The DAISY project brings together two complex scientific fields: synthetic biology and immunology. In our project, we combined both of them to create a diagnostic tool for a health matter of first importance: allergies. Following our first meeting with the general public, we concluded that both of these science fields are little-known to people. It seemed obvious to us that our education effort has to ally scientific communication and education on these themes, in a way to ensure mutual learning afterward. The biggest challenge here was to reach and include everyone in this discussion, no matter the scientific background, group age, or location. To have a variety of educational tools appeared essential to us, as well as to adopt a language adapted to a wide public.
The most important part of our work in Human Practices is our series of ten short online videos, “Cracking Allergies”, that answer the main questions we got about allergies during our meetings with the general public at Exposciences Occitanie 2022. It required designing and creating models of bacteria and immune cells as tools to explain biology and allergies. All the processes of design and production of these tools are documented in the sections below.
The second axis of our work was directed towards education about synthetic biology and was mainly supported by media communication and interventions in high school. These interventions were the occasion to give an insight into synthetic biology to more than 150 high-schoolers thanks to laboratory practice, quizzes, and presentations.
Once we decided on our project topic, we were eager to talk about it to people around us, our friends, families, and colleagues. These discussions were at the root of our Education and Communication intense efforts.
The first time we said to someone with no scientific background that our project was about allergies and synthetic biology, they were enthusiastic and told us how they know people with allergies, how they are allergic themselves, or what pain could be allergies. However, they mostly did not know about synthetic biology (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Questions about synthetic biology
Worse, when we explained the mechanisms of allergy, they stared at us with wide eyes because they had no idea about how allergies work and they asked numerous questions (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Questions about allergies
We realized that even if a big part of the population is affected by allergies, this disease is very little-known by the general public (as for synthetic biology).
As consequence, we engaged in opening a dialogue about allergies and synthetic biology with the general public as well to explain our project to inform about allergies as it is a very important health matter.
That is why we decided to engage in answering those questions based on our research, our meetings with immunologists, allergists, biologists, and our own experience.
The goal was to efficiently communicate scientific content to people with no scientific background. Because we met very different people along our iGEM journey, we had to adapt both the explained content and its form, i.e :
1. What should we say?
2. How should we say it?
First, we agreed on what content is essential to understand the main principles of allergic reactions, synthetic biology, and our DAISY project. The key aspect was to keep it simple and synthetic (Ducancel et al., 1995).
Then, we asked ourselves what would be the best ways to establish a dialogue. An old saying says: “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Numerous educational tools can be even more efficient than pictures: schemes, models, animations, series of short videos, laboratory practices, posters, PowerPoint presentations, articles in newspapers, podcasts, social media… and many others have both advantages and disadvantages.
Our main criteria were the following:
We classified the educational tools we listed above according to these criteria on the following two-axis graph (Figure 3):
Figure 3. Educational tools classification accordingly to the needed attention span and the need for additional information.This graph was conceived by our team and is free to be used by other iGEM teams, as it was truly helpful for us.
In bold are written the educational tools that we estimated as the most adapted to our project. Our goal was to have some educational tools in every category, so we could adapt our communication to our interlocutors and include everyone. These were therefore the tools we have applied throughout the DAISY project as described in the next sections. The making of each of these educational tools is documented on this page as it could be useful to future iGEM teams.
The following educational tools were mainly used to communicate about allergies and our DAISY project. Our most impressive and successful achievement is the series of videos “Cracking Allergies” which was built from our experiences acquired during poster presentations and exhibition participations. All these efforts included the use of models to explain immunology and our project.
Aim: To have a fun communication medium to explain both our project, synthetic biology, and the allergy mechanism to the general public during exhibitions, interventions, and in our video series.
Target: Children, teenagers, families, and even adults. The models can be used for in-person meetings as well as in videos for online content.
Attributions: The models were designed and created by Charline and Juliette.
We found in models an excellent way to represent invisible to the naked eye objects such as bacteria, antibodies, allergens, or immune cells. The impact of this tool was particularly studied by teachers and educationalists and proved as an excellent way to improve children’s learning process. It allows the concretization of abstract concepts for better transmission and understanding of the notions (Bédouret et al., 2020). As such, it is an intermediate step between the 3D perception of reality and the 2D vision needed for flat representations such as schemes and drawings. Models stimulate senses to better retain information, especially if associated with bright colors (Hadaichuk Nataliia et al., 2020).
Besides, models caught the curiosity and are a true ice breaker to start a conversation. Finally, models could be modular and ludic. This adds a dimension of learning by playing and doing which is highly recommended by educationalists (Boussou & Tio Babena).
On such basis, we decided to create a model to explain a variety of key notions about our project, synthetic biology, and immunology (bacteria, antibodies, immune cells, plasmids, …). We wanted something big enough to be visible and easily manipulable, with bright colors to draw attention. Because the different pieces of our models are removable and can be reassembled, the public can see in real-time the model being built, have the pieces in hand, and have a better understanding of what is the role of each piece and their interactions. Finally, the complexity of the notions is entirely adjustable. The focus can be made on the structure of a bacteria or an antibody, the principle of transformation, our aggregation design, the allergy mechanism, the control experiments we planned… Possibilities are almost endless!
First we made plan of our models to make it evoluate towards its final form, and determine what materials we will be using.
To create 3D bacteria, we need items to constitute the “body” and the “heads” of the models. The body is a cylinder, and the heads are hemispheres. Polystyrene cylinders and hemispheres were used because polystyrene is easy to cut, can be painted, and is light.
A cross-section was performed on the cylinder for each bacterium model to show the inside of the bacteria and how it is structured. The detached part is used to cover the cross-section when the model is supposed to be seen as a whole cell.
Hemispheres were fixed to the tips of the cylinder thanks to acrylic glue and wire inserted in both polystyrene parts.
The surface of the “cell” was covered with newspaper and glue, using the papier-mache technique. The goal of this step is to hide the separations between the polystyrene parts.
Each bacterium model was then painted in bright colors. One is orange, and the other is blue. This is a reference to our project identity.
The orange bacterium represents the bacterium displaying allergens on its surface and is called bacterium A.
The blue bacterium represents the bacterium displaying DARPins on its surface and is called bacterium D.
Both were varnished to obtain a nice brilliance.
The cross-section of each bacterium was painted to show the different layers of bacteria.
In dark brown is the cytoplasm, in light brown the plasma membrane, in black the periplasm, and orange the capsule or outer membrane.
A small ball of grey wool was fixed in the cytoplasm to represent genomic DNA. Some plasmids were made out of Fimo paste shaped into rings. They represent the plasmids we designed in our project to create our bacteria A and D for real. There is a color code for each biobrick present on the plasmid. This code corresponds to the color of the proteins displayed by our bacteria as explained below.
We added flexible hairy wires that we stuck into the polystyrene to symbolize the bacterium pili. They are blue for the blue bacterium and orange for the orange bacterium. Each bacterium also has a long brown hairy wire, representing its flagella.
Now, we have models of bacteria ready to be used to explain what is a bacteria, how is it structured, and what are plasmid, DNA, pili, and flagella.
The next step was to represent proteic constructions bacteria were designed to produce on their surface. Fimo paste was used to make the proteins, created with a hole to thread them into a rigid wire fixed on the bacteria. For each protein, the DNA sequence on the plasmid coding for a protein expression was in the same color as the protein piece.
You can observe the following element:
For bacterium A displaying allergens, allergens were in orange.
For bacterium D displaying DARPins, DARpins were in blue.
It was thus possible to explain the principle of transformation, biobrick, how our constructions were designed, and some of our control experiments using the TEV site and protease. The details of the explanation can be adapted for the public.
To fully understand the design of our project, we needed to explain what antibodies are and how they are structured. The notion of allergen was also essential. We made IgE antibodies and allergens out of Fimo paste to illustrate this.
Allergens were green, pink, and orange and had different shapes. The color and shape corresponded to the variable parts of the IgE they can bind to.
IgE was composed of a light blue part representing the light chain, a dark blue part representing the heavy chain, and a green, pink, or orange part representing the variable part of the antibody. The heavy chains were represented in the same color as the DARPin because the DARPin bind to these heavy chains of the IgE.
Thanks to these models, we could explain:
And in addition, they looked quite cool!
Figure 4. Our bacteria models
We wanted to explain the mechanisms of allergy in more detail in our “Cracking allergies” series of short videos. Many immune cells are involved in the apparition of allergies. Lymphocytes B, plasma cells, and mast cells are the most important ones. Each of these was presented in “Cracking allergies” because this educational tool gives the time to explain more details than live presentations.
For the live presentation, we generally restrained the details about immune cells to the mast cells. Therefore, we did not need models of lymphocyte B and plasma cells.
That is why we decided to reuse the same basis for each immune cell model and make it evolve to its final form, a mast cell model. This basis was always a polystyrene sphere.
First, the lymphocyte B. We painted the sphere in white to erase the texture of polystyrene. We made antibodies on the same design as before, but smaller and with a hole, so they could easily be pinned on the polystyrene surface with rigid wire.
The second is the plasma cell. The previous lymphocyte B was painted in taupe to symbolize its differentiation into a plasma cell.
Last, is the mast cell. The previous plasma cell was painted in violet. The histamine released by the degranulation of mast cells was represented by small pink spheres, placed inside the mast cell.
Now we have everything we need to explain how an allergy works!
We used these models for the first time during the Exposciences Occitanie 2022. Then we used them again for the French Meet-Up that we organized in Toulouse and numerous presentations. Our models are also the stars of several episodes of “Cracking Allergies” and of our 2-minutes promotion video.
They even appeared on French TV during an interview!
Figure 5. Our models had multiple occasions to be used!
The first try-out of our bacteria models was on the Exposciences Occitanie 2022. The visitors were mainly children in primary school and families with young children. The models revealed themselves as excellent tools to catch the children's attention and as expected, were true ice breakers. We had the opportunity to talk about allergies and biology with people, and to grasp what the general knowledge about them was.
We received a lot of compliments about the models and people asked what was the process to create them, to be able to do it with their children back home.
The models were used as intended to explain what are the individuals elements we created (bacterium, DNA, plasmid, antibody…), but also how they are supposed to work together in our DAISY project. After this first entry into the world of exhibition, our models received at each use the same feedback: it is an original representation, very clear and adjustable. Note that our approach needed to be iterative: for example, we noticed that we had more difficulty explaining how an allergic reaction works without a dedicated model, and we had to create immune cell models because of this.
Aim of the posters: to have an educational tool bringing written information and visual communication. They can be used during oral explanations as well as speak for themselves to present our project.
Aim of the video pitch: to pitch our project in 1 minute even in extreme situations such as being stuck in an airport for 20 hours while we should have been attending the European Meet-Up.
Target: french and international general public, iGEM teams.
Attributions: posters were designed by Laure, Juliette, and Charline, and the one-minute pitch was made by Laure and Juliette.
For our multiple presentations to high schoolers, students, the general public, and iGEM teams, we wanted to have an educational tool combining essential information and visual efficiency. It is a classical tool to present a project and allows the use of schemes and pictures as well as written information.
Final poster about DAISY, English version
We created posters in French and English that we used on various occasions such as the open day of our school, our high school interventions, the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, the French Meet-Up that we organized in Toulouse, and the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
First, we created a poster presenting our DAISY project, and a poster presenting synthetic biology and iGEM. Both were in French and were used at the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, a french event.
Then the DAISY project poster was translated into English, and updated with the applications and perspectives of our project. This version competed at the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
We updated our posters as the project evolved and took into account the remarks and feedback we had during the previous exhibitions. Our posters were appreciated and described as organized, clear, and colorful.
In the case of the European Meet-Up, we had to go back home midway due to flight issues. We made the most of it by recording the Elevator Pitch that we were supposed to do in Hamburg with the other teams while waiting at the Frankfurt airport.
Our poster competed for the Poster prize of the European Meet-Up in Hamburg and won the Best Poster prize, designated by votes of all participating teams!
First poster about DAISY, English version
We created posters in French and English that we used on various occasions such as the open day of our school, our high school interventions, the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, the French Meet-Up that we organized in Toulouse, and the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
First, we created a poster presenting our DAISY project, and a poster presenting synthetic biology and iGEM. Both were in French and were used at the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, a french event.
Then the DAISY project poster was translated into English, and updated with the applications and perspectives of our project. This version competed at the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
We updated our posters as the project evolved and took into account the remarks and feedback we had during the previous exhibitions. Our posters were appreciated and described as organized, clear, and colorful.
In the case of the European Meet-Up, we had to go back home midway due to flight issues. We made the most of it by recording the Elevator Pitch that we were supposed to do in Hamburg with the other teams while waiting at the Frankfurt airport.
Our poster competed for the Poster prize of the European Meet-Up in Hamburg and won the Best Poster prize, designated by votes of all participating teams!
Poster about synthetic biology and iGEM, French version
We created posters in French and English that we used on various occasions such as the open day of our school, our high school interventions, the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, the French Meet-Up that we organized in Toulouse, and the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
First, we created a poster presenting our DAISY project, and a poster presenting synthetic biology and iGEM. Both were in French and were used at the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, a french event.
Then the DAISY project poster was translated into English, and updated with the applications and perspectives of our project. This version competed at the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
We updated our posters as the project evolved and took into account the remarks and feedback we had during the previous exhibitions. Our posters were appreciated and described as organized, clear, and colorful.
In the case of the European Meet-Up, we had to go back home midway due to flight issues. We made the most of it by recording the Elevator Pitch that we were supposed to do in Hamburg with the other teams while waiting at the Frankfurt airport.
Our poster competed for the Poster prize of the European Meet-Up in Hamburg and won the Best Poster prize, designated by votes of all participating teams!
First poster about DAISY, French version
We created posters in French and English that we used on various occasions such as the open day of our school, our high school interventions, the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, the French Meet-Up that we organized in Toulouse, and the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
First, we created a poster presenting our DAISY project, and a poster presenting synthetic biology and iGEM. Both were in French and were used at the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, a french event.
Then the DAISY project poster was translated into English, and updated with the applications and perspectives of our project. This version competed at the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
We updated our posters as the project evolved and took into account the remarks and feedback we had during the previous exhibitions. Our posters were appreciated and described as organized, clear, and colorful.
In the case of the European Meet-Up, we had to go back home midway due to flight issues. We made the most of it by recording the Elevator Pitch that we were supposed to do in Hamburg with the other teams while waiting at the Frankfurt airport.
Our poster competed for the Poster prize of the European Meet-Up in Hamburg and won the Best Poster prize, designated by votes of all participating teams!
Our video pitch in the Franckfurt airport!
We created posters in French and English that we used on various occasions such as the open day of our school, our high school interventions, the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, the French Meet-Up that we organized in Toulouse, and the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
First, we created a poster presenting our DAISY project, and a poster presenting synthetic biology and iGEM. Both were in French and were used at the Exposciences Occitanie 2022, a french event.
Then the DAISY project poster was translated into English, and updated with the applications and perspectives of our project. This version competed at the European Meet-Up in Hamburg.
We updated our posters as the project evolved and took into account the remarks and feedback we had during the previous exhibitions. Our posters were appreciated and described as organized, clear, and colorful.
In the case of the European Meet-Up, we had to go back home midway due to flight issues. We made the most of it by recording the Elevator Pitch that we were supposed to do in Hamburg with the other teams while waiting at the Frankfurt airport.
Our poster competed for the Poster prize of the European Meet-Up in Hamburg and won the Best Poster prize, designated by votes of all participating teams!
Aim: to have a first presentation of our project to the general audience and let them discover what synthetic biology is about. It was also our first contact with the general public and an opportunity for us to see how our project was perceived. We also aimed at identifying what the educational needs of allergies are.
Target: children (8-17 years old), families, teachers, and the general public.
Attributions: Thomas, Samy, Laure, Raphaël, Charline, and Juliette went to the Exposciences Occitanie 2022 to present to the visitors. Charline and Thomas recorded the podcast “Pose ta science”.
Our first contact with the general audience was during the exhibition Exposciences Occitanie on 10-11 June 2022. For this event, we prepared a model of our bacteria and antibodies to show how the aggregation would form, and posters about DAISY, iGEM, and synthetic biology. We were able to give a presentation of the project to the audience, as well as at our stand where our models and posters were exposed. It was a great benchmark for both our presentation and the models to assess if they were adapted to the targeted public. The audience was happy to meet us and discover synthetic biology and this boosted our will to do more.
The organizer of Exposciences Occitanie 2022 even offered us to carry on this adventure at the European Exposciences in Luxembourg in mid-October, but we sadly had to decline because of our tight schedule at this period.
We also recorded an episode of the podcast “Pose ta science” with Radio Francas, where we discussed our project. It was our first experience with mainstream media and a great one! We had the chance to touch a larger public and have online content about our project. The podcast is available here at 10'07".
The podcast “Pose ta science” offered us to produce a second episode about our project after the Giant Jamboree, to see our evolution. We truly enjoyed this communication tool which is addressed to a larger public and allows us to have real exchanges and discussions with the interviewer.
Our participation in Exposciences Occitanie 2022 demonstrated that people have a great interest in allergies. Everyone we met was either directly concerned by allergies or knew someone who is affected. We also noticed that a lot of things about allergies reminds unclear to the general public, and even to us. We had multiple questions about how it works, what does cause allergies, whether can we heal from allergies, etc. That is why we had the idea to lift the veil on the mysteries of allergies and answer their questions with a series of videos called “Cracking Allergies”!
Aim: to answer the multiple questions we received about allergies and create a dialogue with the general public. We also wanted to share the knowledge we accumulated about allergies during our project with a series of short educational videos.
Target: international general public.
Attributions: Juliette did the research and wrote the video scripts. Eric Espinosa, Jean-Luc Menardo, and Brice Enjalbert proofread the video scripts. Thomas, Laure, Charline, Guillaume, Raphaël, and Juliette presented the episodes of “Cracking Allergies”. The C2IP INSA Toulouse and Laurent Grégoire provided the recording material and tips. Channes composed the opening music, and Antoine Dugas-Viallis made the 2D animation. Charline et Juliette edited the videos and added subtitles in English and French. Charline made the thumbnails and broadcasted the videos on different platforms. The iGEM Thessaloniki team previewed and gave feedback about the videos.
We wanted to bring allergies into the spotlight because it is a health matter for a big part of the population. Thanks to our meetings with the general public across the Exposciences Occitanie 2022 and diverse presentations, we received many questions about allergies. For some of them, we knew the answer, but for some others, we had no clue at the beginning.
Once we got the necessary knowledge to answer them through meetings with allergists, immunologists, and our research, we were eager to share our discoveries as we did at the French Meet-Up that we organized.
The best should have been to meet everyone with questions about allergies. So the obvious way was to answer these frequently asked questions online so that they are easily accessed by browsing the internet.
We chose the video format as it was proven to be a very performant educational tool, especially for biology (Brame, 2016). It allows us to share information both by talking, as we did in the podcast “Pose ta science”, and by showing visuals, with the models. Combining audio and visual elements in a story-telling context is the most effective method to increase the attention span of children (Bartan, 2020). It also ensures it is accessible and inclusive for more people. For example, we were particularly careful to make this accessible to everyone by adding subtitles both in English and French and having a lot of visual examples.
The fact that our videos would be online was also inspired by the Covid pandemic, which deeply impacted educative practices and showed us the benefits of E-learning (Dhawan, 2020).
Our show is innovative because most of the videos about allergies that you can find online are either long videos or reports about the consequences of allergies, either short stand-alone videos mainly focused on the mechanism of allergy. They are also mainly using CGI and voice-over. Our series of short videos bring on the stage a complete set of answers to the most frequently asked questions, using 3D models and face camera explanations, without losing the viewer’s interest.
Once the medium was set as well as the general content, we had to think about its organization. According to studies, a series of videos has more chances to be fully watched than one long video (A. Manasrah et al, 2021). This communication tool allows sharing as much information as we want by multiplicating the number of videos without losing the viewers’ attention thanks to the shortness of the videos. This is very appropriate for children especially. The optimal duration of an educative video is 6 to 10 minutes (A. Manasrah et al, 2021). We agreed to produce 3 minutes videos, which is half the optimal duration because it is an invitation to watch the next episode.
Another key point in our reflection was about how to get feedback on the videos. This is entirely possible thanks to the comments section present on the social media where were published the videos. In this way, any further questions can be answered by our team to promote a dialogue.
For all of these reasons, we decided that a series of short videos would be the perfect educational tool to educate and start a conversation about allergies across the world!
Table 1. "Cracking Allergies" plan
The first thing we needed was a global view of the videos’ subjects.
Our goal was to answer the frequently asked questions about allergies that we compiled during the Exposciences Occitanie 2022. We structured this into ten videos divided into two main parts, "Scientific notions about allergies" and "Dealing with allergies daily" (Table 1).
The second step was to obtain information for the videos. We did research and met allergists and immunologists to ask our questions. Each episode of the series was proofread by an allergist, Jean-Luc Menardo, and an immunology lecturer of University Paul Sabatier, Eric Espinosa. We thank them again for their help.
We looked for a fun concept of short videos using our models. The concept had to catch the attention and be dynamic. We took inspiration from scientific communication done on Youtube and on TV shows. An excellent example for us was the French TV show “C’est pas sorcier!” (meaning “It is not rocket science!”), which is a show about science made for children and diffused during our childhood. This TV show is a reference for a lot of French people because it was frequently used by teachers. “C’est pas sorcier!” uses a lot of models and illustrations to demonstrate various scientific facts in a lot of science fields (biology, physics, history, geography…). However, their episode about allergies is not detailed at all. Therefore, there was a place on stage for our show!
For our series name, we opted for the main goal of our project: “Cracking Allergies”.
A key point was that each episode needs to have the same structure:
We gather precious tips about video recording from the C2IP INSA Toulouse, as well as a camera, light, and microphone. Laurent Grégoire also provided video materials. We started to film in mid-August and edited the videos right after to be ready to publish them. We prepared subtitles both in English and in French to reach as many people as possible.
We released the first episode of “Cracking Allergies” on September 5th, 2022 on Youtube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. We planned to release two episodes a week until the Giant Jamboree, where our final episode will be presented live by our team.
A special-issue episode of “Cracking Allergies” about the DAISY project of our team was released on the 1st of September as our 2-minutes promotion video on iGEM Video Universe. Click on the picture to see the video!
Welcome to our show, “Cracking Allergies”! This show was brought to you by the iGEM Toulouse team. We are proud to let you discover this new educational series where you will learn everything you need to know about allergies: from the causes of allergic reactions to how to treat them. The videos are available on our Youtube channel, but also LinkedIn and Facebook.
In this first episode, you meet Juliette who will tell you everything about the symptoms of allergies! Teary eyes, runny nose, or stomach ache, are all of these common symptoms that can be caused by allergic reactions, but they are not the only possible signs. Discover it with us!
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, who proofread this episode.
1. L'allergie | AFPRAL. (s. d.). AssoConnect. https://www.afpral.fr/page/1594226-l-allergie
2. L'urgence allergique | AFPRAL. (s. d.). AssoConnect. https://www.afpral.fr/page/1621728-l-urgence-allergique
3. U.S Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (2022, April). Evaluating the Public Health Importance of Food Allergens Other Than the Major Food Allergens Listed in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act : Guidance for FDA Staff and Stakeholders. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/media/157637/download
Release date: September the 5th 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th 2022: 483 views
In this second episode, Juliette will explain what allergens are, where to find them, and which ones are responsible for the most allergies. A great occasion to learn to know your potential enemies: peanuts, eggs, milk, and even shellfish.
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, who proofread this episode.
1. Weber, R. W. (1987). The nature of allergens. Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America, 7(2), 191–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0889-8561(22)00466-0
2. Barros, A., & Cosme, F. (2013). Allergenic proteins in foods and beverages. Food Technology and Biotechnology, 2(51), 153–158. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285958373_Allergenic_Proteins_in_Foods_and_Beverages
3. Bannon, G. A. (2004). What makes a food protein an allergen ? Current Allergy and Asthma Reports, 4(1), 43–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-004-0042-0
4. Food allergies. (2022, June 23rd). U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/food-allergies
5. U.S Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (2022, April). Evaluating the public health importance of food allergens other than the major food allergens listed in the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act : Guidance for FDA staff and stakeholders. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/media/157637/download
Release date: September the 9th, 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th, 2022: 251 views
In this third episode, you meet Thomas who will explain what is an antibody. You will learn how they act, how they are produced by your immune cells, and what is their structure. Immunoglobulins won’t keep any secrets from you!
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, and Eric Espinosa, immunology lecturer at University Paul Sabatier, who both proofread this episode.
1. La production des anticorps - Maxicours. (s. d.). MAXICOURS. https://www.maxicours.com/se/cours/la-production-des-anticorps/
2. The biology project, immunology. (2000, June 12th). The University of Arizona. http://www.biology.arizona.edu/immunology/tutorials/antibody/structure.html
Release date: September the 14th, 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th, 2022: 219 views
In the fourth episode of “Cracking Allergies”, Thomas will tell you all about the two-phase mechanism of allergic reactions. An excellent occasion to discover the role of IgE, mast cells, and histamine in allergic reactions!
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, and Eric Espinosa, immunology lecturer at University Paul Sabatier, who both proofread this episode.
1. Food Allergy | FARRP | Nebraska. (s. d.). Food Allergy Research and Resource Program | Nebraska. https://farrp.unl.edu/resources/gi-fas/food-allergy-sensitivities
2. Vermette, K. (2019, January 16th). Distinguer les allergies induites ou non par les IgE - Allergies Québec. Allergies Québec. https://allergies-alimentaires.org/distinguer-les-allergies-induites-ou-non-par-les-ige/
3. U.S Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (2022, April). Evaluating the public health importance of food allergens other than the major food allergens listed in the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act : Guidance for FDA staff and stakeholders. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/media/157637/download
Release date: September the 19th, 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th, 2022: 155 views
In this episode, meet Laure! Laure will guide you through the possible causes of allergies. Genetics, environment, pollution, living conditions, or the mysterious hygiene hypothesis, which one is responsible for? Or maybe they are all involved…
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, who proofread this episode.
1. Allergies ⋅ Inserm, La science pour la santé. (2017, May 30th). Inserm. https://www.inserm.fr/dossier/allergies/
2. Indoor air pollution : The invisible enemy of allergy sufferers - Sanofi. (s. d.). Sanofi, an innovative global healthcare company - Sanofi. https://www.sanofi.com/en/about-us/indoor-air-pollution-the-invisible-enemy-of-allergy-sufferers
3. Pawankar, R., Canonica, G. W., Holgate, S. T., Lockey, R. F., & Blaiss, M. S. (2013). White book on allergy. World Allergy Organization. https://www.worldallergy.org/UserFiles/file/WhiteBook2-2013-v8.pdf
4. Chaput, J. C. (2012, October 6th). Allergie : Hypothèse hygiéniste ou théorie des vieux amis ? Futura. https://www.futura-sciences.com/sante/actualites/medecine-allergie-hypothese-hygieniste-theorie-vieux-amis-41646/
5. L'allergie | AFPRAL. (s. d.). AssoConnect. https://www.afpral.fr/page/1594226-l-allergie
6. U.S Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (2022, April). Evaluating the public health importance of food allergens other than the major food allergens listed in the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act : Guidance for FDA staff and stakeholders. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/media/157637/download
Release date: September the 28th, 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th, 2022: 161 views
In the sixth episode of ”Cracking Allergies”, Laure will give you her best tips to prevent allergic reactions. She will also present useful tools such as pollen forecast, HEPA filter, and the app AllergoBox. This episode covers allergies to food, pollen, drugs, and even dust mites, so you’re bound to find something helpful!
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, who proofread this episode, and to our sponsor Allergobox!
1. Habeau, R. (2020, May 20th). Allergie aux acariens - mesures préventives. CHU de Nantes. https://www.chu-nantes.fr/allergie-aux-acariens-mesures-preventives
2. Pollen – Apps on Google Play. (2022, May 17th). Android Apps on Google Play. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=screencode.pollenwarndienst&hl=en_SG&gl=FR
3. Allergobox | Produits, recettes selon vos allergies alimentaires. (s. d.). Allergobox. https://www.allergobox.com/
4. Pollens : Quelle solution pour se prémunir ? (2021). Le Figaro Santé. https://sante.lefigaro.fr/mieux-etre/environnement/pollens/quelle-prevention
5. Allergie alimentaire : Traitement et prévention. (s. d.). Ameli, le site de l’Assurance Maladie en ligne | ameli.fr | Assuré. https://www.ameli.fr/haute-garonne/assure/sante/themes/allergie-alimentaire/traitement-prevention
6. Vivre avec une allergie. (s. d.). Ameli, le site de l’Assurance Maladie en ligne | ameli.fr | Assuré. https://www.ameli.fr/haute-garonne/assure/sante/themes/allergies/vivre-allergique
7. Abrams, E. M., Singer, A. G., & Chan, E. S. (2019). Food allergy prevention with early food introduction: New recommendations on introducing allergenic solids. Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien, 65(9), 637–638, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6741790/.
Release date: September the 30th, 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th, 2022: 171 views
In this episode, you will meet Charline, who will present the existing treatments for the symptoms of allergic reactions. If you could not prevent an allergic reaction using our tips from the previous episode, there are several treatment strategies for you according to your symptoms and your type of allergies, as well as the severity of your allergic reaction.
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, who proofread this episode.
1. Allergie alimentaire : traitement et prévention. (2021, November 8th). ameli, le site de l’Assurance Maladie en ligne | ameli.fr | Assuré. https://www.ameli.fr/haute-garonne/assure/sante/themes/allergie-alimentaire/traitement-prevention
2. Hayes, D., De Jesus, D., & Klemm, S. (2022, May 4th). Reducing the Risk of Food Allergies. Eatright.org - Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. https://www.eatright.org/health/allergies-and-intolerances/food-allergies/reducing-the-risk-of-food-allergies
Release date: October the 2nd, 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th, 2022: 169 views
In the eighth episode, Charline will show you how to use an Epinephrine pen in case of anaphylaxis. Not enough people know how to practice this first aid gesture, even though it can save your life or the life of people around you! This is why this video is very important.
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, who proofread this episode.
1. McLean-Tooke, A. P. C. (2003). Adrenaline in the treatment of anaphylaxis : What is the evidence ? BMJ, 327(7427), 1332–1335. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7427.1332
2. Adrenaline (epinephrine) injection (1:1000) for anaphylaxis (glass prefilled syringe) - summary of product characteristics (smpc) - (emc). (2020, February 13th). Home - electronic medicines compendium (emc). https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/3449/smpc
3. Treatment : Anaphylaxis. (2019, November 10th). NHS UK. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/anaphylaxis/treatment/
4. L'urgence allergique | AFPRAL. (s. d.). AssoConnect. https://www.afpral.fr/page/1621728-l-urgence-allergique
5. Guerlain, S., Hugine, A., & Wang, L. (2010). A comparison of 4 epinephrine autoinjector delivery systems : Usability and patient preference. Annals of Allergy, Asthma & ; Immunology, 104(2), 172–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2009.11.023
6. Epinephrine Auto-Injector | EpiPen® (epinephrine injection, USP) Auto-Injector and its Authorized Generic. (2022). https://www.epipen.com/en
Santos-Longhurst, A. (2020, April 6th). Why anaphylaxis requires a trip to the emergency room. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/allergies/severe-reactions-anaphylaxis-emergency-room
Release date: October the 4th, 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th, 2022: 136 views
In this episode, meet Raphaël! He will guide you through the different tests used to detect allergies. Prick test, ELISA, ImmunoCap… Those names will not have any secrets for you!
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, who proofread this episode.
1. Allergy skin tests - Mayo Clinic. (2022, January 6th). Mayo Clinic - Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/allergy-tests/about/pac-20392895
2. Prick test. (s. d.). Asthmes & ; Allergies Infos. https://www.asthme-allergies.info/prick-test/
3. Comment se déroule un bilan allergologique ? (2022, March 1st). Ameli, le site de l’Assurance Maladie en ligne | ameli.fr | Assuré. https://www.ameli.fr/assure/sante/examen/analyse/deroulement-bilan-allergologique
4. Tests d’allergies ImmunoCAP. (s. d.). Laboratoire, radiologie, sommeil et génétique | Biron. https://www.biron.com/fr/laboratoire/allergies/alimentaires/saisonnieres/
https://www.has-sante.fr/upload/docs/application/pdf/Dosage_IgE_rap.pdf
Release date: October the 6th, 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th, 2022: 75 views
In this episode, Guillaume will present the desensitization treatment. What is desensitization? Who can start desensitization? How is this treatment administered? Is that efficient? All of these questions will find an answer thanks to Guillaume!
Thanks to Jean-Luc Menardo, former allergist, who proofread this episode.
1. (s. d.). ALK - France | Leader mondial en immunothérapie. https://www.alk.fr/sites/www.alk.fr/files/pdf_-_fiches_conseils/la_desensibilisation.pdf
Release date: October the 8th, 2022
The total number of views on Youtube and Facebook on October the 11th, 2022: 45 views
As our partner, iGEM Thessaloniki gave us valuable feedback about “Cracking Allergies” all along its creation. They had a preview of every episode to give us their remarks and suggestions, as well as support. Their feedback was truly helpful and allowed us to correct bugs in editing and subtitles. As they had little to no knowledge about allergies, their opinion and understanding was truly helpful to adapt our videos to the general public.
We decided to broadcast our show on the Internet through several platforms. From September the 5th to October the 12th, two episodes a week were released on Youtube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Our goals were to reach a maximum of people with quality content. The number of reached people can be evaluated thanks to the performances of “Cracking Allergies” through the views number. We added up the views on every episode of “Cracking Allergies” to obtain a total of 1864 views.
These results are extremely satisfying considering our initial number of subscribers on the different platforms.
The quality of our content can be evaluated by the feedback of the viewers, through likes, comments, and the feedback we received in real life.
The videos totalized 312 likes. This shows a real engagement from the public. The comment sections opened a space for discussion about allergies, especially on Youtube. We had multiple feedback through comments, emails, and real-life interactions about the quality of our content. This feedback proved the need for scientific communication about allergies and confirmed that our show “Cracking Allergies” was a great way to do it!
The following educational tools presented in this part were mainly used to communicate synthetic biology.
Aim: to inform the future students of INSA Toulouse about iGEM and synthetic biology.
Target: high-schoolers wanting to enter INSA Toulouse for the next year and their parents.
Attributions: Laure designed the posters. Laure, Raphaël, Juliette, and Charline were at the open days to present iGEM to the future students and answer their questions.
This event happened in mid-February 2022. At this time, we did not choose our final topic and DAISY was not even called DAISY. That is why we focused our presentation on synthetic biology and iGEM using posters. We talked about the organization of the iGEM Toulouse INSA-UPS and what represents iGEM in the cursus of INSA students. The presentation length was 10 to 15 minutes and was repeated three times for over 100 persons in total. We had the chance to have Margaux Haon from the iGEM Toulouse INSA-UPS 2021 team with us for this first presentation. We were happy to answer the questions of future INSA students and hear Margaux share her experience.
Aim: to present synthetic biology, iGEM, and our DAISY project to 150 high schoolers, and make them take part in a synthetic biology experiment. By informing them about the possibilities of synthetic biology, we hope to arouse their curiosity and maybe create vocations for the future iGEM Toulouse team since high school, as some of our members did!
Target: highschoolers
Attributions: Laure contacted the high school Lycée Pierre-Paul Riquet through Mrs. Cristel Paccaud, who is a biology teacher. Laure and Juliette prepared the program for the interventions as well as the protocol for the laboratory practice. Mrs. Cristel Paccaud helped with the organization of the interventions. Juliette and the iGEM Thessaloniki members created a shared Kahoot quiz for their respective high school interventions about biology and synthetic biology, as well as a common educational plan to apply for interventions in schools. Thomas, Charline, Laure, Raphaël, and Juliette went to the high school for the interventions.
We contacted Mrs. Cristel Paccaud to organize interventions presenting synthetic biology, iGEM, and our project in her high school. At the same time, we imagined and directed a safe laboratory practice for her pupils, with the help of iGEM Thessaloniki. We agreed on three dates of intervention (September 27th, October 13th, and November 9th), that would last for 2 hours each. 50 pupils would take part to each intervention. The aim is that the whole year group composed of 150 pupils can take part in our intervention.
We decided with our partner iGEM Thessaloniki to start by structuring the sessions in three parts:
- a first presentation part about synthetic biology, iGEM, our team, and the project, including a quick lesson about the laboratory practice topics of the day. We estimated the duration to be 30 minutes.
- the second part was a 12-questions quiz created in collaboration with iGEM Thessaloniki about biology, synthetic biology, and some notions used in laboratory practice, as a transition to the third part. We estimated the duration to be 15 minutes.
- the third part was the laboratory practice. We estimated the duration to be 1 hour.
In the first part, we used the posters that we made about synthetic biology, iGEM, and our project.
In the second part, you can find here the link to the Kahoot quiz that we created with iGEM Thessaloniki:
In the third part, we used the lab practice protocol that we established following these criteria:
- to respect the high school regulation and safety
- to be feasible with the high school equipment, that is less complete than it could be in a laboratory
- to be doable in less than an hour.
We chose to explain them the transformation of competent cells E. coli with a plasmid containing a gene coding for a pink fluorescent protein called mScarlet.
We adapted the protocol so it would be easier to explain and understand, but also for safety purposes (see here the Protocol, available for future iGEM Teams).
Manipulation of pathogens and GMO is not authorized in high schools, so we used a wild type E. coli (3RB - Réseau Ressource Risque Biologique, 1973). For the same reason, the highschoolers did not use plasmids but only used water, therefore the lab practice became a simulation of transformation (Pajot, 2016). The used strain belongs to safety Level 1 group, respects the regulation for high schools, and the high school has the necessary sterile equipment for microbiology safety.
In our own laboratory, we performed the transformation of competent cell with plasmid containing the gene coding for mScarlet. We brought with us:
Before the intervention, we prepared the material to bring to the high school. We prepared plates with LB-agar and ampicillin as well as every necessary product that they did not possess such as sterile liquid LB medium.
We also send the protocol to the teacher so she could make copies on paper for her pupils.
It was a great experience for both the high-schoolers and us. They were curious of synthetic biology and of our project, but their favorite part was the laboratory practice! Following our first intervention, we had feedback from the highschoolers and their biology teacher to know what to improve for the next times.
About the material:
Some sterile pipet tips were missing, and the LB medium needed to be sampled in as many tubes as high-schoolers groups.
They were happy to use new material such as micropipettes because they were not familiar with it.
About the presentation:
They wished that we explained in more detail the principle of transformation because it was very new to them. We had the occasion to re-explain that when we came back to hear their feedback.
They loved the Kahoot, but because they were not sure about the vocabulary of transformation, they missed some questions.
The highschoolers were very interested by synthetic biology and our DAISY project.
While sharing about allergies, many highschoolers told us that they had some, or thought they had. However most of them had never done a test of allergies detection. It was interesting to see that our project can have an interest for everyone.
About the laboratory practice:
Some of the groups could not finish the laboratory practice, missing a few minutes.
The presentation lasted longer than expected, and we did not plan enough time for moving from the conference room to the laboratory.
The highschoolers were curious about the laboratory practice and liked to experiment new techniques.
All of these feedback were very useful to improve the next sessions of high school interventions and can be very useful to future iGEM teams as well. Both presentation and protocol were corrected in consequence.
We were very happy to share these moments with the highschoolers!
Aim: to inform the local public about synthetic biology and its application for allergies thanks to articles and interviews, and encourage them to follow our iGEM journey through our social media.
Target: general public in France.
Attributions: Charline took care of the communication with media and journalists, as well as the writing of the press release and its diffusion to our partners. The whole team participated in the interviews.
We gave several interviews for local newspapers and the TV channel France 3 Occitanie. This gave us the occasion to reach a larger public, to stimulate curiosity and interest in synthetic biology applied to allergies, as well as for the iGEM competition. You can find below the links to the articles, as well as the TV interview. You just have to click on the pictures!
We also wrote a press release published on the websites of our partners. You can click on the pictures to see!
We gave several interviews for local newspapers and the TV channel France 3 Occitanie. This gave us the occasion to reach a larger public, to stimulate curiosity and interest in synthetic biology applied to allergies, as well as for the iGEM competition. You can find below the links to the articles, as well as the TV interview. You just have to click on the pictures!
We also wrote a press release published on the websites of our partners. You can click on the pictures to see!
We gave several interviews for local newspapers and the TV channel France 3 Occitanie. This gave us the occasion to reach a larger public, to stimulate curiosity and interest in synthetic biology applied to allergies, as well as for the iGEM competition. You can find below the links to the articles, as well as the TV interview. You just have to click on the pictures!
We also wrote a press release published on the websites of our partners. You can click on the pictures to see!
We gave several interviews for local newspapers and the TV channel France 3 Occitanie. This gave us the occasion to reach a larger public, to stimulate curiosity and interest in synthetic biology applied to allergies, as well as for the iGEM competition. You can find below the links to the articles, as well as the TV interview. You just have to click on the pictures!
We also wrote a press release published on the websites of our partners. You can click on the pictures to see!
Aim: to inform our sponsors and partners of the progress of our project.
Target: sponsors and industrial partners.
Attributions: Charline designed, wrote, and sent newsletters monthly to our sponsors and partners.
We sent a newsletter every month during the summer in order to keep all our partners informed of the progress of our project on every aspects. Experiments, medias, events, project goals… Maintaining a link with them allows to facilitate the exchanges and also the understanding of our work.
We sent a newsletter every month during the summer in order to keep all our partners informed of the progress of our project on every aspects. Experiments, medias, events, project goals… Maintaining a link with them allows to facilitate the exchanges and also the understanding of our work.
We sent a newsletter every month during the summer in order to keep all our partners informed of the progress of our project on every aspects. Experiments, medias, events, project goals… Maintaining a link with them allows to facilitate the exchanges and also the understanding of our work.
We sent a newsletter every month during the summer in order to keep all our partners informed of the progress of our project on every aspects. Experiments, medias, events, project goals… Maintaining a link with them allows to facilitate the exchanges and also the understanding of our work.
Social media
Aim: to communicate about synthetic biology and its application for allergies detection on social media, as well as about the progress of our project.
Target: high school, students, iGEMers, scientists, general public.
Attributions: Charline took care of the social media of the iGEM Toulouse team. She created and posted every post and story on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Youtube.
We regularly communicated on social networks, especially on Instagram and Facebook. It was important for us to maintain contact with those who follow our project but also with the other iGEM teams. This allowed us to meet many teams and thus to build projects together. This was the case with our partner iGEM Thessaloniki. We created a campaign about precision medicine and artificial intelligence in diagnosis through common posts on social media. It was also a tool to raise awareness among connected people and the younger generations.