gifts such as masks with iGEM high school team logo to all participants. Then, we introduced the basic information and development trend of synthetic biology to New Oriental staff, students and parents through PPT, which shows that synthetic biology is developing rapidly and the research results are fruitful. Synthetic biology has achieved microbial synthesis of many kinds of compounds, which stands out in the food and drug industry. We also introduced the vast market and flourishing future of biosynthesis with the example of common health products (DHA, carotene, lycopene, etc.) and cosmetic ingredients (anthocyanin, arbutin, A alcohol, etc.) in daily life. Finally, this project will be briefly introduced to the synthesis of 2-PE using microorganisms as chassis.
After listening to our propaganda, all junior high school students and parents had a basic knowledge of synthetic biology and were curious about the iGEM competition. And they were very excited about the synthesis of 2-PE (2-phenylethanol) by microbiological methods for cosmetic and skin care product production. This made us more confident to devote ourselves to the next promotion.
Fig.4 New Oriental science publicity.
On July 21, 2022, we conducted a project promotion in the Wangzilou community with the theme of “Bringing us closer with fragrance”. Through an animated PPT presentation, the children in the Wangzilou community learned about the growth process of roses and the production process and uses of perfume. The children were introduced to the science of roses and perfume, and played interactive games with them such as looking at pictures and guessing flowers.
Fig.5 Wangzilou community science publicity.
On July 23,2022, we conducted online science publicity for some junior high school students. After conducting several offline campaigns, we hope to reach a larger area of the general public through the Internet and introduce synthetic biology and our project to middle school students in other regions through the Internet. So we contacted the heads of major high schools through an online posting and conducted an online PPT sharing session in the form of a Tencent conference. We introduced the vigorous development prospect and direction of synthetic biology to junior high school students. Then, We introduced our iGEM project based on the basic principles and techniques of synthetic biology to modify microbial metabolic networks for the safe, green and efficient synthesis of 2-PE. We popularized the main content and basic information of this project as well as the future direction and great potential of microbial cell factories. The students showed great interest in the iGEM event and our project, and actively asked questions to learn more about the process, the participating teams and the content of the competition. Meanwhile, the students were curious about synthetic biology and confident about the future of synthetic biology. Many of them hoped to be involved in the development of synthetic biology in the future.
Finally, we also interacted with the junior high school students by asking questions, and all of them actively participated in our Q&A process. Through this format, the junior high school students gained new understanding of both the development of synthetic biology and this project.
Fig.6 Online science publicity for junior high school students.
We also hope to popularize science to adults and help the community better understand synthetic biology and development of microbial cell factories. On July 24, 2022, We conducted a presentation for adults on the 5th floor of Fenghuang Bookstore to inform all the customers of the bookstore about the production process, basic principles and importance of using microbial cell factories to synthesize 2-PE. At the same time, the parents were informed about the iGEM tournament and the content of the tournament which help iGEM gain more attention. Finally, we introduced the current rapid development of microbial synthesis and its many applications in various fields based on our project, so that the public can have a better understanding of iGEM, synthetic biology applications and the content of our project.
Finally, we also interacted with the junior high school students by asking questions, and all of them actively participated in our Q&A process. Through this format, the junior high school students gained new understanding of both the development of synthetic biology and this project.
Fig. 7 Fenghuang Bookstore science publicity.
Our team has designed and organized a variety of communication&education activities for people of different ages. We hope that through these various ways, more people can learn about synthetic biology, iGEM competitions and our projects. In general, we have communicated and educated children, junior high school students and social personnel through online and offline channels, by designing mini games, making PPTs, on-site presentations, setting up booths in Science and Technology Museum, book store exchanges, etc. Our science popularization has promoted the understanding of synthetic biology and 2-PE, and has received feedback accordingly.