Communication
Spreading synthetic biology all around our country is one of the main goals of our team. Thinking about that, we chose different ways to educate and communicate the synbio to the diversified public.
Media Outreach
Band Minas - TV interview
Our team was interviewed by TV Band, the 4th TV more viewed in Brazil. The ProChi project was disclosed to thousands of people, sharing the problem and the main idea of our project in an easy succinct way with common people. With that, we aware people of the relevance of parasitic diseases and how our solution can impact the health and social aspects of it, encouraging them to know more about synthetic biology and follow us throughout our igem journey.
TV UFMG
The Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) media institution promoted a video about our project. This was important to disclose the synthetic biology and iGEM Competition inside our academic context and around people already interested in the field, once it isn’t much spread in our country in general. Bringing some technical concepts in a simplified way, we presented the iGEM Competition and its proposal to use synthetic biology to build a better world, in addition to giving existing examples of its applications and showing our iGEM project idea.
Journalistic articles
The communication sectors of the pole universities of our team published the journalistic articles "UFMG students prepare to compete in the world's biggest synthetic biology competition" and "UFV team participates in the biggest biological systems engineering competition in the world" explaining how iGEM was born, its scope, and its proposal for the development of ideas and technologies for synthetic biology. With this, we could reach the local community in our state, introducing iGEM to more people and encouraging them to learn more about the biosyn area and our project with a colloquial writing language, taking an extra focus on our human practices action of Humanitarian Mission, sharing the problematic parameter of helminthiasis in vulnerable communities.
See below the translated articles.
"UFMG students prepare to compete in the world's largest synthetic biology competition
The group plans to develop a probiotic to combat verminoses among Xakriabá indigenous people"
"After six years, the iGEM UFMG-UFV team is preparing to participate in the largest synthetic biology and genetic engineering competition in the world. The iGEM Global 2022 (International Genetically Engineered Machine), promoted every year by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), challenges students to develop projects capable of solving problems. More than seven thousand people are expected at the Grande Jamborre, which will be held from October 20 to 23, in Paris.
"The iGEM UFMG-UFV project, still in its initial phase, proposes a new method of treatment for parasitic diseases, endemic and neglected diseases that affect vulnerable communities. The idea is to develop a genetically modified probiotic to combat worms and malnutrition that affect the indigenous population of the Xakriabá ethnic group, in São João das Missões, in the north of Minas. The team will travel to the municipality of Minas Gerais for a conversation with the chiefs and family members, aiming at an exchange between traditional and scientific knowledge. Another differential of the project is to offer courses in the area of biotechnology and develop social action with health professionals in the indigenous communities of São João das Missões.
"The tests will be carried out at the Laboratorio Idea Real, at the ICB. On the team's Instagram page, a quiz instigates the curiosity of internet users about which area of the project will be presented at the international competition in Paris. But the spoiler can be seen in the video below, in which team members Paulo Muniz and Laene Schreiber and the coordinator of the Idea Real laboratory, Liz Fecoreli talk a little more about the endeavor."
"UFV team participates in the largest biological systems engineering competition in the world"
"UFV students and researchers are participating in the world's largest biological systems engineering competition - the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM Global). Since January, the iGEM UFMG-UFV team has been working on a project that proposes the use of probiotics in the treatment of geohelminthiases, intestinal diseases caused by parasites that affect 36% of Brazilians and 1.5 billion people worldwide.
"The project consists of the use of a biopharmaceutical probiotic, genetically modified by synthetic biology tools, capable of colonizing the intestine and eliminating eggs and adult parasites. The group believes that, in this way, it will be possible to combine the nutritional benefits of the probiotic with the treatment of verminosis. The project must be presented at the event Grand Jamborre, scheduled to take place in October, in the city of Paris (France), where the competition will close.
"Promoted 19 years ago by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), iGEM Global welcomes students - from high school to graduate school - with the objective of promoting the creation of innovative technologies. Teams are encouraged to develop disruptive projects to solve local problems. This year, 361 teams from 77 countries signed up for the competition. Brazil participates with three teams.
"The iGEM UFMG-UFV is installed at the Laboratory of Molecular Biotechnology, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (DBB) at UFV and at the Biohackerspace IdeaReal, in UFMG. At UFV, the team counts on the participation of students Arthur Wakim (Biochemistry), Livia Galinari (Biochemistry), Luiza Possa (PhD student in Applied Biochemistry), Pedro Rocha (Biochemistry) and Sávio Mendes (Biochemistry), under the guidance of Professor Tiago Mendes (DBB). In all, there are 19 active members and eight mentors from UFV, UFMG and the federal universities of Ouro Preto (Ufop), São João del-Rei (UFSJ) and ABC (UFABC) working in different areas of knowledge, such as Biochemistry, Pharmacy , Biomedicine, Bioinformatics, Medicine, Design and Computer Science.
"Get to know the project and support it on the Instagram of iGEM UFMG-UFV."
Science Communication
I Synthetic Biology Week
With Idea Real Biohackerspace, our team developed the I Synthetic Biology Week to spread this field in Brazil. We chose the online format on YouTube to reach different people from all over our country and keep the recordings saved to be re-watched. Students from different academic levels were the public majority, and we reached people from all regions of Brazil. As an event to introduce the synbio field, we decided to include themes that show its potential, bringing introductory presentations and many examples of its applications, in addition to 3 days with different workshops that practice applied knowledge about genetic circuits and rational protein design, modeling, and PCR. For a more open dialogue with our audience, we did a talk and chat day to encourage the network between the speakers and the participants, providing a fantastic exchange of ideas and experiences.
Synthetic Biology for indigenous community
During our education activities at the Humanitarian Mission, we wanted to develop simple materials for people's awareness about parasitic contamination and prevention, besides presenting the synthetic biology concept. We thought about how to make more inclusive material that could be understood by a kid to a grown adult without any previous knowledge, focusing on empowering the indigenous community in science. With that in mind, we decided to make wordless stories. Presenting it to a large age range group of people, we noticed that we had achieved our goal. But at São João das missões, the kids did not understand the first biosyn comic, and it happened because they didn't know fireflies. So we adapted it with a more common element that we knew they recognized and made the second biosyn comic. With that, we developed a suitable material that can be used worldwide for introducing synthetic biology and awareness of how to prevent parasitic diseases by anyone for everyone, besides instigating
To verify the understanding of comics by children in the middle school age group, we share the material with teachers to make a lecture with the "how to prevent parasitic diseases" theme and introduce the idea of synthetic biology. The kids showed to be very interested in the lessons and could fully understand the comic stories without the teacher's explanation. Nonetheless, after the activities, the teachers talked about the stories in more detail for better awareness and apprenticeship by the children. After this test, the teachers approved our comic stories.
Spreading Science to Children from Social Center
The ludic approach is essential for children's learning. With that in mind, we promoted introductive STEAM activities with kids and teenagers from the NGO Nosso Pequeno Lar using materials that instigate creativity and analytical thinking. The 3D printed atom parts kit (given by IdeaReal bioharker space) allows the combination of the atoms in different ways. The first lecture consisted of tentatives to construct a real molecule, with the leture and talking to them. We discussed the created molecules, the life-level organizations, and the participation of different molecules in the environment. The lecture really caught the kid's attention, as they came from a very vulnerable social group, and practical scientific activities rarely happen, even the more simple ones. So we carry everything we could to make great accessible STEAM activities, providing all the materials and resources needed. Read more at STEAM Initiation for Children from Social Center.
VI CEMB - Biological Machine Engineering Course
On top of deeply connecting the public with science in the academic context, we organized a one-week Biological Machine Engineering Course. The idea was to provide theoretical knowledge of synbio-related themes in addition to applying what was learned in the practical activities, providing an accessible, more profound understanding. We prioritized giving sufficient background and support for the development of project ideas by the participants, as we find the particular background in science communication important for progressive and active learning. The open dialogue with the teams was frequent during the course. Mentoring them, we shared many ideas and experiences. By learning new hard and soft skills, presenting speeches, and getting feedback, the participants were encouraged to keep learning about synbio and spread its concepts. The VI CEMB course was a success: we inspired the students to participate in the iGEM-experience! Read more at VI CEMB - Biological Machine Engineering Course.
