Overview
From the beginning of our iGEM journey, even before the selection of our project, we unanimously decided that we want to spread the ideas of synthetic biology to everyone! And then, “inclusivity” came up. Inclusivity is about making every person around you feel comfortable enough to talk to you like they have known you forever. It is a way of life, from saying hi to the unknown person who smiled at you on the subway, to helping a homeless person in need. Things work in a similar way regarding synthetic biology. We have to “embrace” someone in order to make them want to join science, research, and even iGEM! One of our first priorities during the Human Practices meetings this year was to communicate synthetic biology principles to any person regardless of their gender, background, race, color, ethnicity, age, cognition condition, health problems, etc. We had an educational plan, which we implemented successfully. We tried our best to include everyone in our iGEM journey, and no person reading this should feel excluded. We came into contact with a plethora of unique personalities, and we definitely learned countless things. We had the chance to feel unique among people who are the definition of uniqueness.
“Seeing” no obstacles!
Seeing with the eyes of their hearts, blind people make us realise how powerful they are! They are heroes of everyday life that fight hard for making the world accessible to them. We are glad we got to meet in person with people with vision impairment and be part of their daily routine for a day. Our team cooperated with the Center for Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind to produce leaflets written in
braille. During our contact, our team pointed out the importance of everyone's access to knowledge and adapting the information to their needs. We strongly believe that these leaflets could make access to the field of synthetic biology possible. All the members of the association were very excited we had created a leaflet they could take with them consisting of such scientific information.
The organization appreciated our desire to make science accessible to everyone, no matter their unique characteristics, and invited us to an educational session in the school for the blind. We had the pleasure of informing them about the basics of synthetic biology and carrying out an educational activity with middle school and high school students. "How do you imagine DNA based on what you heard today?" was our question, and the children imprinted their answers on pieces of clay. At this point, the images speak for themselves. We couldn’t be more impressed by the result and we still get goosebumps in the view of this photo!
Furthermore, we wondered if an amblyopic (a person with partial blindness) could work in a laboratory. For us lab safety is everything! With the instructions and the expertise of both faculty members and the representatives of the association, we created awareness leaflets suggesting ways to make their access to the lab easier and everyone's contribution greater! You can find more information in the PDF uploaded so you can make your lab friendly and safe for people with vision problems.
Science knows no boundries!
It's heartwarming to see the eyes of a person with Down syndrome shine with confidence and the joy of participation. Afterward, the beneficiaries of the organization all drew together on a sheet anything that impressed them during our presentation. It was a unique moment, and once again, there are not enough words to describe it. The images speak for themselves. As the day was closing at the DSA, the beneficiaries asked us to dance with them. Of course, it wasn't long before we joined the dance! Dance is a unique way of expression and we bonded so much with all the people. The day ended with an invitation for us to go again!
The physical difficulty of access for some people to a laboratory should in no way mean difficulty of access to the field of synthetic biology and also to STEM. In our country, disability is considered an obstacle in life, and opportunities are not equal for everyone. The inclusivity of people with physical access difficulties in a laboratory is the next step for a science community without limitations.
A step closer to success!
Although the quality of life of people with disabilities seems to be improving in recent years, there are still many steps to be taken to immerse them in STEM. There seems to be discrimination and underestimation of the capabilities of individuals. However, if we reflect on Stephen Hawking and similar cases of the past, we realize their ability to leave their mark in the areas they are involved in. Thus, our group wanted to approach the Panhellenic Association of Paraplegics to expand the boundaries of synthetic biology and their access to laboratories.
Thus, we visited the Panhellenic Association of Paraplegics branch in Northern Greece. The goal of this association is to socially include paraplegics, quadriplegics, and severely physically disabled people, and to make them feel included in every possible aspect of life, activity, and educational opportunity. During our lab experiments, we were thinking of the practical difficulties a person with kinetic disabilities would have while working in the lab, always considering the degree of disability and the needs of this individual. As far as accessibility is considered, we learned a lot from the everyday difficulties these people face. We explained to them what an iGEM team is and how we usually work. As a team, we would like to encourage students with such unique characteristics to become part of research teams. But this would be possible only if their needs were completely fulfilled. We had a conversation with Rafaella, a dentistry student, who pointed out the difficulty in the lab coming from the bench’s and sink’s height and the use of classical microscopes, which require standing. We recorded the difficulties and discussed proposals to make access to schools and workshops easier. For this, we have created the following PDF.
The physical difficulty of access for some people to a laboratory should in no way mean difficulty of access to the field of synthetic biology and also to STEM. In our country, disability is considered an obstacle in life, and opportunities are not equal for everyone. The inclusivity of people with physical access difficulties in a laboratory is the next step for a science community without limitations.
Think different!
Through our journey, we realised that each of us has a unique personality and needs. So, we adapted a lot of things in order to keep our cooperation harmonious. We soon realised that people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more vulnerable and may need some special care while working in a lab.
As interested as we were in including people in the field of synthetic biology, we approached Lab Autism to get informed about the guidelines a lab should follow so that it is friendly to autistic people. As far as lab access is concerned, it was suggested that probably the best way possible to understand the experiments is with a video showing step-by-step procedures. For their safety in the lab, a safety session in general and for emergency situations with images would be useful. For lab preparation, it is useful to use blueprints, symbols, and videos. There must be adaptations for everyone according to the autism spectrum on which they are located. For them to work smoothly in a laboratory, there must be a climate of trust and calm. It is important that they work in a minimalist environment to maintain their concentration. For safety issues, such as in the case of fire, it is necessary to combine alarms and visual means such as light indicators so that the danger is immediately perceived.
Autism is an example of a disorder that cannot and will not be a barrier to participation in STEM. It is not a disadvantage or a difficulty, but a different way of thinking, expressing, and functioning. We are thankful for being educated by experts on how we should cooperate with others on ASD and we already implemented some of these solutions in the space we are working!
Female Inspiration!
One of the topics that most concerned us during our time in iGEM was the responsible position of women in STEM, but what is really the case? It was a topic that we didn’t have clear answers for, so we organized a presentation of the WiSTEM community of iGEM during our project presentation event. Women in STEM is an international organization working with high schools globally to inspire and empower young women to pursue STEM. According to WiSTEM representative Foteini Papadaki, there are inequalities in the industry, such as participation and wage disparities. Work in science and engineering was considered a "man's job" at the time of their invention. Synthetic biology is no exception. Based on that, we created an awareness-raising brochure on how we can take action!
Most of the members of our team are women, dynamic and very capable members of STEM. Consequently, there was the idea of approaching WEP (Women's Entrepreneurship Platform) to receive advice on the business approach of our project. We had a very constructive meeting with them and received very positive feedback for our project. They confirmed that our team-and especially women-can achieve anything they had in mind!
Aging Youth and Young Elderly: Equality
Nowadays, some adults or elderly people usually feel sidelined due to the dizzying pace of everyday life and the specialisation of the younger ones. The problem extent varies from everyday life to the field of STEM sciences. And that’s a barrier we tried hard to overcome. Our team succeeded in sharing the spirit of synthetic biology with people of all ages, no matter their educational status. People from 5 to 95 years old learned from a different perspective what synthetic biology is. We carried through with our educational plan, in which we included people who, at first thought, were in no position to find interest or opportunities in STEM. Older people tend to discuss more so that they don’t feel left out. And that was our goal: to talk to as many as possible and to as many people as we could, sharing our passion for synthetic biology and our ideas.
We participated in the AstroParty, hosted by Noesis Science Center, where we talked to approximately 5,000 people, and in the "European Researchers’ Night", engaging with more than 6,000 people of all ages and also in Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF). We had the opportunity to inform students and older people about our project, the iGEM competition, and the countless possibilities of synthetic biology. We were at the disposal of all who wanted to learn about synthetic biology. Most people appeared to get excited as we described the variety of iGEM tracks and projects. People who had no relation to the field of synthetic biology were constantly asking for more information!
For all these actions, we took into consideration the huge participation of kids! We carried out various educational and artistic activities (e.g. painting viruses and DNA) or workshops for our little friends. We felt like kids again, combining playing and learning at the same time. The activities for the children were organized, based on experts' guidelines so that everyone could participate by playing and learning. Terms of synthetic biology were realized through creating bacteria-and not only with Legos and drawing.
Our team created brochures to explain synthetic biology to audiences with different levels of education and knowledge of STEM, in collaboration with four more iGEM teams from Europe and America. They were translated into 5 languages (English, Greek, French, Russian, Kazakh), making them accessible for reading in 100 countries and to about 2.5 billion people all over the world. Four separate brochures were created: one for children, one for teenagers, one for the general public, and one for STEM students. Each of them is written in a different way so they can be understood by the target group.
Through our actions and participation, we communicated the importance of synthetic biology to kids, teenagers, adults, and elderly people. We hope everyone feels capable of carrying out their own dreams! Age is just a number, not an obstacle! Please feel free to use our educational materials and the level-up brochures to include as many as possible to the field of synthetic biology.
Conclusion
One of the first priorities of the team was to make our work accessible. Our social media posts were made in pastel colors so that they are more friendly to autistic people. The colors selected for our team's social media and wiki were also tested with the coblis color blindness simulator software, to ensure suitability for people with vision problems, such as color blindness. During the creation of our wiki, we always had in mind the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
How did we include people in our journey? Simple. Thinking and considering them for joining our astounding experience called iGEM. We got repeatedly asked, "Did you think of all those actions by yourselves? And we proudly answered "yes! We did!" The competition and this team gave us the opportunity to spread kindness and make people learn and smile at the same time. We would do it over and over again if we had the chance. There was no greater emotion for us than when people asked us to visit them again because we had a great time with them. We made friends at first sight! Raphaella, Alesio, Irene, we learned a lot from you and we hope to meet you again soon! We want to thank everyone who has crossed our path. We really felt-and still do-included!
