To encourage more students to learn about synthetic biology, our team collaborated with the Pardee lab to introduce a video game named ‘Bio-traveller’. The game is an open world on Roblox, designed to help learn the basic concepts of synthetic biology such as selective breeding, cell division, gene mutations, and chromosomal disorders. We hosted an online collaboration with the Hong Kong United Christian College (Kowloon East) Biology Research Team, where we introduced our oak-wilt project and invited them to play the game together. More details about the Bio-Traveller game can be found in the education prize page.

To bring synthetic biology to students in an accessible way, we submitted a proposal for an in-person outreach activity with the Let's Talk Science initiative. We plan to deliver hands-on activity using Biobits: central dogma (miniPCR bio), a classroom-setting friendly synthetic biology kit. Through our activity, students will learn about the flow of genetic information in biological systems and visualize cell-free protein synthesis reactions. The event will also provide students with the opportunity to explore different lab techniques, such as micro pipetting and fluorescence detection. Unfortunately, we were not able to establish a date to run the event before the Jamboree. We are scheduling a time with the Let’s Talk Science Initiative to complete the activity in November.

At the University of Toronto Engineering Society Clubs Fair 2022, we informed incoming students about synthetic biology, and promoted iGEM Toronto. Another goal of this event was to increase awareness of the oak wilt transmission problem in a captivating way. During the fair, our members answered students’ questions regarding our commitment and the types of activities iGEM Toronto offers. We introduced students with EddMaps, an application Ms. DisGasparro suggested. We also created a space for everyone to play a non-alcoholic beer-pong game to learn about the translation process in central dogma. More details about the non-alcoholic beer pong game can also be found on the education prize page.